Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO; French: Fédération des enseignants et des enseignantes de l'élémentaire de l'Ontario, FEÉO)[1] is a labour union representing all public elementary school teachers, occasional teachers, and some designated early childhood educators (DECEs) in the Canadian province of Ontario. The union has 76 local chapters in the province, and over 83,000 members. The union was founded on July 1, 1998, by the merger of the Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario (FWTAO) and the Ontario Public School Teachers' Federation (OPSTF).

Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario
AbbreviationETFO
Formation1998; 26 years ago (1998)
Merger of
TypeTrade union
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Location
Membership
83,000
President
Karen Brown
General secretary
Sharon O'Halloran
Affiliations
Websiteetfo.ca Edit this at Wikidata

ETFO's 83,000 members join the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (representing approximately 8,000 members), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (representing approximately 45,000 members) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (representing approximately 60,000 members) to form the Ontario Teachers' Federation.[2][3] ETFO is also a member of the Canadian Teachers' Federation.

Governance

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The governance framework is outlined in a number of different documents including the Bylaws, Constitution, Human Rights Statement, Policy Statements, Position Statements, and Equity Statement. These documents form the framework for how ETFO is governed and what it sets out to accomplish for its members.[citation needed]

Provincial Presidents

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Term Name Local
2021–Present Karen Brown Elementary Teachers of Toronto Local
2009–2021 Sam Hammond Hamilton-Wentworth Teacher Local
2007 - 2009 David Clegg York Region Teacher Local
2002 - 2007 Emily Noble Algoma Teacher Local
1998 - 2002 Phyllis J. Lennox (née Benedict) Kawartha Pine Ridge Teacher Local

[4]

Karen Brown

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Toronto teacher Karen Brown was elected president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario in 2021. Brown has served as ETFO first vice-president since 2015 and was first elected to the provincial Executive in 2009. Brown is the first Black president to be elected to a provincial teacher affiliate union in Ontario and the first known Black president to be elected to a provincial teacher affiliate union in Canada.

Provincial Executive

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ETFO's provincial organization includes four fully released officers: President, First Vice-President, Vice-President Female and Vice-President. All four of these officers are ETFO members (teachers, occasional teachers, DECEs or other educational professionals) that have been released from their teaching duties for their term in office.

In addition to the 4 released officers, ETFO's provincial governing body includes one representative to the Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF Table Officer), and as many additional officers required to make up the 14-member Executive. Of those remaining positions, 4 of them are open to women only.

All Provincial Executive positions are elected by the general membership at ETFO's Annual Meeting held each summer in August. All terms last 2 years.

Executive, 2023–2025

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Name Position Local
Karen Brown President Elementary Teachers of Toronto Local
David Mastin First Vice-President Durham Teacher Local
Gundi Barbour Vice-President Upper Grand Teacher Local
Shirley Bell Vice-President Kawartha Pine Ridge Teacher Local
Nathan Core OTF Table Officer Waterloo Region Occasional Teacher Local
Mary Fowler Executive Member Durham Teacher Local
Mike Thomas Executive Member Thames Valley Teacher Local
Carolyn Proulx-Wootton Executive Member Grand Erie Teacher Local
Tamara DuFour Executive Member Hamilton-Wentworth DECE Local
Juan Yahya Gairey Executive Member Peel Teacher Local
Shideh Houshmandi Executive Member Hamilton-Wentworth Teacher Local
Mario Spagnuolo Executive Member Greater Essex Teacher Local
Jenn Wallage Executive Member Waterloo DECE Local
Sylvia van Campen Executive Member Upper Canada Occasional Teacher Local

[5]

Non-elected positions

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Name Position
Sharon O'Halloran General Secretary
Lisa Mastrobuono Deputy General Secretary
Lorna Larmour Deputy General Secretary

[6]

ETFO locals

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Each school board in Ontario has at least 1 ETFO Local serving members who work within that school board. Teacher Locals are present in all school boards. 1 board (James Bay) has only a Teacher Local, 10 boards have DECE (Dedicated Early Childhood Educator) Locals, 2 boards have ESP and one of those 2 (Renfrew County) also has a PSP Local.

The objectives and priorities of ETFO are contained in the constitution:

While all boards now have DECEs as a result of the implementation of Full Day Kindergarten for children aged 4 – 6, not all of those educators are represented by ETFO.

Region Teacher Local OT Local DECE Local ESP and PSP Local
Algoma Teacher OT
Avon Maitland Teacher OT
Bluewater Teacher OT
Durham Teacher OT DECE and Catholic DECE
Grand Erie Teacher OT DECE
Greater Essex County Teacher OT
Halton Teacher OT DECE
Hamilton-Wentworth Teacher OT DECE
Hastings-Prince Edward Teacher OT
James Bay Teacher
Kawartha Pine Ridge Teacher OT
Keewatin-Patricia Teacher OT
Lakehead Teacher OT
Lambton Kent Teacher OT
Limestone Teacher OT
Near North Teacher OT
Niagara Teacher OT
Ontario North East Teacher OT
Ottawa-Carleton Teacher OT
Peel Teacher OT
Rainbow Teacher OT DECE
Rainy River District Teacher OT ESP
Renfrew County Teacher OT ESP and PSP
Simcoe County Teacher OT DECE
Superior Greenstone Teacher OT
Thames Valley Teacher OT
Toronto Teacher OT Catholic DECE
Trillium Lakelands Teacher OT DECE
Upper Canada Teacher OT
Upper Grand Teacher OT
Waterloo Region Teacher OT DECE
York Region Teacher OT

[7]

Advocacy and equity

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ETFO has been seen as a leader among teachers' federations on equity issues.[by whom?] With 80%+ female members, ETFO is particularly active in its support for women's participation and leadership.

The ETFO Executive has adopted this definition of equity:

ETFO recognizes that we live in a society characterized by individual and systemic discrimination against particular groups. Within this context, ETFO defines equity as fairness achieved through proactive measures which result in equality for all.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Artuso, Antonella (December 10, 2012). "McGuinty 'trivializes' teachers' fight: ETFO". Toronto Sun. Sun Media. Archived from the original on 2012-12-14.
  2. ^ Welcome to ETFO, Published by ETFO, Toronto, ON (2011)
  3. ^ Reshef, Yonatan; Rastin, Sandra (2003). Unions in the time of revolution. University of Toronto Press. p. 87. ISBN 0-8020-8753-1.
  4. ^ 2011/12 ETFO Reference BOOK, Member Involvement Section
  5. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20151025231731/http://www.etfo.ca/aboutetfo/provincialexecutive/pages/default.aspx. Archived from the original on 2015-10-25. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ ETFO Reference Book 2019-2020
  7. ^ ETFO Reference Book 2015-2016
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