Having lost one battle in their effort to shutter rural and northern ServiceOntario centres, the Ontario Liberals have changed tactics. Rather than closing them outright, they will reduce operating hours.
That’s the strategy in Ignace, a township of 1,200 people in northwestern Ontario. The government says it will cut weekly hours at the town’s ServiceOntario centre from 40 to 14.
Local OPSEU members are leaping to their town’s defence. The fightback will start on November 29, when Local 727 President John Coady presents a resolution to Ignace Township Council.
“The motion urges all Ontarians concerned about fairness and decency to contact Premier Kathleen Wynne and Government Services Minister David Orazietti and tell them to halt any plans to reduce hours at our ServiceOntario centre,” said Coady. “Otherwise, two full time staff will be reduced to one seven-hour shift each and two on-call employees will end up on the breadline.
“Treating these dedicated workers so shabbily is unworthy of the Ontario government,” he continued. “It should be a model for employee relations in the province.”
The government’s plan will hurt the whole community, OPSEU Region 7 Vice-President Carl Thibodeau says. “The people of Ignace are feeling sucker-punched. The closest ServiceOntario centre is 110 kilometres away in Dryden. This will not only hurt the public: local business owners are terrified a limited ability to get fishing and hunting licences will spell doom for their operations.”
Thibodeau said the virtual closing would put the town’s whole future at risk. “Ignace is already struggling,” he said. “Public facilities like a ServiceOntario centre bestow a sense of identity and substance on small communities. It makes them stronger.
“Cutting back on public services sends the wrong signal.”
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas affirmed the union’s unconditional support for publicly operated ServiceOntario centres in every corner of the province. “The people of Ignace want, need, and deserve full-time public services,” he said, “and we’re going to fight hard to ensure the lights stay on at the ServiceOntario centre five days a week.
“Endangering the survival of a small town to save a few bucks is just incredibly short-sighted,” he continued. “Unfortunately, the Liberals can’t see beyond the numbers on a balance sheet. But governing is not a business, and providing public services is not a line item expense – it’s an investment in people.”
Thomas said the Premier and her government were completely out of touch with the needs and aspirations of ordinary people. “It’s time they got their noses out of corporate brochures,” he said, “and started talking to Ontarians on Main Street – not just bankers on Bay Street.”