Political theatre at Queen’s Park
March 25, 2010
Dear sisters and brothers:
A government budget is usually a political statement dressed
up as a financial document. The March 25 Ontario budget was no exception.
We already knew, or could guess, what was going to be in it.
The Throne Speech and various media leaks drew a pretty good sketch. But one
thing in the budget was actually news: the McGuinty government will stop new
funding for future wage increases for the people it pays. People like OPSEU
members.
The Liberals won’t try to re-open existing contracts or
impose unpaid “Dalton Days.” Instead, they just won’t give public sector
employers any money to pay people more.
If you are heading into bargaining, the budget means you’ll
be offered a pay cut. That’s because a zero per cent increase is actually a
two per cent decrease, after inflation. And if you won’t accept a cut in
pay, there’s always the layoff option.
You may think, “Well, if the budget is all about restraint,
I guess this is what happens.” But the budget isn’t about restraint. In
fact, a quick look at the numbers shows that government spending will rise
by over $8 billion this year. That amounts to an overall increase of
6.9 per cent.
Granted, much of this money will go to good things. There’s
money for daycare. For training and education. For more Employment Standards
Auditors to catch bad employers who cheat their workers. That’s all good.
But if this budget is not a restraint budget, then why cut back on the
salaries of the public servants who, according to Finance Minister Dwight
Duncan, “make a valuable contribution to the health and well-being of this
province”?
It’s not like the money saved will amount to much. According
to the minister, it’s $750 million over two years. That may sound like a
lot, but it’s barely a third of what he’ll give the boys in the boardrooms
when his corporate income tax cut takes effect July 1.
In effect, the minister is saying that the worker who takes
the bus to her job as a $20,000-a-year casual at the LCBO is responsible for
the deficit, while the guy who drives his BMW to a $950-a-plate McGuinty
fundraiser is not.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Public sector wages in Ontario are far from being too high.
Our overall public spending is the second-lowest of any province or
territory in Canada.
Corporate taxes in this province are not too high. They are
the same as U.S. rates.
But polling shows that many voters believe our spending is
too high, and many believe corporate tax cuts create jobs. (In fact, they
are one of the least effective things a government can do to create jobs.)
People believe these things because it is what they are
told, day after day, by corporate-owned think tanks, right-wing bloggers,
and the conservative news editors who support an employer’s agenda, not a
people’s agenda. But just because people believe something doesn’t make it
true.
Public employees are not the only victims of this budget.
More than 600,000 poor Ontarians scraping by on social
assistance and Ontario Disability Support will see their meager incomes cut
by inflation. Over 300,000 of these will lose the special diet allowance
they used to buy nutritious food. Apparently they too are to blame for the
deficit.
Despite the global recession, we live in a province that is
wealthy. Yet the way that wealth is shared is increasingly unfair. The
budget makes scarcely any mention of the workers, private and public, who
are struggling to get by on low-paid, part-time, temporary jobs. The budget
offers no hope for the poor. And it does little for the hundreds of
thousands of people – including children, for goodness sake – who need, but
can’t get, the vital public services we provide.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: a compassionate
society is possible. A fair society is possible.
But it will never happen until those of us who aren’t part
of the “in” crowd at Queen’s Park build our power and become players in the
political theatre that takes place there.
In the 18 months between now and the next election, we’ve
got a lot of work to do – in our workplaces, at our bargaining tables, and
in our communities.
The 2010 budget is just the beginning of that work.
In solidarity,
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
To visit the 2010 Ontario budget,
click here.
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