A front-running candidate to be the next Ontario Liberal leader was the target of a protest by teachers and educational workers in Windsor.
They rallied outside the Caboto Club Sunday as Sandra Pupatello cast her ballot at a Liberal delegates meeting.
"If I win this thing they will have an open door," says Pupatello. "They will have a premier with an open mind."
The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers’ Federation want the Liberal delegates to understand the issues regarding Bill 115 when they vote for a new leader.
“We understand there is a deficit that exists in Ontario,” says Greater Essex ETFO president Adelina Cecchin. “We are asking for the opportunity to find solutions and to have a legitimate voice at the table.”
Pupatello says she hears them loud and clear.
“I know what I would bring to the conversation that the teachers want to have with us,” says Pupatello. “I want to make sure we do that, but I have to win the leadership first."
Pupatello was voting for which delegates she wants to be eligible to help select the next Liberal leader.
"It's one of those milestone moments in a leadership campaign," she says.
Pupatello is vying for the leadership against Kathleen Wynne, Charles Sousa and Gerard Kennedy.
Rallies have been held across the province at other Liberal leadership meetings. A large rally is also planned for the leadership convention Jan. 26 in Toronto.
