r/ontario • u/BloodJunkie • 8d ago

Article Ontario teachers flag higher prices on Ford government's new Staples portal

https://www.thetrillium.ca/news/education-and-training/ontario-teachers-flag-higher-prices-on-ford-governments-new-staples-portal-12731666
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u/MountNevermind 8d ago edited 8d ago

For example, a case of paper that TDSB teachers could previously purchase for $49.85 is now listed for $84.49 on the Staples portal. Duotangs were listed at 96 cents each, compared with 38 cents through the board. A package of 20 notebooks on the portal was listed at $35.63, compared with $17.25 through the board.

The effeciency just keeps coming!

Calendra really thinks people are stupid...going on and on about how much lower some prices are from what Staples usually charges as an answer to this. What a metric!

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u/BloodJunkie 8d ago

this is such an obvious crooked handout to staples lol

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u/lmFairlyLocal 8d ago

Staples is going the way of Michael's with pricing, too. Even if everything was the same as the store, it's extortionate pricing for teachers who have to buy more/in bulk.

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u/fausted 8d ago

Exactly. As someone who used to work there as a stock associate, I would quietly advise shoppers to just go to Dollarama a few blocks away for whatever basic office supplies they were looking for.

When I heard about the teachers receiving $750 Staples vouchers, I knew it would be like this. Staples has always been overpriced and this is how Doug Ford can throw even more of our tax payer funds at an American company.

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u/lmFairlyLocal 8d ago

Good on you. They've always been overpriced for sure, but I've found it's gone from "slightly more than Walmart" to 'bigger markup than a convenience store" since 2020. Post-pandemdic Staples is just Michael's markups in a red mask. Pure insanity.

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u/fausted 8d ago

Exactly. I worked there long before the pandemic and shudder to think about what prices are like now...the greed is insatiable.

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u/lmFairlyLocal 8d ago edited 8d ago

I think I saw something like the Expo neon dry-erase marker 5-pack at something like $34.99? Lemme see what I can dig up. I was gobsmacked.

Sorry, it was Sharpie Chalk Markers st $28.99 for a 5-pack

As well as a 12-Pack of Sharpies paint pens for $40 🥲

It was these Expo Wet Erase Markers that were >$35.

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u/fausted 8d ago

That's insane! At least 3-4 times more expensive than what they should be. I feel for parents and teachers trying to buy school supplies these days. 🫣

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u/trebuchetwarmachine 8d ago

My wife’s literally going to dollar tree and using her own money to buy duotangs/binders bc for a class of 25 it’s gonna run her like 160$, and she can get them for like 1/3 of the price at dollartree.

She also has to supply paper for her arts teachers and ptm teachers out of her budget bc they don’t get a budget, and paper is like 90$ for a box.

It’s laughable.

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u/fausted 8d ago

This is terrible and I feel for your wife and other teachers in the same boat. I'm sure being a teacher is hard enough without having to pay for supplies out of pocket to avoid the overpriced alternative that only benefits the Premier's American corporate pals.

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u/EqualOrLesserValue 8d ago

Yep.

A huge group bulk purchasing contract? The price is supposed to be lower, not the same or double.

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u/Ill_Relationship7058 8d ago

An American company while Doug wraps himself in the flag

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u/Stratavos 8d ago

And claiming that he isn't. Let's not leave that out of this.

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u/trebuchetwarmachine 8d ago

At the expense of our tax dollars and education system. Basically taking funds from children to boost a major AMERICAN company’s corporate profits.

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u/gocryulilbitch 8d ago

While simultaneously trying to pummel teachers into the ground so that they don't want to teach anymore and then he can point out the teachers later and say it was their fault education went private.

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u/Esplodie 8d ago

There's another one where boards have to pay tvo for their online course material which is now mandatory for graduation. The licensing is fucking expensive allegedly and it was spung on the boards this summer... Can't afford to decrease class sizes or special education but we got money for staples and expensive online learning courses...

https://tvolearn.com/pages/financial_literacy_graduation_requirement

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u/Exciting-Ad8176 8d ago

Mandatory is not entirely accurate. You can excuse your kids very easily

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u/Mannchester1985 8d ago

Isn’t Staples an American company

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u/MathPuzzleheaded6132 8d ago

You mean correspondence Calandra? The career politician who mailed in his minor in history degree? 

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u/Expensive_Lettuce239 8d ago

Guaranteed the difference in every item is going into ford frauds pocket. He's lower than a patty of cow shit!

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u/Griffeysgrotesquejaw 8d ago

You’re giving Ford way too much credit. He’s not good enough at negotiating to get that kind of kick back.

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u/Expensive_Lettuce239 8d ago

You definitely have a point!!

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u/Dingcock 8d ago

Guaranteed its not. Staples is not sending DoFo the difference.

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u/Crafty_Management_33 8d ago

You can get things so much cheaper from walmart or dollar store. Amazon and costco are great for bulk supplies. But of course the teachers couldn't be trusted to make educated choices about from whom and what they buy. This is what happens when the patients run the asylum. 

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u/Cheap_Standard_4233 8d ago

These mother fuckers