Public services

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

Sep 052012

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.

“New” Conservative pension plan offers little retirement security

Sep 052012

Pensions, Public services

PRPPs simply RRSPs “with a new coat of paint” — CD How Institute.

Larry Brown, Secretary-Treasurer of NUPGE

Brown: PRPPs provide few benefits to workers while they are a new source of profit for the financial industry.

OTTAWA, ON, August 27, 2012: Even the CD Howe Institute is now criticizing the Harper governments' proposed Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPPs) program.

In the report “Pooled Registered Pension Plans: Pension Savior — or a New Tax on the Poor?”, authors James Pierlot and Alexandre Laurin find that the PRPPs program will do little to help most Canadians prepare for retirement.

“As currently proposed, PRPPs present only the appearance of reform because they are for the most part a re-release of an existing retirement savings vehicle — RRSPs — with a new coat of paint,” said James Pierlot, a pension specialist and member of the Pension Policy Council of the CD Howe Institute.

Privatization a cover-up for corrupt political tactics and patronage

Sep 052012

Public services

“Pervasive and growing reality” undermining nations — Krugman.

Krugman: If you think about it, you realize that the one thing the companies are definitely not doing is competing in a free market. They are living off government contracts. (Photo by David Shankbone)

Examining the case of privatized halfway houses in New Jersey uncovered by the New York Times, Paul Krugman provides in The Sacramento Bee three reasons behind the drive to increase privatization. Krugman discusses the right’s framing of privatization and how it is meant to mislead. He also counters arguments pitting unions with these same market forces.

“Over the past few days, the New York Times has published several terrifying reports about New Jersey's system of halfway houses — privately run adjuncts to the regular system of prisons. The series is a model of investigative reporting, which everyone should read. But it should also be seen in context. The horrors described are part of a broader pattern in which essential functions of government are being both privatized and degraded.

First of all, about those halfway houses: In 2010, Chris Christie, the state's governor — who has close personal ties to Community Education Centers, the largest operator of these facilities, and who once worked as a lobbyist for the firm…’”

For the complete article, please click here.

Wall Street profiteering from municipal water services

Sep 052012

Natural Resources, Public services

Private equity firms use greater bargaining power to negotiate more lucrative deals at the expense of taxpayers.

Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch Executive Director

Hauter: Private equity players aren’t investing in water out of a sense of civic responsibility. Their first and foremost motivation is profits.

WASHINGTON, DC, August 22, 2012: Following its disastrous foray into the housing market, Wall Street’s latest earnings scheme is as close as your kitchen sink: the finance industry is increasingly targeting public water systems. A new report released today by the national consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch, “Private Equity, Public Inequity: The Public Cost of Private Equity Takeovers of US Water Infrastructure”, reveals that as of January 2012, private equity players had raised $186 billion through 276 infrastructure funds and were seeking another $93 billion to take over infrastructure worldwide.

“Like Wall Street’s manipulation of the housing market in the previous decade, private equity firms and investment bankers are increasingly looking to cash in on one of our most essential resources — water,” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “These deals are ultimately a bum deal for consumers, who will end up paying the price through increased water bills and degraded service.”

Food & Water Watch’s new report shows that because private equity players typically seek a 12 to 15 percent return on investment, they quickly flip assets. Often, they do this after scrimping on service, investing in elaborate and unnecessary projects, quashing transparency and avoiding taxation, in turn driving up prices for consumers.

Neil Armstrong opposed Obama’s SpaceX privatization plan

Sep 052012

Public services

Astronaut hero had “substantial reservations” about forcing NASA out of human space operations.

Armstrong: Privatizing SpaceX is a misguided proposal that forces NASA out of human space operations for the foreseeable future.

August 28, 2012: Neil Armstrong expressed serious reservations about Obama’s space privatization policy, reports Alex Marin on Policymic. In honour of Armstrong’s passing away, he recounts the astronaut’s earlier accomplishments as a military pilot, along with a few anecdotes from space. Armstrong opposed leasing space to private interests to the exclusion of NASA.

“CBS News reported that Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, has passed away ‘following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.’ He was 82.

His family described him as ‘a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job.’

Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, fulfilling the goal that had been set by President John F. Kennedy just eight years earlier. He was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, in 1930.

Second arbitrator in Canada Post labour settlement rejected by federal court

Aug 162012

Public services

Labour Minister asked to appoint unbiased mediator, not friends.

Lemelin: This decision shows that we have been right to oppose this flawed process. OTTAWA, ON, August 9, 2012: The Federal Court of Canada has ruled that Guy Dufort, the second arbitrator appointed by the Harper government to resolve the dispute between Canada Post and its unionized workers — to oversee the imposition of back-to-work legislation and a final offer selection — must step aside and federal Labour Minister, Lisa Raitt, appoint a replacement.

Following his appointment by Minister Raitt on March 15th, Dufort sent his resumé to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), which included details of his involvement as a high-ranking official with both the Conservative Party of Canada and as an advocate for Canada Post Corporation in its pay equity case.

Town halls across Canada discuss public transport needs

Aug 162012

Public services

Citizens' help requested to produce a blueprint for Via Rail's revival and expansion.

Gow: CA may soon be the only industrialized nation without proper, effective rail passenger service. OTTAWA, ON, August 10, 2012: In response to the cuts now being made to Via Rail Canada, Transport Action Canada and its five regional affiliates are launching their nationwide town hall workshop project, National Dream Renewed. The first stop will be Sarnia, Ontario.

"We're pleased to accept the invitation of the Sarnia Lambton Economic Partnership and Mayor Mike Bradley to launch this project in their city, which has long called for more and better Via service," says Harry Gow, past president of Transport Action Canada and chair of the National Dream Renewed project. "The decision to cancel half of Sarnia's passenger trains is baffling, especially when the government is currently investing $923 million to renew Via's fleet and other capital assets. What Sarnia and other Canadian communities need is more Via service, not less."

Predatory privatization threatens citizens, communities — report

Aug 162012

Education, Public services

Citizens pay "a terrible long-term price to plug short-term budget holes."

Keegan: Right-wing anti-gov/union ideologues exploit tough economic times; the public pays the tab. 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.

"The combination of budget deficits, anti-tax ideology and financial predators can be deadly to the interests of citizens and communities," said People For the American Way President Michael Keegan. "Right-wing anti-government and anti-union ideologues are exploiting tough economic times and taking advantage of desperate public officials. The public picks up the tab but gives up control and accountability. The public good should never be on the auction block. If citizens are not vigilant, they will end up paying a terrible long-term price for deals to plug short-term budget holes. "

Ontario’s education minister falsely creating strike panic

Aug 162012

Education, Public services

August contract expiry prompts province to threaten back-to-work legislation pre-emptively.

Coran: Why the McGuinty govt would threaten back-to-work legislation against teachers is mystifying. 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.

"She continues to create a panic in this province, implying that teachers and education workers will not be in schools at the beginning of September, and this is completely false. At the beginning of the school year, our members will be in their classrooms doing what they do best: working with the students of Ontario. Why the McGuinty government would threaten back-to-work legislation against our members is simply mystifying," he emphasized.

"We all know that our contracts expire at the end of August. However, in the past, all parties have been successful at finding negotiated solutions."

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