Seems as if Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals are going to need to put in some extra hours this weekend to get that back-to-work legislation and get college faculty members and students back in class.

With the Liberals holding a majority in Queen’s Park, the NDP say they can pass a “Conservative-style back-to-work bill” this weekend but they “will force Wynne to stay at work this weekend and debate the bill.”

“The NDP does not support anti-worker legislation that leaves a broken system in place – but by doing nothing for five weeks, it’s become clear that’s what Kathleen Wynne wanted all along,” says Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson.

“Kathleen Wynne wanted to ram this through Thursday night and go home for the weekend. The NDP will force the parties to return to the house and give this bill, at least, its due diligence and debate.”

It appears the PC’s are ready to sit it out too.

“We are regrettably now at the point of debating back-to-work legislation – which the Ontario PCs will support,” Leader Patrick Brown says, “Our first priority is to get college students back in class on Monday morning, and we are prepared to work all weekend to get this done.”

If passed, the province says “legislation would require the current strike at Ontario’s colleges to be terminated, and prevent any additional strikes or lock-outs arising from the dispute until a new collective agreement is signed.”

“The proposed legislation governs the labour dispute between the College Employer Council, acting on behalf of the employer, and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) college academic unit. All outstanding issues would be referred to binding mediation-arbitration.

The College Employer Council and OPSEU would have five days to agree on a mediator-arbitrator, or one would be appointed by the Minister of Labour.

The government has also instructed colleges to establish a dedicated fund with all savings from the strike.

The fund will be used to support students who have experienced financial hardships as a result of the strike and its parameters will be developed in direct consultation with students.” – Province of Ontario

The Liberals first attempted to introduce the legislation Thursday evening after restarted talks between the colleges and the union reached an impasse, but the NDP blocked that attempt, saying they couldn’t support legislation that takes away workers’ rights. Unanimous consent by all parties was needed to introduce the bill because it was outside the normally scheduled time period for that.

The Liberals also tried Friday to get required unanimous consent to introduce the bill and start debate on the same day, but the NDP denied that as well.

Debate will now begin Saturday at 1pm.

The New Democrats say they believe the majority Liberal government has the ability to get the bill passed on Sunday.

So what does this mean for students? Northern College states classes will return next week but “the exact date will depend on how quickly the issue is resolved.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says on Twitter that faculty will go back Monday and students back “Tuesday at the latest.”

“Students are being encouraged to make travel arrangements over the weekend to return to their respective campuses in preparation for classes to resume the day after faculty return to work,” Northern College says in a release.

“We understand that this is a stressful time for students and that there will be additional stress with the return to class,” says Northern College President and CEO Dr. Fred Gibbons, “We are committed to providing additional resources, whether that is advisors, counsellors or tutors so that students have every opportunity to be successful, not only in completing this particular semester but the entire academic year.”

The college goes on to say they are developing a special learner support fund to help students who experienced “financial hardships” through the strike. They say more information will be provided when students are back in class.

As of Friday, students have been out of class for 33 days.

(With files from The Canadian Press)

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