Latest news with #FordConservatives
Business Wire
6 days ago
- Politics
- Business Wire
Respect Indigenous Rights and Withdraw Opposition to Bill C-61, CUPE Ontario Tells Ford Conservatives
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CUPE Ontario is calling on the Ford Conservatives to rescind a letter co-signed by Ontario Environment Minister Todd McCarthy, who asked his federal counterpart to prioritize development and competitiveness over clean, safe drinking water for Indigenous communities. After the federal Liberals signalled plans to re-introduce Bill C-61 – legislation meant to guarantee First Nations communities' access to clean drinking water – both McCarthy and the environment minister for Alberta wrote to the federal environment minister, asking her to refrain from going ahead with the bill. Bill C-61 died when Parliament was prorogued earlier this year. 'Minister McCarthy can call it 'confusion,' but he put his request in writing to the federal environment minister and he has yet to withdraw it,' said CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. 'Indigenous leaders have called for the minister to resign, and our union supports their demand. 'But Premier Ford must also intervene to rescind the letter officially, as part of the government's effort to correct this deeply troubling misstep.' Hahn pointed out that, time and time again, 'the Ford Conservatives deny the human rights of Indigenous people and communities, and this attitude is born out of nothing more than ingrained environmental racism.' 'CUPE members are among those who work to provide clean drinking water in cities and towns across Ontario,' he continued. 'Would Minister McCarthy threaten the drinking water of residents of Bowmanville or Burlington, or any other town or city, in the name of competitiveness? No. Apologies notwithstanding, the minister has undermined decades of advocacy by Indigenous people to secure safe reliable drinking water for their families and communities.' As CUPE's Water Is Life campaign asserts, access to clean water is not a privilege, but a right that should be afforded equally to everyone in Canada. 'We've already seen the Ford Conservatives impose legislation that is harmful to Indigenous communities,' said Dawn Bellerose, past leader of CUPE's National Indigenous Council and a vice-president on CUPE Ontario's executive board. 'This time, they are attempting to block legislation that would benefit Indigenous communities. The ongoing lack of respect is insulting and hurtful. This government needs to do better, and I support the call of Anishinabek Nation Grand Counsil Chief Linda Debassige for the minister's resignation.' Jennifer Smith, chair of the CUPE Ontario Indigenous Council, said: 'Too many First Nations communities in Ontario have boil-water advisories that are decades old. Indigenous communities continue to live with the impacts on the health, well being and futures of their people. Bill C-61 would help end this particular brand of environmental racism, but the Ford Conservatives are hoping to see it flourish. It's immoral, and we add our voice to those demanding respect, equity and true recognition of Indigenous sovereignty.' cj/cope491
National Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- National Post
Respect Indigenous Rights and Withdraw Opposition to Bill C-61, CUPE Ontario Tells Ford Conservatives
Article content TORONTO — CUPE Ontario is calling on the Ford Conservatives to rescind a letter co-signed by Ontario Environment Minister Todd McCarthy, who asked his federal counterpart to prioritize development and competitiveness over clean, safe drinking water for Indigenous communities. Article content After the federal Liberals signalled plans to re-introduce Bill C-61 – legislation meant to guarantee First Nations communities' access to clean drinking water – both McCarthy and the environment minister for Alberta wrote to the federal environment minister, asking her to refrain from going ahead with the bill. Bill C-61 died when Parliament was prorogued earlier this year. Article content 'Minister McCarthy can call it 'confusion,' but he put his request in writing to the federal environment minister and he has yet to withdraw it,' said CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. 'Indigenous leaders have called for the minister to resign, and our union supports their demand. Article content 'But Premier Ford must also intervene to rescind the letter officially, as part of the government's effort to correct this deeply troubling misstep.' Article content Hahn pointed out that, time and time again, 'the Ford Conservatives deny the human rights of Indigenous people and communities, and this attitude is born out of nothing more than ingrained environmental racism.' Article content 'CUPE members are among those who work to provide clean drinking water in cities and towns across Ontario,' he continued. 'Would Minister McCarthy threaten the drinking water of residents of Bowmanville or Burlington, or any other town or city, in the name of competitiveness? No. Apologies notwithstanding, the minister has undermined decades of advocacy by Indigenous people to secure safe reliable drinking water for their families and communities.' Article content As CUPE's Water Is Life campaign asserts, access to clean water is not a privilege, but a right that should be afforded equally to everyone in Canada. Article content 'We've already seen the Ford Conservatives impose legislation that is harmful to Indigenous communities,' said Dawn Bellerose, past leader of CUPE's National Indigenous Council and a vice-president on CUPE Ontario's executive board. 'This time, they are attempting to block legislation that would benefit Indigenous communities. The ongoing lack of respect is insulting and hurtful. This government needs to do better, and I support the call of Anishinabek Nation Grand Counsil Chief Linda Debassige for the minister's resignation.' Article content Jennifer Smith, chair of the CUPE Ontario Indigenous Council, said: 'Too many First Nations communities in Ontario have boil-water advisories that are decades old. Indigenous communities continue to live with the impacts on the health, well being and futures of their people. Bill C-61 would help end this particular brand of environmental racism, but the Ford Conservatives are hoping to see it flourish. It's immoral, and we add our voice to those demanding respect, equity and true recognition of Indigenous sovereignty.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
