A Justin Trudeau government will build a stronger Canada by investing in our children and our educators

September 3, 2015

A woman from Scarborough wrote the other day to tell me that she had made up her mind about who she was going to vote for on October 19. She wanted to explain why.

Chantelle is a teacher. She gets up at 5 a.m. every day to prepare for her commute to school in Oshawa, and she rarely gets home before 5 p.m. “A lot of people seem to think this is an easy job,” she said. “I have no idea why.”

In addition to teaching, she has a second job on Saturdays. On Sundays, she marks papers, and her summers are often filled with teaching additional courses.

Chantelle is the kind of teacher we all want for our children. She will do whatever it takes, even dig into her own pocket to make sure her students have every opportunity to succeed. While many of her students show up in September with everything they’ll need to learn – such as pencils, pencil cases and binders – some come with nothing. 

“I want my lessons to be engaging for all my students and not every family is in a position to purchase the supplies their child will need, such as Bristol board, markers, Velcro, books, and even materials for science experiments. The school board gives me $100 for supplies every year, but it’s not enough.”

So beginning this month, Chantelle will be including school supplies in her monthly household budget. She spent $2,000 of her own money last school year and is expecting to spend a similar amount this year.

Liberals understand that there are many teachers in our country, just like Chantelle, who use their own funds to make sure their students’ classroom experience is as good as it can be. That is why we are introducing a Teacher and Early Childhood Educator School Supply Tax Benefit. This benefit will apply to the purchase of up to $1,000 worth of school supplies per year, providing a cash benefit of up to $150 annually, and will be available to all educators, regardless of income.

A Justin Trudeau-led Liberal government will build a stronger Canada by investing in our children and our educators.

“I am not generally a politically-involved person, but I always vote, and I try to vote based on policies that benefit those less fortunate than me. Every so often though I feel comforted that there are those in our society who appreciate the small role I play in enriching and educating the next generation of Canadians. The Liberal party’s new benefit truly goes a long way in helping hard-working and generous teachers across the country.”