Speakers highlight the value of public servants to Canadians across the nation.
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA, Straight Goods News, March 21, 2012 — Federal public servants are speaking out against harsh expected budget cuts and the "sly" way the government is going about introducing them.
Canada's largest federal public sector union held a reception on Parliament Hill to illustrate the value of its members' work by showcasing public servants from across the country providing essential services to seniors and veterans and those who inspect food and orchestrate search and rescue missions.
"The government is hiding behind secrecy and mixed messages because it knows that the austerity agenda won't stand up to public scrutiny and we worry it is going to implement its austerity agenda with cuts by stealth," said PSAC national president John Gordon. "We are calling for an end to all this secrecy and for this government to implement an accountable, transparent plan that protects our economy and the public services Canadian's rely on."
"We are here because we believe most Canadians do not like the direction the government is taking us in — where the private sector corporate interest is slowly going to supplant the public interest," Larry Rousseau, Regional Executive Vice President for the National Capital Region, PSAC.
John Gordon and Larry Rousseau, end to secrecy
Merv Wiseman is a PSAC member who has worked for the Canadian Coast Guard for 35 years. He described how he feels the process for these cuts have been irrational as compared to cuts carried out by former governments. He went further to describe employees he knows who have been fired for speaking out.
"They questioned not only his integrity but they questioned his psychological ability based on the fact that he spoke out. I think these kinds of methods speak for itself: it is actually very frightening," said Wiseman.
Todd Broomfield is an Inuit hunter who was saved from the harsh shores of northern Labrador by a search and rescue center.
"Nobody knows when you are going to run into trouble, it could happen to anyone at anytime when you are working or fishing or traveling in a marine environment. Newfoundland and Labrador has a long coastline. It's exposed, it's rugged," described Broomfield. "Surely our government can afford to keep the Marine Rescue Centre in St-John's that provides such a valuable service to the people who make a living in this harsh environment," he added.
Merv Wiseman and Todd Broomfield, Marine Search and Rescue Centre
Neil Cohen, Executive Director for the Community Unemployment Help Centre in Winnipeg, works with people who have recently lost their jobs. He describes the effect of job loss and the difficulties people suffer from unreasonable delays in receiving their EI, due to cuts at Service Canada.
"Many of our clients have made declarations to our staff that they have contemplated suicide for losing self-respect and dignity. Not only are they without income, they are without work and work is important to people," said Cohen.
Neil Cohen talks about the impacts of cuts on his clients
Heather Millar is a Service Canada Benefits Officer for the Old Age Security Program. She sees firsthand the impacts of cuts to OAS. "I come to work every day to a pile of unprocessed applications and I know that each piece of paper represents someone's mom or someone's dad who's waiting for my help to get by," said Millar.
Heather Millar, OAS
Paul Caron is a retired Food Inspector at the Food Inspection Agency, for more than over 20 years at the Windsor/Detroit border. The job he did then no longer exists now. He describes some of the horror stories he prevented. "On one occasion I remember inspecting coffee beans from Colombia, I opened the transport container and a couple rats jumped out — wide-eyed from all the caffeine. I slammed that door shut very quickly."
Food inspection averts horrors
Michael L Blais, founder of Veterans Affairs Advocacy, feels military veterans should be excluded from our government's austerity programs. "Now is the time for all Canadians to stand on guard for those who have with courage, dignity and valour, stood on guard for you," said Blais.
Michael Blais, austerity exemption
The union calls for an end to wasteful spending on consultants, temp agencies, fighter jets and corporate tax cuts. It has launched a social media campaign that has garnered over 350,000 views.
eMail: Samantha@straightgoods.com
About Samantha Bayard
Samantha Bayard is a young journalist living and working out of Ottawa. She has been a contributor to the Straight Goods News family of websites since 2009. She is an avid cyclist and lover of animals.
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