Romano misses vote on ending college strike

Sault MPP Ross Romano was among 48 members of the Ontario Legislature who were no-shows at Sunday's vote ordering 12,000 community college instructors back to work.

"I was in the Sault," Romano tells SooToday.

Romano left Toronto Thursday morning so he wasn't in the Legislature when the Ontario New Democrats refused to allow introduction and passage of back-to-work legislation, forcing a special weekend session. 

"I had already come home. I had meetings throughout the day on Thursday and learned about it during the day," he said.

Romano says he was nonetheless on standby in case his vote was needed and he needed to return to Queen's Park.

"It was confirmed to me that it wouldn't be necessary for me to there, We had sufficient numbers for the vote."

"I had some important meetings in the Sault that would have been hard to reschedule."

One of those meetings was a special committee of local students brought together by the MPP, with representatives of the Sault's four secondary schools, plus presidents of student associations and indigenous student representatives from Sault College and Algoma University.

Romano said he was pleased with the result of today's vote.

"I think the students needed to get back to school as soon as possible. The risk of missing the school year was increasing by the day."

After losing five weeks, students will now find their schedules compressed, Romano said. "They're going to have much less time off for the holiday season."

Only three other Northern Ontario MPPs were absent during today's vote: Sarah Campbell from Kenora - Rainy River, Michael Gravelle from Thunder Bay - Superior North and Glenn Thibeault from Sudbury.

• Anderson, Granville (Lib. Durham)
• Arnott, Ted (Con. Wellington - Halton Hills)
• Bailey, Robert (Con. Sarnia - Lambton)
• Barrett, Toby (Con. Haldimand - Norfolk)
• Berardinetti, Lorzenzo (Lib. Scarborough Southwest)
• Bradley, James (Lib. St. Catharines)
• Chan, Michael (Lib. Markham - Unionville)
• Chiarelli, Bob (Lib. Ottawa West - Nepean)
• Cho, Raymond (Con. Scarborough - Rouge River)
• Clark, Steve (Con. Leeds - Grenville)
• Coe, Lorne (Con. Whitby - Oshawa)
• Del Duca, Steven (Lib. Vaughan)
• Dong, Han (Lib. Trinity - Spadina)
• Fedeli, Victor (Con. Nipissing)
• Flynn, Kevin (Lib. Oakville)
• Fraser, John (Lib. Ottawa South)
• Hardeman, Ernie (Con. Oxford)
• Hillier, Randy (Con. Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington)
• Jaczek, Helena (Lib. Oak Ridges - Markham)
• Jones, Sylvia (Con. Dufferin - Caledon)
• Kiwala, Sophie (Lib. Kingston and the Islands)
• Lalonde, Marie-France (Lib. Ottawa - Orléans)
• MacCharles, Tracy (Lib. Pickering - Scarborough East)
• Matthews, Deborah (Lib. London North Centre)
• Mauro, Bill (Lib. Thunder Bay - Atikokan)
• McGarry, Kathryn (Lib. Cambridge)
• McMahon, Eleanor (Lib. Burlington)
• McNaughton, Monte (Con. Lambton - Kent - Middlesex)
• Norm Miller (Con. Parry Sound - Muskoka)
• Moridi, Reza (Lib. Richmond Hill)
• Nicholls, Rick (Con. Chatham - Kent - Essex)
• Pettapiece, Randy Con. (Perth - Wellington)
• Rinaldi, Lou (Lib. Northumberland - Quinte West)
• Sandals, Liz (Lib. Guelph)
• Vernile, Daiene (Lib. Kitchener Centre)
• Walker, Bill (Con. Bruce-Grey - Owen Sound)
• Wilson, Jim (Con. Simcoe - Grey)
• Wynne, Kathleen (Lib. Don Valley West)
• Yakabuski, John (Con. Renfrew - Nipissing - Pembroke)

These are the 18 members who voted against:

• Armstrong, Teresa (NDP London - Fanshawe)
• Bisson, Gilles (NDP Timmins, James Bay)
• DiNovo, Cheri (NDP Parkdale - High Park)
• Fife, Catherine (NDP Kitchener - Waterloo)
• Forster, Cindy (NDP Welland)
• French, Jennifer (NDP Oshawa)
• Gates, Wayne (NDP Niagara Falls)
• Gélinas, France (NDP Nickel Belt)
• Gretzky, Lisa (NDP Windsor West_
• Horwath, Andrea (NDP Hamilton Centre)
• MacLaren, Jack (Ind. Carleton-Mississippi Mills)
• Mantha, Michael (NDP Algoma - Manitoulin)
• Miller, Paul (NDP Hamilton East-Stoney Creek)
• Natyshak, Tara (NDP Essex)
• Sattler, Peggy (NDP London West)
• Tabuns, Peter (NDP Toronto - Danforth)
• Taylor, Monique (NDP Hamilton Mountain)
• Vanthof, John (NDP Timiskaming - Cochrane)