As the CBC reported yesterday, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has decided that, at a time when all signs point towards a long and painful recession and crippling budget deficits, they might as well turn down a big pay raise and go on strike. While this looks like complete and utter stupidity bad news for everyone involved, the ETFO spokesperson has pointed out the silver lining  – a strike could give what might be hundreds of thousands of newly unemployed parents something to do with all of their downtime. As this dimwit he recently went onto explain:

For many years, we have argued that a good education starts at home – notably when parents spend a lot of quality time with their children. And what better way to foster good home relationships than by going on strike at a time when hundreds of thousands of people might lose their jobs, so that kids can stay at home with their newly unemployed parents? Such is the brilliance of striking during the worst economic downturn in a generation. It’s not like those lazy bums will have anything better to do, and it’s important we take this opportunity to stand up for a good education system, fairness, and something else that I can’t remember but is surely very noble. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had trouble getting back to work after my two week Christmas holiday, and March Break can creep up on you, then the strike will be right after that, and next thing you know it’s summer holidays – as you can imagine, I’ve got a lot to do in order to prepare for all that time off.