The current strike by 10,000 Ontario college support staff, which started Sept. 11 , is merely a visible symptom of the skills-training chaos created by Premier Doug Ford’s PC government.

The Ford government has been starving the public community college system for years while touting the importance of skills training. At the same time, it has promised ever-increasing sums for private sector employers and private sector unions to do skills training. Since 2021, the Ford government has spent or committed $2.5 billion for skills training outside the college system.

What’s the strategy? If there is one, it hasn’t been explained.

Support workers at Ontario’s community colleges have been on strike for two weeks and yet the Ford government’s sole reaction has been to offer a mediator, even

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