CFN – Healthcare workers are celebrating their success across Ontario as they take in the election results with Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals winning a majority of seats and Andrea Horwath’s NDP claiming 21 of 107.
The healthcare union had openly campaigned for members to “Stop Hudak and save healthcare” by voting for the NDP or Liberal candidate with the best chance of beating the PC candidate in each riding. Now it’s time to get back to “Sweet $16” and improving the lives of healthcare workers through the political system.
“Our next step will be immediately holding the Premier to account for her party’s promise of an across-the-board $1.50 raise for personal support workers retroactive to April 1, 2014, and another $2.50 by 2016. Homecare working conditions have been so bad for so long that PSWs are happy to be getting some recognition and increased awareness about what they do.”
“We are proud of our political action and member leadership teams’ ability to work with members on the ground to elect NDP and Liberal MPPs, helping make the Hudak name politically obsolete. Purple power!”
– Sharleen Stewart, president, SEIU Healthcare
If SEIU President Sharleen Stewart thinks it was her union that defeated the Cons she is sorely mistaken. The Cons self-imploded when Hudak made his 100k PS job cuts / 1 million jobs announcement so early in the campaign. That alone probably killed any chance they had of forming any government, be it minority or majority.
Nice! And Wynne in 2013 said she wanted to get a handle on this sort of thing. Not really a promise I guess. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/third-party-spending-tripled-in-last-ontario-election-1.1405598
During the 2011 election in Ontario, unions totaled about 6 million dollars in 3rd party advertising, probably more this time.
Unions workers chat with their union heads to see if that money could not be used on something trivial like reduced dues.
One situation we seem to have over looked with regards to the liberals.
When Kathleen was the minister of education she initiated a program similar to the Americans. The “No child left behind” rule in education.
The implementing such a program, the liberals have set forth a path of weakened education and intelligence in our children and our future.
I know some kids need to be taught differently. However by not defining expectations and showing the repercussions of not meeting them our future is doomed.
In that ideology politicians can guarantee easy victory by the nature of a dumbed down society.
Well the unions won and the citizens lost through the unions undermining of democracy.
Time to pay the keeper and it will become unaffordable to those that are not unionized.
Now with the election done how many untold millions were spent by the unions to carry favour with the new government ?
What back room deals were fortified to ensure the unions cooperation?
Watch and see the gov is broke and how is the goverment to fulfill all those promises …but then again the taxpayers have endless funds to propagate and appease those unions.
Yes the taxpayers will be on the hook for it ,you deserve the government you get.
@ Highlander. Undermining democracy by expressing an opinion? That’s a strange concept. Now, if those unions had supported Hudak, would that be okay?
Highlander: I understand your concern about unions that forced me and thousands of other people in Ontario to vote Liberal. I imagine they all got a visit from Louie the leg breaker and were told if they don’t toe the union line they would lose a part of their body. Those union types just force their views on us, members of the public, since according to people like you, we don’t have minds of our own. Those terrible unions control everything, our money, our jobs, our voting, everything. We should get rid of all unions and get rid of minimum wages and get people to work for a dollar a hour. Then we would know what we want, right? At least then we wouldn’t have those terrible unions.
btw…this is all sarcasm for such a stupid comment. Just in case your haven’t figured that out highlander.
The unions did not win, Ontario lost.
Here is some news about Joe Fontana who was a former mayor (liberal/fiberal) of London Ontario.
Joe Fontana guilty verdict proves some scandals are still punished in Ontario
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/jor
If that were the rest of us we would be put behind bars a long time ago.
@ Marc Pilote. Jimmy Hoffa’s ghost spoke to me in a dream late Wednesday night. Scared the poop out of me, so I voted Liberal the next day. I’m getting old, but I don’t want to die just yet. Those union thugs are intimidating, dead or alive.
City officials involved in scandals, payoffs, etc and being charged is not new in Ontario and Canada. It all comes out in the end.
Now they are being charged after the horse left the barn? What about Bare Ass and his scandals and (MODERATED). What a dreadful mess.
Furtz you sure are funny indeed. More of a riot.
I’m not so sure that Sharleen will be gloating once the cuts come. Wynnie will have no choice but to cut because Ontario’s creditors will not allow her to spend like a drunken Liberal anymore. As far as I’m concerned, Ontario’s voters are shallow, dimwitted and blissfully unaware of how far they have fallen. They are now Canada’s hobo, along with Quebec, demanding a cheque to pay for their folly and the West may just decide not to take it anymore. Ontario needs a Brad Wall to take it from it’s pathetic state and transform it into a success, but Ontario’s low information voters are so dumb that they will fall for every scare tactic that the Liberals threw at them. They will accept scandal over responsibility. They like the never ending credit card, but it’s about to get cut.
So now that Ontario and Quebec need handouts it’s not okay? But when other provinces needed handouts and Ontario and Quebec were picking up thew tab it was okay?
Marc & Furtz nobody is forced to vote but coerced to yes .
The union spent untold millions advertising against Hudak no question there.
Marc wrote “We should get rid of all unions and get rid of minimum wages and get people to work for a dollar a hour.”
You are a company Man(union) are you not? very evident .
Your comment is typical of union scare tactics !
There are many out there that are non union and are paid well and not making $1 hr so your logic in your statement is null and void ,but a great source fear mongering (union style).
What would you say if corporations decided to spent 100 million+ with attack adds against liberals or NDP ?
Well the unions are corporations as well but they are tax exempt, and therefor due to this status are funded by the taxpayer.
At least business corporations pay taxes! That cant be said for the union corporations!
Highlander: It is true I took the reduction to minimum wage to excess. Tim Hudak never renounced his proposal for right to work law although he certainly didn’t talk about it very much. In any case it should be noted where these laws have gone into effect in the U.S. the minimum wage is $5. So maybe $1 was a little excessive but the fact is if you passed a right to work law, pressure would build to at least match U.S. wages and the downward spiral would continue.
Your other point about being a union man. I belonged to a union up to 1993 when I lost interest in my job and we had a parting of the ways. I then had positions in non-union shops. So I have worked on both sides of the fence and, to be honest, both have their good and bad points. I won’t say one is better than the other…just different.
At the moment I am retired so I have no ax to grind.
As for business taking out attack ads, I say let them do it. The more discussion the better and business could have had attack ads by setting up third party groups. Business could have spent as much as unions.
And lastly, my whole point is that my vote would not be affected by ANY attack ad because I prefer to cast my ballot in a positive way. Give me a reason to vote FOR a candidate that I can agree with and I will vote for him regardless of what party he represents.
To suggest I could be swayed by attack ads insults my intelligence and independence and that was the main reason I was so sarcastic in my response.
@ Marc. Sadly, advertizing works be it negative or positive, especially on TV. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry for a reason. The best way to avoid the BS is to toss out your TV.
The provincial unions may regret attacking Hudak and the PC’s. Now the budget that the Fibertals presented in May will become law. Cuts are coming and they won’t be nice.
Are you serious Hugger? Tea-Party Tim made it clear over and over that he intended to pass legislation that would effectively eliminate unions in Ontario if elected.
Something has to be done about unions in Ontario, they are too powerful. It should be optional to join the union if you want to work at a certain employer.
Wynne wants to balance the budget in the next few years. PS cuts will have to be made, but made carefully, not the Hudak way.