Teachers strike saved $40 million

• The Ontario government saved $ 40 million when high school teachers in three boards went on strike for several weeks last year, it was disclosed Thursday.

On Monday in question period, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath noted a line in the budget that showed education spending was $430 million less than projected in the fall economic statement.

Education Minister Liz Sandals later explained that most of that $ 430 million was due to lower- than- projected enrolment, as well as the accounting of capital spending and savings during the teacher strikes in Durham and Peel and the Sudbury- area Rainbow District.

The government may have saved millions in wages during the strikes, but it also spent about $ 3.74 million making payments to some unions.

The Liberals agreed to pay $ 2.5 million this year to the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and the French teachers’ union to cover negotiating costs during the first round of bargaining under a new system.