OSSTF/FEESO Delegates Elect New Leaders

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - March 15, 2015) - Delegates of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) are gathered at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel for their annual meeting. The agenda included the election of new leaders to represent the 60,000-member educational union.

Amongst the elected were Paul Elliott, President; Harvey Bischof, Vice President; Cindy Dubué, Vice President; Earl Burt, Treasurer; Jo Dean, Executive Officer; Sue Doughty-Smith, Executive Officer; and Rob Gascho, Executive Officer.

Paul Elliott, a teacher from Fort Frances High School, was first elected to the Provincial Executive as Executive Officer in 2005, and as Vice President in 2007, 2009 and 2011. He was elected as President in 2013 and as a result of this year's election, Elliott will serve a second term as President.

Harvey Bischof, a teacher from Durham Region, was elected as provincial Vice President for the next term. He was first elected to the Provincial Executive as Executive Officer in 2007 and as Vice President in 2011 and 2013. Locally, he has served as the President of District 13, Durham and its Teacher Bargaining Unit.

Cindy Dubué, an Educational Assistant from Ottawa-Carleton, was elected as provincial Vice President for the next term. She was first elected to the Provincial Executive as Executive Officer in 2011 and as Vice President in 2013. Dubué has previously held many roles in the Federation including President of District 25, Ottawa-Carleton President and Chair of Provincial Council.

Earl Burt, served full time on the Toronto Teacher Bargaining Unit Executive, the last four years as Vice President, from 2000 to 2009. He was elected in 2009, 2011 and 2013 to the Provincial Executive as Treasurer. As a result of this year's election, he will serve another term as Treasurer.

Jo Dean, a teacher from Greater Essex, has been elected as Executive Officer for a second term. Locally, Dean has served on Provincial Council representing District 9, Greater Essex for five years and has sat on many Federation committees such as Certification and Collective Bargaining.

Sue Doughty-Smith, is an Educational Assistant from Thunder Bay and was elected for a second term as Executive Officer. Previously Sue held the role of local President of the District 6A, Thunder Bay LPS Student Support Professionals Bargaining Unit.

Rob Gascho, a teacher from District 24, Waterloo, has been elected for a second term as Executive Officer. Gascho previously served as the President of District 24, Waterloo, and its Teacher and Occasional Teacher Bargaining Units.

The elected will commence their duties for the next term as members of OSSTF/FEESO's Provincial Executive on July 1, 2015.

OSSTF/FEESO, founded in 1919, has 60,000 members across Ontario. They include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, early childhood educators, psychologists, secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support personnel, university support staff, and many others in education.