Public Values

Robyn Benson – Prairies activist to lead PSAC through turblence

Oct 182012

New president emphasizes unity, reaching out to the public for support.

by Ish Theilheimer, with YouTube video by Samantha Bayard

Robyn Benson knows her work is cut out for her. She’s a grassroots public service union activist from Winnipeg who cut her teeth in a famous wildcat strike in 1980. Last May, Benson was elected national president of the 186,000-member Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), a union that finds itself in the crosshairs of political gunsights. On one hand, tens of thousands of her members are losing their jobs; on the other hand, the government is threatening action to end automatic union membership for federal employees.

Ontario closing provincial parks, reducing Ranger program

Oct 152012

Natural Resources

Unoperating parks under-served, day-based jobs inadequate.

Gravelle: The program will continue to operate as day camps and students will be able to commute. by Julie Dupuis, Straight Goods News staff

Editor's note: This is PublicValues.ca Associate Editor Julie Dupuis's departing editorial. For her last issue, she shares her views on protecting public services in light of the Ontario government's latest changes to Ontario Parks programs and operations.

FRENCH RIVER, ON, October 4, 2012: Hitting home hard to a former Ontario Ranger (Esker Lakes Provincial Park, 1996) and current hiking enthusiast, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources recently announced that ten provincial parks will revert to non-operating status while it will also be transforming the overnight Ontario Ranger program to a day-based one.

Formerly the Junior Ranger program, the overnight teen work/camp experience has been running for nearly 60 years. Many remember it as a pivotal time that influenced them greatly. We came away having learned new skills clearing trails, paddling canoes, planting or pruning trees, and making spawning beds. We met new people and were introduced to new hobbies, like jogging or knitting. Everyone received first aid and WHMS training, and had to take turns on kitchen and cleaning duty. The beauty of the program was that it didn't matter what you could already do, but what you were willing to try.

Red Tape Reduction Commission puts Canadians’ safety at further risk

Oct 152012

Public services

Government bureaucracy taking precedence over public services.

Benson: One would expect government to make the effective delivery of important services a priority OTTAWA, ON, October 1, 2012: Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board, and several other ministers made announcements across the country with regards to the Red Tape Reduction Commission.

Made up of corporations and lobby groups, this partisan commission is seeking to reduce regulatory compliance instead of focusing on keeping Canadians safe from harm.

Since the launch of this commission, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has warned that ensuring regulations that protect Canadians' health and safety are enforced override concerns about bureaucracy and red tape.

"The listeria food poisoning outbreak and the recent E. coli outbreak in Alberta are just some examples of the real and devastating impact deregulation can have on Canadian lives," said Robyn Benson, President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

Ontario Ministry of Labour lays off the same number of inspectors it just hired

Oct 152012

Public services

McGuinty playing games with employment standards enforcement.

Thomas: This doesn t move the yardsticks 1 inch forward in protecting workplace rights of employees. TORONTO, ON, September 26, 2012: An announcement last week by the Ministry of Labour that it intends to strengthen the Employment Standards Act by hiring 18 additional enforcement officers was quietly followed days later by a decision to lay off 19 staff doing investigative work.

On September 17, the Ministry announced with considerable media fanfare that it was hiring the additional 18 officers in a bid to "protect" vulnerable workers from predatory employers who fail to meet minimum standards of wages, hours of work, paid holidays and other regulations under the Act.

Three days later, on September 20th, 19 employment standards officers, known as ESO1s, were told they were out of a job, victims of the McGuinty government's attack on public services as a weapon in its austerity agenda. Seventeen of the 19 officers have 20 or more years of service with the provincial government.

BC Liberals blocking right to democratically-elected school board in Cowichan Valley

Oct 152012

Education

Government fired trustees over deficit budget meant to rectify years of cuts.

Abbott said he didn t want by-elections because the people might return the same just-fired trustees September 21, 2012: While Cowichan Valley kids are back at school, their democratically-elected school trustees aren't. District 79 is still being overseen by an appointed trustee after the province tossed the board out for submitting a needs-based budget in May.

The Cowichan Valley Board of School Trustees voted for a budget with a $3.7-million deficit, explaining its duty was to protect and restore services for students after years of government cuts. The board called for vital school services such as adequate hours of work for education assistants, custodial time, technology courses and bus service.

Groups including the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the BC Association of School Business Officials have identified this structural funding shortfall that has left many school districts squeezed to cut more and more services.

Under the BC School Act, boards are not permitted to run a deficit without ministry permission, despite the government's chronic underfunding of K-12. Then Minister of Education George Abbott fired the board and replaced it with an appointed administrator. Calls for a by-election to return to an elected board have been ignored by Abbott and his successor Don McRae.

