Government and Democracy

By Navjeet Sidhu, National Representative, Research Department

As Ontario heads towards a June 2nd election, there are increasing concerns regarding the growing lack of income security and affordability in the province.

Members,

Premier Ford tabled a so-called provincial budget on Thursday April 28, essentially introducing a campaign document that will never be debated or adopted by the provincial legislature.

That’s because this Wednesday, May 4 is the first day of the 2022 Ontario provincial election.

Reports the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is about to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that protects a woman’s bodily autonomy in choosing to have a safe abortion, have sent a shockwave around the world.

Our collective grasp on women’s rights is frail, even, clearly, in countries that view themselves as world leaders. Generations of women have had to fight against the systematic and purposeful erosion of the ability to exercise our freedom of choice. There is perhaps no greater symbol of lost ground on our basic freedoms than the impending defeat of Roe v. Wade.

REGINA—Unifor has re-issued its call for the Saskatchewan government to immediately increase minimum wage to at least $15 per hour to match neighbouring Alberta.

“Premier Scott Moe has kept Saskatchewan’s minimum wage artificially low,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director. “Something is wrong when working full-time for the minimum wage in Saskatchewan doesn’t get you above the poverty line.”

Journalism is under attack - literally and figuratively, and that makes freedom of the press more relevant and important today than it ever has been.

Totalitarian regimes and terrorists are attacking and even killing journalists. Right-wing politicians and online harassers are abusing and harassing journalists, police forces are arresting journalists for just doing their jobs and social media platforms are implicit in inciting harassment and spreading misinformation to make it harder to discern the truth.

TORONTO-  Premier Ford’s faux provincial budget, tabled today in the Legislature, missed the mark for workers, forming a weak foundation to the Progressive Conservatives’ election platform.

Unifor members from across Ontario met in Toronto April 25 and 26 to train and plan for the upcoming provincial election.

Members are booked off from work to canvass members in target ridings in the provincial election to support the union’s goal of preventing a second Doug Ford majority government.

Ontario Regional Director Naureen Rizvi kicked off the day by highlighting the importance of this election, especially in order to represent the workers who have been targeted and let down by Ford over the last several years.

Premier Andrew Furey’s new budget is titled “Change is in the Air,” but it’s still unclear if his government is blowing towards implementing additional damaging PERT report recommendations or towards a fair and inclusive economic recovery for all.

Budget 2022 indicates the government is ready to make some significant transformations, but not yet ready to decide which direction that change will lead. I’m left with more questions than answers about which path they will choose or if they will opt to do the bare minimum on both – essentially sticking with the status quo.