Ontario's Premier Doesn't Get It.

It would seem the McGuinty Liberal government at Queens Park is completely incapable of acting in the best interest of anyone besides public sector unions. Considering this government was ostensibly elected to represent the interests of ALL Ontarians, their willingness to throw around tax money to OPSEU, to the OPP, and now to Ontario's prison guards is appalling.

With Ontario's deficits stuck well into double digit billions, it should be clear to anyone with half a clue that the government has to stop increasing spending, and start reducing it.

Bob Rae realized this about halfway through his single term as Premier, and the result was Rae Days. For all that, though, he was incapable of reducing government spending significantly, and as a result was soundly thrashed in the 1995 provincial election which elected the Progressive Conservatives under Mike Harris. This government kept it's promises, and massively reduced government expenditures during the following years, while simultaneously cutting taxes. The result was a span of strong economic growth in Ontario.

But a departure from the decisive government of the late 1990s by the PCs in the early 2000s led to an increase in government expenditures, and a picture of a government that had lost touch with it's raison d'etre. The result was a Liberal victory in the 2003 election, highlighted by Liberal promises of a balanced budget, no new taxes or tax increases, and labour peace between the government and public sector unions.

What did Ontario get? Labour peace, but only because the Liberals gave away the farm to public sector unions. As a result, even with the Liberals early on breaking their promise not to increase or add taxes with the health care tax, health care in Ontario is a disaster, literally threatening the lives of Ontarians. Other tax increases followed, but Ontario is now a fiscal basket case, a “have not” province with a standard of living underneath the national average for the first time since Confederation.

Consider: are you any better off today than you were in 2003? Do you feel any more confident about the future than you did then? Do you think our healthcare system will be there for your children like it is for you? I doubt most Ontarians will answer any of these in the affirmative.

As we move closer to the fall election, the question Ontarians need to begin considering is this: can Ontario afford another four years under Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals?

Ontario gave secret wage hike to public-sector workers, documents allege - The Globe and Mail

By Karen Howlett - from the Globe and Mail

The Ontario government struck a “secret deal” with the province’s largest public-sector union, awarding its members an additional wage increase of 1 per cent for 2012, according to documents revealed Wednesday at a labour board hearing.

The revelation that the 38,000 workers received a quiet wage top-up in a contract spanning a fixed election date is likely to draw criticism from the opposition. The previously undisclosed deal also calls into question other wage settlements with public-sector employees. At least one union says it treated the public version of the OPSEU agreement as a benchmark.

Documents entered at a hearing before the Ontario Labour Relations Board reveal that the government agreed to pay the “adjustment” to 38,000 members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, on top of a scheduled wage increase of 2 per cent for 2012.

The documents were presented after Diane Gee, chairwoman of the hearing, rejected the government’s request to permanently seal correspondence outlining the across-the-board adjustment, which was over and above a four-year collective agreement reached between OPSEU and the government in December, 2008.

The government agreed to top up the wages for OPSEU members 15 months before it called for a voluntary wage freeze for teachers, nurses and other public-sector workers who bargain collectively, according to the documents. Public-sector unions and arbitrators have all but ignored that request.

Government lawyers argued that there would be “significant detrimental impact” on labour relations if confidential agreements or undertakings were disclosed.

“Confidential agreements are of paramount significance in labour relations and have proven to be a highly productive means by which to resolve difficult issues,” the government’s written submission says.

Ms. Gee disagreed and asserted that open proceedings are a cornerstone of Canada's justice system. “Sealing evidence heard and considered in a legal proceeding is antithetical to openness and transparency,” she said in her written decision.

The deal for extra pay is spelled out in letters from an official in the Ministry of Government Services to the chief negotiator for OPSEU. In a letter dated Dec. 24, 2008, the ministry official says the government appreciates the union’s approach to labour relations and the atmosphere of “mutual trust” that helps to resolve issues and problems.

“The parties recognize the current economic climate poses significant challenges to government,” the letter says.

In a second, unsigned letter with a hand-written date of Dec. 23, 2008, the ministry official says the 1-per-cent adjustment will not be part of the collective agreement, but that OPSEU can file a grievance if the top-up payment is not implemented.  Read more...

Ontario gave secret wage hike to public-sector workers, documents allege - The Globe and Mail