City of Ottawa to store contaminated soil beneath planned Lansdowne urban park

Oct 152012

Public services

Mismanaged P3 project still not getting it right.

newsletter for the Friends of Lansdowne's Let's Get It Right email list

OTTAWA, ON, September 24, 2012: One of the better features of the Lansdowne Partnership Plan is a 7-acre urban park facing the canal. However, it has just come to light that there can be no new buildings of any size in the park area — ever. There can be no public washroom buildings, no outdoor cafes and no kayak/bicycle rental pavilions. There can be tents and porta-potties, but no structures connected to the city's sewage system. So even though the park is intended to serve hundreds of thousands of visitors, and is part of a project costing taxpayers over $400 million, new amenities will be restricted to whatever is inside the Aberdeen Pavilion and the Horticulture Building. If these buildings happen to be closed, there will be no public washrooms in the park area and you will have to walk to the privately controlled stadium or shops just to wash your hands.

This surprising fact was revealed in a workshop organized by the Glebe Community Association with provincial Ministry of the Environment officials to discuss the risk management plan for Lansdowne. It turns out that because of the environmental controls needed to deal with contaminated soils in the designated parkland zone, any future construction is out of the question.

Ontario set to sell Thornhill hospital to private for-profit US-based conglomerate

Oct 152012

Health

Sale directly opposes strategy outlined in province's Action Plan for Health Care.

Seidman-Carlson: Now is the time for the Minister to put words into action. TORONTO, ON, September 24, 2012: Ontario nursing professionals are calling on the Health Minister to reject the proposed sale of Shouldice Hospital to a large for-profit conglomerate.

Members of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) have consistently called on governments of all political stripes to affirm their commitment to the Canada Health Act and the fundamental principle of a single-tier, not-for-profit health care system.

That's why RNAO is asking its members to write to Health Minister Deb Matthews to block the proposed sale of Shouldice Hospital, which is based in Thornhill. Centric Health, a rapidly growing health products company, recently announced its intention to purchase the hospital, well-known for the treatment of hernias. Centric is controlled by US-based Global Healthcare Investments and Solutions (GHIS), one of the largest private, for-profit health care companies in the world.

University education in Canada no longer affordable for most — study

Oct 152012

Education

Tax credits and debt relief programs don't help students pay the bills.

Shaker: The tuition fee burden across the country has been increasing faster than incomes since 1990 OTTAWA, ON, September 11, 2012: Average tuition and compulsory fees for Canadian undergraduate students are estimated to rise almost 18 percent over the next four years, from almost $6,200 in 2011-12 to over $7,300, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

The study looks at trends in tuition and compulsory fees in Canada since 1990, projects fees for each province for the next four years and examines the impact on affordability for median- and low-income families using a Cost of Learning Index.

"Since 1990, with very few exceptions, the tuition fee burden across the country has been increasing faster than incomes. Between 1990 and 2011 the average annual increase in tuition fees and ancillary fees in Canada was 6.2 percent — nearly three times greater than the rate of inflation," says Erika Shaker, co-author of the study and director of the CCPA's education project.

Concern over McGuinty’s pension super-fund proposal grows

Oct 152012

Public services

Legal challenge may be imminent if Ontario Liberals proceed with takeover of retirement savings plans.

Grimaldi: Sole benefits for actuaries figuring how it works, investment bankers controlling the fund TORONTO, ON, September 26, 2012: Members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) have the power to stop a government takeover of their pension plans, thousands heard on two telephone town hall meetings.

"This government can be swayed if there are enough people going in to see them," OPSEU Region 2 Vice-President Mike Grimaldi told callers. "There are already splits in Cabinet on this."

Some 18,000 OPSEU/NUPGE members joined four telephone calls held September 20 and 24 to learn more about the McGuinty government's plan to pool dozens of pension plans to create a single super-fund controlled by private-sector managers.

"The only people who are going to benefit from this are actuaries who are going to figure out how this works and a bunch of investment bankers who are going control the fund," said Grimaldi.

Teachers and education support staff taking Ontario Liberals to court over Bill 115

Sep 202012

Education, Public services

Legislation removing collective bargaining rights seeks to make itself above the law.

Coran: “Premier McGuinty should not expect that our members or the workers of Ontario to sit idly while the government strips them of their basic and fundamental labour rights.”

September 15, 2012: Following the passage of Bill 115, which strips educators of their collective bargaining rights, three of the province’s teacher and education support staff unions have indicated their intention to challenge the legislation in court.

“Instead of focusing on strengthening schools, communities and the economy, the Liberals have chosen to attack people’s charter rights,” said Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario President Fred Hahn. “We are challenging Bill 115 because the rights of Ontarians are protected by the Constitution, even if the Liberals don’t want them to be.”

“Bill 115 isn’t about balancing the budget. It’s not about fixing the economy. It won’t benefit students or schools,” said Hahn.

“The passing of Bill 115 represents one of the darkest days in the history of workers’ rights in recent memory,” said Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) President Ken Coran. “This government has now passed a law that tramples on the rights of education workers in Ontario, and it appears that Premier McGuinty will be targeting other workers in the near future.”

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