Public Values

Coalition calls for reversal of Ontario Northland Railway decision

Sep 202012

Jobs, economy and safety in the North depend on it.

The Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains recommends reconnecting Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury.

SAULT STE MARIE, ON, September 18, 2012: In a few short days, the passenger train we know as the Northlander will be history, a victim of decades of short-sighted government policies that have not recognized that a fundamental necessity of a sustainable economy and culture is the ability to move people and goods efficiently, effectively and safely year-round, according to the Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains.

Rail is the most efficient, effective and safest means of transportation for people and freight travelling medium to long distances especially in a region that has a tough winter.

The Northlander is a traditional passenger train that, with the decline in rail in Canada, has become a unique transportation service that has supported the economy of North Eastern Ontario for numerous decades but has been touted by the government as too costly for the number of patrons utilizing the service.

Ontario PCs propose massive health care privatization — coalition

Sep 202012

Health, Public services

Conservatives attempt to claim increased accountability through undemocratic, self-selecting hospital boards.

Mehra: The claims in the PC Party's White Paper about health spending are manipulative, and frankly, dishonest.

TORONTO, ON, September 10, 2012: Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak should be required to answer tough questions resulting from the release of the PC Party's White Paper on Health Care, say Ontario Health Coalition leaders. Among the coalition's key observations:

The PC Party White Paper repeatedly uses manipulative and incorrect assertions about health spending in Ontario. In fact, Ontario funds health care at almost the lowest level in Canada: 8th of 10 provinces.
It recommends a system in which there is no democratic governance over any facet of health care of the regional health systems. It calls for the expanded influence of undemocratic, self-selecting hospital boards.

A Matter of Trust—OPSEU fights back against proposed pension changes

Sep 202012

Pensions

Ontario fails to tax corporations effectively, looking to ordinary citizens for bailout.

TORONTO, ON, September 10, 2012: A new way to fight back against proposed pension changes by the Ontario Liberal government is now online. The website A Matter of Trust aims to inform Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) members about what the government has proposed to do to their retirement savings but also provide a place for members to voice concerns and find tools to speak out.

Pensions remain one of the biggest concerns for working and soon-to-be-retired people. Right now, in Ontario, Premier Dalton McGuinty and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan are looking for ways out of Ontario’s financial trouble. Instead of looking to corporations to pay their fair share of taxes, they’re looking to members of Ontario’s larger jointly-sponsored pension plans to bail out the government.

Cloaked in talk of making pension funds more efficient and successful, the Liberals are considering the creation of a pension superfund worth $25 billion to more than $100 billion. The government wants to get rid of the joint member-employer trustee structure, appoint its own people and spend people’s retirement savings.

Teachers best-positioned to save public education system — Salutin

Sep 202012

Education

Union bargaining brought about all the important education reforms.

Salutin: Unions are imperfect vehicles but they’re somewhat democratic, like elections, and give teachers a way to speak.

September 13, 2012: In light of the recent legislation depriving teachers of their collective bargaining rights, Rick Salutin argues in The Toronto Star that effective teaching is nothing more than people doing their jobs. “Effective teaching” cannot be analysed, compartmentalised and applied uniformly in all classrooms. Salutin sees correlations between the current trend in privatizing public education and the Liberal education bill, yet disagrees with one union’s decision to abstain from extra-curricular activities as it doesn’t put teachers where they need to be: with their students.

“Who will save our schools, and public education?

Not Premier Dalton McGuinty, who’s bought into the common obsession that the money “just isn’t there.” So he freezes public sector wages, pulling even more money out of the economy, assuring there’ll be even less in taxes to spend on programs, leading to the same death spiral that Europe is following. I know high-school kids who understand this better than Dalton, but maybe it’s because they can still take economics and business courses — although his stress on standardized tests in the “basics” is undermining all that.

New guide helps municipalities sort out the facts about P3s

Sep 202012

Public services

Critical concerns raised regarding protection of public services.

Loxley: Due to the major concerns raised about P3s, the safest approach for municipalities is to forego privatization and continue to follow the conventional public sector procurement model.

Regina, SK, September 10, 2012: A new guide encourages municipal officials to show caution in considering the use of public-private partnerships to finance public infrastructure projects. The conclusion of John Loxley, the guide’s author and economics professor at the University of Manitoba, is clear: “Municipalities need to be wary of P3s. They are not the best option.”

The reference document “Asking the Right Questions: A Guide for Municipalities Considering P3s” raises critical concerns about the protection of public services and provides essential information to assist municipalities in making sound decisions in the best interest of their citizens.

