Constitutional rights blatantly disregarded for political advancement during election period.
TORONTO, ON, August 30, 2012: The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has issued a stern warning about the Liberal government’s Bill 115, which affects education workers in Ontario. The Association further announced that it will seek intervener status in a legal challenge should the bill pass in the Ontario Legislature.
“We are concerned that this bill violates the right to meaningful collective bargaining. Why is it necessary, for instance, remove the right to strike before any job action has occurred or even been contemplated? Collective bargaining enhances the dignity of workers and is a constitutional right, in part, for this reason. This isn’t only about the pocketbook, it is also about participating in the governance of the workplace,” said Sukanya Pillay, a CCLA director.
WASHINGTON, DC, July 31, 2012: State and local budget crises and the election of anti-government ideologues have left taxpayers and communities increasingly vulnerable to predatory "privatization" of government services and public infrastructure. "Desperate government is our best customer," says one finance company executive specializing in the privatization of public infrastructure. A new report from People For the American Way documents that the push to privatize public services and assets often reduces the quality of services, burdens taxpayers and threatens democratic government.
TORONTO, ON, August 13, 2012: "The Minister is creating a crisis in education that simply does not exist," said Ken Coran, President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) in response to the Minister of Education Laurel Broten's press conference.
July 30, 2012: Paul Buchheit reports for Nation of Change that privatization usually has poor payoffs for the general public, raising costs for consumers and reducing revenue streams for public coffers. He notes that privatization can only work in the context of strict regulation, but goes on to say that it rarely benefits the delivery of essential public services. Buchheit demonstrates that in the US, privatization has adversely affected education, health care, banking, prisons, military, water and other utilities.