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“The lesson of the Mike Harris era is that cuts to public services hurt us all,” said Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) President Warren (Smokey) Thomas.
Toronto (20 July 2011) – The Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty issued the first layoff notices on June 14 in what will become the biggest wave of job losses in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) since the Mike Harris era.
“The lesson of the Mike Harris era is that cuts to public services hurt us all,” said Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) President Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “In 2003, Dalton McGuinty was elected to turn the page on eight years of destructive cuts that led to the systemic collapse of many public services and contributed directly to the death of seven people in the Walkerton water tragedy."
“Those who ignore history are destined to repeat it,” Thomas said. “These layoffs and the ones to come will hurt Ontario.”
The 274 layoff notices issued today are the start of a process that will cut 1,900 jobs between now and March 2012.
Among the program cuts are several that will jeopardize public finances and public safety, including:
- the province will stop verifying that local governments delivering millions of dollars in social assistance are doing so in accordance with legislation;
- the province will cut staffing that monitors collection agencies by 20 per cent; and
- there will be 57 layoffs in the Ministry of Environment which will cut technical expertise in water safety and air quality.
Programs helping businesses, protecting consumers and supporting adults with developmental disabilities will be hit hardest in this first wave of cuts.
“Today is the first of many dark days ahead for the dedicated employees of Ontario’s public service,” Thomas said. “We will use all resources at our disposal to fight back. We will make these cuts an election issue.”
More information:
Backgrounder: Job cuts in the Ontario Public Service
OPSEU Cuts hurt us all website
NUPGE All Together Now! campaign for quality public services and tax fairness
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE