GTA elementary schools open

All GTA public elementary schools are open on Friday, after an early-morning labour ruling crushed an Ontario-wide teachers protest.

CityNews writes the Ontario Labour Relations Board issued a ruling at 3:30 a.m. which found the protest “unlawful.” The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario followed suit, and called off its plans to picket, reversing earlier decisions.

After a two-year teachers contract was imposed by Education Minister Laurel Broten on Jan. 3, ETFO and OSSTF (Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation) announced plans to protest. Still, OSSTF’s protest, tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday, could very likely be cancelled in the wake of this new ruling.

Pearson’s big computer glitch

Toronto’s Pearson International Airport has fixed a computer problem, which led to multiple delays, on Friday.

The Canadian Press writes a flight planning computer crashed, impacting the departures and arrivals of several outgoing and incoming flights. However, Nav Canada spokesperson tells the news agency that the glitch did not impact the safety or orderly operations of air traffic control at the airport.

Most of the delays occurred overnight, and NavCanadasays it regrets the inconvenience and travel disruption, and will look into preventing similar outages.

Ben Affleck wins

As Toronto Standard’s Sprawl editor Mike Kolberg wrote on Twitter yesterday, following the Oscar nominations, “you can’t spell Ben Affleck without BAFFLE.”

The actor-director did not receive an Oscar nomination for Best Director for his work on Argo, but won big at the Critics Choice Awards on Thursday night.

Joking about his earlier snub, Affleck said, “I would like to thank the Academy. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. This is the one that counts. No, I do want to thank the Broadcast Film Critics Association.’

Oscar or no Oscar, go Team Argo! 

____

Joanna Adams writes about news and entertainment for Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter at‏ @nowstarringTO.