National Post
03-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
CUPE Ontario Delegates Unanimously Call for Ford's Bill 5 to Be Scrapped
Article content TORONTO — Nearly a thousand voting delegates at CUPE Ontario's annual convention last week unanimously adopted an emergency resolution to oppose and defeat the Ford Conservatives' Bill 5, currently being rushed through the legislature and into law. Article content Bill 5 will give Doug Ford and his cabinet the power to create, with the stroke of a pen, no-law 'Special Economic Zones' anywhere in the province. Article content CUPE Ontario convention delegates specifically condemned Schedule 9 of this overreaching and antidemocratic omnibus bill as posing grave threats to workers' rights, Indigenous sovereignty, environmental protections, and public accountability. Article content Delegates to the convention came from thousands of workplaces across the province: municipal services, hospitals, long-term care and health care, schools, universities and libraries, as well as a wide variety in social services, including child care, child protection agencies, community supports for persons with developmental disabilities, services for the Deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing, supportive housing, and injured workers' compensation. Article content 'Just three months ago, a minority of eligible Ontarians – only 45 percent – showed up to vote in the provincial election, and it was the votes of merely one in five people that gave Doug Ford's Conservatives a majority of seats in our provincial legislature,' observed Fred Hahn, developmental services worker and president of CUPE Ontario. 'If this isn't a weak mandate, I don't know what is. Article content 'Nothing that Premier Ford told you or me during the election campaign gives him license to consolidate more power for himself and his cabinet ministers – and especially not to eliminate environmental protections, disrespect First Nations, and suspend workers' basic rights. But that's what Bill 5 will do. It's a Trump-style power grab by Doug Ford, who said he'd protect us from the anti-Canadian authoritarian in the White House. Article content 'With Doug Ford's Greenbelt corruption scandal still under active police investigation and his wage-suppressing Bill 124 overturned by the courts at significant expense to the public, we encourage Conservative MPPs to urge their colleagues in cabinet to scrap Bill 5 now.' Article content CUPE Ontario unites 290,000 frontline public sector workers throughout Canada's largest province whose labour underpins every cent of economic growth here. Their 61st annual CUPE Ontario convention began on Wednesday in Toronto and wrapped up Saturday morning. Article content The full text of CUPE Ontario's resolution to oppose Bill 5: Article content CUPE Ontario's Resolution to Oppose and Defeat Bill 5 CUPE Ontario will launch a comprehensive, province-wide campaign—uniting all parts of our union with community and labour allies—to vigorously oppose and defeat Bill 5. This campaign will include: Article content Educating Ontarians about the serious threats posed by the bill's Special Economic Zone (SEZ) provisions, which give Cabinet unchecked power to suspend or amend any law, directly undermining vital labour protections such as the Employment Standards Act, Labour Relations Act, and Occupational Health and Safety Act. Mobilizing our members to raise public awareness about the dangers of a two-tier system that would erode working conditions for all. Building the broadest possible coalition to demand the immediate and full withdrawal of this dangerous legislation. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
National Post
15-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
A budget of smoke, mirrors and spin won't protect Ontario jobs in the tariff wars: CUPE Ontario
Article content TORONTO — The province's largest union condemned the failure of the Ford Conservatives' budget to meet Ontarians' needs with a dramatic expansion of public services that would build communities, create jobs and improve lives. Article content Article content 'Doug Ford still masquerades as Captain Canada. But as far as Ontarians are concerned, 'elbows up' should be about public services, the opportunities they provide and the jobs they create,' said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario. The union represents 290,000 public sector workers in the province. Article content A recent public opinion poll commissioned by CUPE Ontario showed that Ontarians wanted more funding for public services, an end to health-care privatization, higher corporate taxes to fund vital services, and more job creation through expanded public services. Article content 'To meet the challenges of layoffs, tariffs, and trade wars, the Ford Conservatives have relegated their job creation to tax credits for manufacturers, WSIB rebates for employers, special economic zones, the second-lowest corporate tax rates in the country, and ever-growing contingency and