FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2001

Bill 25: accountability lost as Cabinet powers handed off to private sector

TORONTO - Private contractors could be awarded Cabinet-level powers over public employees under a new law being debated at Queen’s Park tonight, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union warns.

Bill 25, the Public Sector Statute Law Amendment Act, would allow Cabinet, via its Deputy Ministers, to delegate its power to make workplace rules to “any public servant,” “any class of public servant,” or “another person or persons.”

The new rules could not override collective agreements, but their effects could drastically change the lives of many public employees, both union and non-union. Bill 25 would let Deputy Ministers make private contractors “the boss” over public employees, with the power to hire, fire, and discipline public employees.

“By opening the door to an unprecedented private sector invasion, Bill 25 attacks the dream of an accountable, impartial public service acting in the public interest,” said OPSEU president Leah Casselman. “As more and more private bosses come into the public service, lines of accountability will be increasingly confused. A private company is accountable above all to its shareholders, not to government. At the same time, private bosses will create situations where managers have a vested interest in particular policies. The job of public employees is to act in the public interest, not in the interest of particular individuals or groups.”

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For more information: Randy Robinson (416) 448-7441