Well I think we should always-always foist blame on provincial NDP parties for the last 35 year's worth of neoliberalism in Canada. It's easier that way.
Ontario Budget 2
Sun, 2012-04-15 18:40
#102
Sun, 2012-04-15 18:52
#103
What the hell are you talking about? What is unprogressive in acknowleding that there are a lot of work-a-day people who belong to a union but are not big supporters of them. When I worked in the mine I heard it all the time. Fellow workers would attack union reps and offiicals with about as equal relish as the bosses. They felt like the union was protecting older workers at their expense for instance.
I wish it wasn't so. It is totally wrong-headed. I certainly wasn't and am not that way, but if you really think that there aren't lots of workers who don't understand what they would lose without a union and how much they benefit from the dues that were paid you are very out of touch. Makes me wonder whether despite your name you've spent much time with front line workers. This is a challenge for the progressive and labour movement. Always has been, why the hell do you think the Rand formula was brought in the first place?
ETA and to prove just how out of touch you really are you conflate unionized with urban. Newsflash there are lots of unionized workers in rural Canada. Piles of them. I was one until I retired from the mine. Maybe you should hang out with those folks they'd teach you a lot about the reality of being a working person, rather than this myth you've built up. At every picket line in every communityin my area I have shown up to freely give free food from our farm to strikers whether it was my local or not. Have done this for several decades when I was living in the country, following in my father and mothers footsteps from the old NFU days. You do not have the corner on supporting the labour movement. Apparently though Unionist you do have the corner on rose-coloured glasses.
Mon, 2012-04-16 00:35
#104
In other words, we can all look forward to the same austerity program continuing under an NDP Neo-Diperal government.
That's a comforting thought. Why would I even consider voting for that?
Want something different? Find a way to get Ontario's economy growing at faster than 2% a year or find a way to get Ontarians to accept a billion-plus dollar tax increase or find a way to borrow more than planned without credit ratings agencies punishing the province. The middle option might work with some persuasion, but not in the next few weeks.
Mon, 2012-04-16 11:51
#105
LTUE, I hope the next convention is held in Northern Ontario. There, the NDP membership extends a lot further than downtown Toronto.
Mon, 2012-04-16 12:06
#106
Mon, 2012-04-16 14:22
#107
Mon, 2012-04-16 14:39
#108
M. Spector
The irony of the NDP being required to save the teachers unions from themselves has broken my latest irony meter. Here are unions that threw a lot of money at the Liberals, the English Catholic teachers union even going so far as to guarenshee members wages, yet somehow it will all be the NDPs fault. Doesn't make a lick of sense to me and I have a hard time feeling sorry for them, because I will be willing to bet dollars to donuts that if an election were to happen again, they would do the exact same thing.
Your irony meter isn't the only thing that's broken. Using the tiny OECTA leadership to tar-brush the entire teaching profession is — how shall I say it — lacking in intellectual rigour.
The 76,000-strong Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (and even its top brass) is [url=http://www.etfo.ca/MediaRoom/MediaReleases/Pages/Austerity%20Budget%20Pu... for a fight[/url] over the budget:
"Whether you’re working or not, or whether you’re unionized or not, ordinary Ontarians are being asked to take a hit that many economists say is not necessary," said ETFO President Sam Hammond. "It is investments in public infrastructure, communities, and public services that have always helped put this province on the road to economic recovery."
"With spending curtailed to below the rate of inflation, you can be sure that Ontarians will pay more user fees and encounter more eligibility barriers to social and public services than ever before," said Hammond.
"The drop in education funding to 1.7% per year, which will mostly be spent on full day kindergarten, doesn’t even keep up with the 2% inflation rate. This will mean cuts to classrooms and services. It's going to compromise special needs children, and jeopardize student safety and school cleanliness. That’s not what we want for our schools."
"The government is saying that for every dollar in revenue, it has found four dollars of savings and cost-containment measures. Those 'savings' are not savings for the people of Ontario. Cuts to vital public services built with our tax dollars are being used to pay for a deficit that working people did not create."
"Given that financial sector speculation, the global recession, and the subsequent bail-out of companies created the deficit, this government has steadfastly refused to address the revenue side of the equation," said Hammond. [b]"Ontario doesn’t have a spending problem; it has a revenue problem. Even though the government will freeze further corporate tax cuts in this budget, the province has continued to lose $16 billion in revenue each year because of its failure to reverse the tax cuts of the Harris era."[/b]
"Public sector wages have steadily declined since 1981 as a share of provincial spending. And by its own admission, Ontario will continue to spend less per capita overall than any other province," said Hammond. "Yet this budget will unnecessarily cause the loss of thousands of good jobs through cuts and privatization initiatives in infrastructure, health services, and Service Ontario."
Mon, 2012-04-16 14:54
#109
Catchfire
Long thread.
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