“Infrastructure projects implemented under P3s are not advantageous for municipalities or their citizens,” stated national Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) president Paul Moist. “After they read this guide, mayors and city councillors tempted to rush headlong into pro-privatization initiatives will agree with us that P3s do not offer all the benefits touted by promoters of that model.”

Chicago teachers refuse “best we can do” excuses

Sep 202012

Education

Concessions now only mean more concessions later, says CTU.

Karen Lewis, CTU President: We would like to have a fair compensation package that includes acknowledgement of our teachers' experience and their educational attainment. That’s number one.

September 2, 2012: Teachers in Chicago face their own challenges now that the schooldays have grown longer. Reductions in raises mean that longer hours are not covered. Seniority, experience and education are not recognised as impacting wages. Health insurance costs have risen. Lee Sustar explains how this happened in The Bullet.

“Can the scrappy band of outsiders that now heads the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) lead the kind of high-stakes fight that most labour unions have ducked? That question looms large – not just for the city's teachers, students and their parents, but for the entire labour movement. Because while both private- and public-sector unions are taking a pounding across the U.S. with layoffs, pay cuts and pension rollbacks, the CTU is gearing up for a showdown with America's most politically connected mayor, Rahm Emanuel – and it will come to a head in September.

At a time when most union officials are shamefacedly selling concessions as ‘the best we can do,’ Chicago teachers are defiant…”

For the complete article, please click here.

Cost of meds to skyrocket following Canada-European Union Trade Agreement

Sep 052012

Health, Take action!

Patent reform being used as bargaining chip at expense of Canadians’ health.

Don Davies, Vancouver Kingsway MP, NDP Trade Critic

Davies: “Studies project the patent extensions proposed by the EU could raise Canadians’ drug costs by $2.8 billion a year.”

VANCOUVER, BC, August 23, 2012: The Conservative government should remove patent reform from the negotiations of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union, says New Democrat Trade Critic Don Davies.

“Changing the patent regime for pharmaceuticals is a complicated issue with deep consequences for Canadians, provincial healthcare programs, and Canadian employers,” said Davies (Vancouver-Kingsway). “Studies project the patent extensions proposed by the EU could raise Canadians’ drug costs by $2.8 billion a year.”

Drug costs are the second leading health care costs for provinces and are rising every year. A recent report reveals that many low income Canadians cannot afford the cost of their medicines and one in four are simply not filling their prescriptions.

Civil rights organization, union ready to fight Ontario Liberals educational Bill 115 in court if passed

Sep 052012

Education, Public services

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.

Continued Conservative cuts are affecting Canadians’ safety in their communities and on the job

Sep 052012

Public services

Correctional services staff, border officers, military veterans, law enforcement agents and others organize Fall info forum.

Deslile: The Federal Government seems to have abandoned its responsibilities related to public safety.

OTTAWA, ON, August 16, 2012: Unions representing workers in Canadian prisons, at the borders, in the federal justice system, and serving veterans say the federal government has some explaining — and listening — to do when it comes to how cuts are putting public safety at risk.

The leaders of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO-SACC-CSN), the Union of Solicitor General Employees (USGE), the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU), the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees (UVAE) and the Association des membres de la Police Montée du Québec (AMPMQ), which together represent more than 33,000 workers in the field of public safety, are teaming up to organize a forum on public safety in Ottawa this fall. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has declined an invitation to attend.

“In the face of so little information from the government, we feel it is our responsibility to share what we are learning,” said UCCO-SACC-CSN president Pierre Mallette, whose members serve as correctional officers in federal penitentiaries across the country. “It is unfortunate that the minister chose not to consult us before imposing these cuts. Now we hope he'll at least listen to our concerns about what they will mean,” he added.

Extra-billing for day surgeries continues in Vancouver

Sep 052012

Health, Public services

Government inaction leading to increasingly unequal and inaccessible health care.

Protest at the Cambie Surgery Centre, August 20, 2012

Rally protests extra-billing practices at the Cambie Surgery Centre in BC.

August 28, 2012: Health care workers, community groups and Canadian Doctors for Medicare gathered on August 20th to protest extra-billing practices at the Cambie Surgery Centre in BC.

The clinic had been audited by the Medical Services Commission and found to have extra-billed patients in contravention of the provincial Medicare Protection Act.

Medicare advocates are calling on the provincial government to take swift action against the clinic to ensure that the principles of equity and accessibility are preserved in the single-payer health system.

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