Lest we forget

In the fog of the 2008 war over the fiscal update delivered by everyone's least favourite government, most of us remember the brouhaha over the funding of federal political parties. The Cons still try to make hay with their continuing use of the coalition terms. Scary thought, wasn't it? Parliamentarians working together on the Hill. What could be scarier than cooperative politicians, ask the Cons?

Well in that fog there were two very important initiatives that the voters in Nepean Carleton should remember -- and ask PP about during the next election.

This is a direct quote from their economic update: "As indicated in the Speech from the Throne, the Government is introducing legislation to ensure predictability of federal public sector compensation during this difficult economic period."

What, you ask, does that mean? Here is another quote, "For groups with collective agreements already covering 2008–09, the 1.5 per cent would apply for the remainder of the three-year period starting at the anniversary date of the collective agreement." What that means is that collective bargaining for civil servants was being suspended and a 1.5% increase was being imposed. Sounds a bit like wage control, doesn't it?

But the piece de resistance was this gem. "In addition, the legislation would suspend the right to strike on wages through 2010–11."

And you still want to vote for the Cons?

The second issue forgotten in the coalition talk was this little tidbit from the economic update: "the Government will introduce legislation to modernize the pay equity regime for federal public sector employees,...". This was a sneaky attempt by the Cons to rid themselves of the pay equity issue by putting onus on the collective bargaining system to solve their problem. Let me explain it this way. If you are a char-lady making $8.00 per hour and you do work deemed the same value as the street sweeper who makes $9.00 per hour, you could appeal to the government for equal pay for work of equal value. The problem is who could figure out what work is as valuable as another job? Well the government wants to make that a union issue. Fine and dandy, as long as the government negotiators accept the union's determinations.

For example, what if the union says that the street sweepers are equivalent to, say, electric engineers who are cleaning up the tritium spill from the reactor floors at Chalk River? Does that mean the the government accepts the argument that the street sweepers should get a raise to $70 per hour? And with them go the char-ladies? Betcha the answer is no.

Before the nest election, public servants, and all Canadians, will want to look closely at what the Cons have been doing to Canada and Canadians. They protected the pensions of the CAW by bailing out GM and Chrysler, but the said "Piss off" to Nortel pensioners.  They protected the assets of the US-owned car companies but turned their back on technological innovations at Nortel that have been paid for by Canadians.

This is a shameful government -- and you should see it as just that.