Notwithstanding his abrupt Monday walk-back, Ontarians may one day hear Premier Doug Ford again explain why his government bypassed Charter rights using the constitution’s rarely deployed workaround.

He also wouldn't say at a Tuesday morning press conference whether he'll take court-proof back-to-work legislation (or stay-at-work legislation, in CUPE's case) off the table for future public sector negotiations, considering how quickly the tables turned in his government's fight with an education workers' union.

Ford didn't give a firm answer when asked by QP Briefing about either possibility.

He did say he doesn't like using the notwithstanding clause — Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which provinces' can use as a workaround of rights otherwise protected by the constitution.

"That's the only tool we had at the end of the day," the premier said in reference to its utilization in his government's strike-stomping Bill 28, which Ford promised the government will start repealing next Monday.

READ MORE: CUPE accepts Doug Ford's offer to repeal Bill 28 if education workers return to work

Ford is the only premier in Ontario's history to use the clause, which was created along with the Charter in 1982.

The Progressive Conservative premier has leveraged it three times. In the first instance, it wasn't ultimately required, since the law shrinking Toronto's city council during an election was eventually upheld in court. Next, it was used to uphold legislation to limit third-party political advertising that had been struck down by the court. Most recently Ford's government deployed it pre-emptively against CUPE's education workers' union, forcing the union under contract and blocking its workers' right to strike legally.

"It's a legal tool in our constitution and endless premiers over time have used it," he said. "I said right from the get-go, we'll use every tool at our disposal to make sure kids stay in class."

Ford also compared his use of the clause to CUPE's strike notice, saying CUPE's ability to strike is a much bigger "sledgehammer" than using the notwithstanding clause to impose a contract on workers and prevent any court challenges.

For Larry Savage, a labour professor at Brock University, the events of the past week should make Ford wary of running back the same playbook.

"I think he recognizes that it's (the notwithstanding clause) a political lightning rod and that it's unlikely to be used to interfere in labour relations processes in the future, at least proactively in the way that he did," Savage said.

Ford "accomplished something that labour leaders weren't able to accomplish over the last 20 or 30 years, and that was to unite" the labour movement, he said.

Despite the positive signs for labour he's seen in the past week, Savage cautioned that Ford's comments may be laying the groundwork for the ongoing negotiations with the bigger education unions.

"His eye is on the next round of bargaining with the teachers' unions, and I think it was an exercise in lowering expectations," Savage said.

"Our agreement with CUPE, it will have massive impacts on broader public service salaries, especially as we continue negotiating with teachers," Ford said on Tuesday. "These impacts, they could cost tens of billions of dollars. That's money we need for schools, health care, transit and infrastructure. It's money we need for vital services that hard working people of this province rely on."

"His focus on low-wage workers was clearly contrasted with what he put out there, that teachers are not low-wage workers and shouldn't expect the same deal as CUPE," Savage said.

Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce mentioned low-wage workers 14 times in Tuesday's press conference, which lasted about 18 minutes.

"We're going to do everything we can to get a deal for the lower-income workers," Ford said in one of his closing lines.

The past week has created a dynamic wherein labour is stronger than at any time in recent history and has a successful playbook to potentially draw on in the ongoing negotiations, Savage said. Yet the province is still set on constraining salary increases, which could mean more unrest down the line, he added.

Other teachers' unions were closely watching the developments last week and all put out statements supporting CUPE. The province's contracts with Ontario's major education unions expired at the end of August and each is still negotiating with Ford's government.

CUPE's was just the first to come to a head.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA), and the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO), are the other big education unions.

The OSSTF started negotiating in July, a spokesperson confirmed, and has some negotiation dates scheduled with the province this week, president Karen Littlewood told QP Briefing on Monday.

Negotiations are split into two tables: one for teachers and another for other education support workers repped by OSSTF. Since July, the education worker table has met for 8.5 days of bargaining, while the teacher table has met for 6.5 days, a spokesperson confirmed.

"We've made some small gains. We've signed off on some things. We haven't done any of the major items, but that's coming next," Littlewood said.

OSSTF represents over 60,000 people, and about one-third are education workers, like the educational assistants that CUPE represents, she said.

"We're fighting for the same thing for them: a living wage that they're going to be able to stay at the job," she said. "I'm hoping that this doesn't carry over to our negotiations this week and we will be able to make some progress."

ETFO — with about 83,000 members including teachers and other support staff — also has split tables, and first met with the province on July 19. Both tables met with the province again on Aug. 30, before splitting into separate units.

Since then, the education worker table met with the province on Sept. 6, 7, and 26, and on Oct. 11 and 28. The two sides were scheduled to meet on Oct, 31 and Nov. 7, but those were called off because of Bill 28, a spokesperson told QP Briefing.

ETFO's teacher table met with the government on Sept. 18 and 23, but not since then. A central list issue was referred to the Ontario Labour Relations Board and the sides are waiting for a ruling before meeting again.

OECTA and AEFO did not respond to QP Briefing questions by deadline.

Ford won’t say if he’ll use notwithstanding clause or back-to-work legislation again

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