Solar eclipse showdown in Ontario: Here's what happened at Queen's Park this week
CTV
Ontario is undergoing a solar eclipse showdown between government officials and school boards. Here's what you need to know about that and everything else that happened at Queen's Park this week.
Ontario’s education minister made it clear that he did not support a call by teachers to participate in a P.A. Day virtually due to solar eclipse safety concerns.
“I think every citizen on Earth will be showing up to work,” Stephen Lecce told reporters earlier this week.
“Every front-line worker from nurses to transit workers will be going to work. And I expect the same for our educators.”
The comments are the latest in a string of criticism by the minister on how some Toronto school boards are handling the April 8 solar eclipse.
Toronto school boards voted last month to change their PA Day from April 19 to April 8 due to the eclipse, citing the dangers of looking directly at the celestial event and safety considerations around traffic and commuting.
The York Region District School Board (YRDSB), however, said it could not change its P.A. days due to “contractual obligations” and “prior commitments.” Instead, it will be ending class early so that students are dismissed before the peak eclipse time, between 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Lecce immediately said this was not a solution he was comfortable with.