reserve funds. Article content 'But not one of these measures guarantees that a single job will be created. In fact, time after time we've seen business spend this kind of no-strings-attached largesse from government on executive bonuses, stock buybacks and higher dividends for shareholders. And for every 1 per cent drop in the corporate tax rate, the government has $1.9 billion less to spend on services.' Article content Hahn compared this 'vision board' approach from the Ford Conservatives to the benefits of investment in public services: 'The only way for the government to guarantee a job is created is to create one in the public sector. And because the public sector has been starved for years, the need – and the funding – is there. Article content 'This budget follows the pattern the Conservatives have used for years, where they hoard money in contingency funds. But that's not spending, it's not job creation, and it's not good economic planning.' Article content One in five workers in Ontario works in a public sector job; the number increases to one in four when federal public service and municipal jobs are included in the count. Article content 'Like every other budget the Ford government has produced, this one is smoke, mirrors and spin. Only this time it's using the cover of tariffs and trade wars to cover its unwillingness to invest in the things that make life better and more affordable for Ontarians – schools, hospitals, health care, social services, university, stronger municipalities,' said Hahn. 'For the past seven years, we've been hearing the same thing – there's record spending, we're freeing up the economy, life is good. But we talk to each other and to our friends, and families, we know life isn't good, it's deteriorating, and people know their public services are getting worse.' Article content Hahn pointed to indicators, like the fact that 1 in every 16 people rely on food banks in Ontario, or 1 in 7 don't have a family doctor, or hospitals are closing down emergency rooms in record numbers. Article content 'This budget was the Ford government's opportunity to make life better for workers, and they singularly failed in that task. People in Ontario need jobs now; the government has the power to create them. It just needs the will.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
Business Wire
15-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
A budget of smoke, mirrors and spin won't protect Ontario jobs in the tariff wars: CUPE Ontario
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The province's largest union condemned the failure of the Ford Conservatives' budget to meet Ontarians' needs with a dramatic expansion of public services that would build communities, create jobs and improve lives. 'Doug Ford still masquerades as Captain Canada. But as far as Ontarians are concerned, 'elbows up' should be about public services, the opportunities they provide and the jobs they create,' said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario. The union represents 290,000 public sector workers in the province. A recent public opinion poll commissioned by CUPE Ontario showed that Ontarians wanted more funding for public services, an end to health-care privatization, higher corporate taxes to fund vital services, and more job creation through expanded public services. 'To meet the challenges of layoffs, tariffs, and trade wars, the Ford Conservatives have relegated their job creation to tax credits for manufacturers, WSIB rebates for employers, special economic zones, the second-lowest corporate tax rates in the country, and ever-growing contingency and reserve funds. 'But not one of these measures guarantees that a single job will be created. In fact, time after time we've seen business spend this kind of no-strings-attached largesse from government on executive bonuses, stock buybacks and higher dividends for shareholders. And for every 1 per cent drop in the corporate tax rate, the government has $1.9 billion less to spend on services.' Hahn compared this 'vision board' approach from the Ford Conservatives to the benefits of investment in public services: 'The only way for the government to guarantee a job is created is to create one in the public sector. And because the public sector has been starved for years, the need – and the funding – is there. 'This budget follows the pattern the Conservatives have used for years, where they hoard money in contingency funds. But that's not spending, it's not job creation, and it's not good economic planning.' One in five workers in Ontario works in a public sector job; the number increases to one in four when federal public service and municipal jobs are included in the count. 'Like every other budget the Ford government has produced, this one is smoke, mirrors and spin. Only this time it's using the cover of tariffs and trade wars to cover its unwillingness to invest in the things that make life better and more affordable for Ontarians – schools, hospitals, health care, social services, university, stronger municipalities,' said Hahn. 'For the past seven years, we've been hearing the same thing – there's record spending, we're freeing up the economy, life is good. But we talk to each other and to our friends, and families, we know life isn't good, it's deteriorating, and people know their public services are getting worse.' Hahn pointed to indicators, like the fact that 1 in every 16 people rely on food banks in Ontario, or 1 in 7 don't have a family doctor, or hospitals are closing down emergency rooms in record numbers. 'This budget was the Ford government's opportunity to make life better for workers, and they singularly failed in that task. People in Ontario need jobs now; the government has the power to create them. It just needs the will.'
