Children's Aid Societies
Protecting Children by
Supporting Workers
With a strike vote only days away, more than 60 staff members at
Service Familiaux Jeanne Sauvé Family Services (JSFS) and their supporters took
to the streets of Kapuskasing last night to demonstrate against the crisis in
under-funding facing child protection services across northern Ontario.
At a rally afterwards at the local curling club, the
demonstrators heard from a host of regional OPSEU leaders, elected civic
officials and Local 639 members representing staff at JSFS, who attacked the
McGuinty government for its failure to provide long-term, sustainable funding
for the Children’s Aid Society.
Organizers labeled the demo and rally a huge success, with more
media coverage provided by CTV news, local newspapers and three radio stations.
The JSFS members, represented by OPSEU local 639, are scheduled to take a strike
vote on Apr. 21 to prevent further job losses and cuts to services.
JSFS faces a $211,000 operating deficit this year. Staff at
several regional offices in the Kapuskasing and Timmins area have been laid off
and more job losses are predicted. The funding shortfall has also resulted in
cuts to local programming and fears that the CAS may not be able to fulfill its
mandate under Ontario law to provide for a range of child protection services.
Smooth Rock Falls mayor Kevin Somer, a father of six, told the
crowd: “a young mind is a terrible thing to waste” and fully endorsed the
position of Local 639 in its struggle with the employer.
OPSEU regional board member Sue Brown said the fight against
cuts at the CAS in northern Ontario is simply the opening chapter in a campaign
that will sweep the province as more and more CAS offices face the prospect of
cutting staff as the only means left to balance budgets.
“We need to wake-up this government and have them recognize the
damage their cuts are doing to children and young people,” she said.
That position was reinforced by Peter Wall, a second OPSEU board
member who attended the rally. “OPSEU wholly support the position of Local 639
and this is only the beginning. We’ll take this fight across the province.”
Invited speakers David Ramsay, Liberal MPP for Timiskaming-Cochrane,
whose riding includes some of the affected CAS offices, and Lynn Berube,
executive director of JSFS, declined to attend the rally.
Timmins-James Bay NDP MPP Gilles Bisson was unable to attend, a
representative of his office read a letter from Bisson in which he expressed his
full support for members of Local 639.
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