Ontario college instructors challenge back-to-work legislation > Union says legislation violates Charter of Rights and Freedoms Jake Wray News Editor he union representing college instructors in Ontario has begun a legal battle with the Ontario government, which recently passed legislation forcing an end to the union's strike. The instructors went on strike October 16 after a breakdown in contract negotiations between the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU,) which represents the instructors, and the College Employer Council (CEC,) which represents Ontario colleges. The instructors said one of their key demands in the contract negotiation was a reduction in precarious part-time employment of professors, which the CEC refused to grant. After five weeks on strike and an angry uproar from students, the Ontario government passed back-to-work legislation forcing the instructors to end their strike. Now, the OPSEU is preparing to challenge the back-to-work legislation in court, according to a press release issued by the OPSEU on November 23. Warren Thomas, president of the OPSEU, said in the press release that the back-to-work legislation violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He said the Supreme Court of Canada has previously protected the right to collectively bargain and the right to strike. “In the case of the colleges, the provincial government had the power to direct the employer to make the moves necessary to bargain a settlement,” he said in the press release. “The government chose legislation instead. They trampled on the right to collective bargaining when they clearly had other choices.” Workers do generally have the right to strike in Canada, but governments can end a strike if the striking workers perform an “essential service,” such as policing and healthcare, according to the Public Service Labour Relations Act. The act defines an essential service as anything “necessary for the safety or security of the public or a segment of the public.” The Ontario government claims public colleges are indeed an essential service, according to the back-to- ha iis abt Mascagy Fee Ly ss >A streaming sé Colten Kamlade Staff Reporter D ouglas College now has access to a new video-streaming service that is available to students and staff. Criterion-on-Demand, which offers classics, new releases, foreign films, literary adaptations, documentaries, animated titles, and independent features, has been added to the Douglas College library catalogue, according to an announcement made by the college on Twitter November 16. The Criterion Pictures website describes their mission as providing “easy access to educationally relevant feature films used in Canadian Higher Education Institutions.” Despite the similarity of the name, Criterion-on-Demand has no connection to the famed Criterion Collection. Christian Guillou, a media and electronic resources librarian at Douglas College, said in an e-mail interview with the Other Press that Criterion- on-Demand is not the first streaming service to be offered at Douglas College. “We subscribe to several streaming services such as Films on Demand, Curio (from CBC), and the National Films Board,” he said. All three streaming services are aimed at providing academic institutions access to films. Guillou said the college purchases access to streaming services because work legislation, called the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Labour Dispute Resolution Act, 2017. “Education by Ontario's colleges of applied arts and technology serves a critical public function,” the act says. “These programs prepare students for entry into the Ontario labour market.” The Province initiated the back- to-work legislation November 16 shortly after the OPSEU had rejected the latest contract offer from the CEC. Prior to introducing the legislation, the government gave both parties a three-hour deadline to settle the dispute. Thomas said the government they are convenient for library users. “Students and faculty prefer this mode of access instead of having to come to the library and borrow the DVD or the VHS,” he said. “Many students don’t own a DVD or VHS players so it is more convenient for them to be able to access it at anytime from home.” There is little doubt that fewer people are buying hard copies of films. A 2016 article by Fortune magazine claims that sales of Blu-Ray discs and DVD's dropped 12 per cent in 2015. Douglas College staff will assess the benefit versus the cost of the service on an annual basis, according to Guillou. “Tt is a subscription-based service. Every year, we will assess it and decide if acted inappropriately after the OPSEU rejected the latest contract offer, according to the press release. “The government never gave collective bargaining an honest chance after the contract was rejected,” he said. “That three-hour deadline was a sham designed to provide legal cover for legislation that was already a foregone conclusion. Instead of directing the colleges to settle, the government let them walk away from the table, then came back with a hammer.” Ontario government officials have not yet commented publicly on the OPSEU’s legal challenge. Photo of Warren Thomas via windsorsq Oougdas College Photo by Analyn Cuarto we want to continue subscribing to it,” he said. “The cost of subscribing to Criterion- on-Demand is $3,000 USD [annually.] It includes mostly feature films but also has more than 100 documentaries.” According to the Criterion-on- Demand website, the service they provide is unique in the entertainment industry. “Criterion-on-Demand is the only customizable online feature film solution focused specifically on the Canadian Post Secondary Market,” the webpage says. The website also says the selection of films that Criterion- on-Demand provides is large. “Criterion Pictures has the rights to over 15,000 titles,” and “updates titles quarterly.”