In all my years as a union activist and leader, I’ve never seen an election like the one we’re in.
By all accounts, the choice for voters will come down to Doug Ford and the PCs, or Andrea Horwath and the NDP. When it comes to making that choice, I truly believe there is only one option: the NDP.
I’ve seen parties of all stripes at the helm, but the truth is that neither I, nor anyone in this province has seen the likes of Doug Ford. I don’t say that lightly. Doug Ford would be a disaster; he would cut billions of dollars out of our precious public services.
Independent economists have crunched Ford’s own figures, and under his reign we would lose $22 billion in provincial revenues over the next three years – revenues we need to pay for things like health care and education.
That’s a big number. But to put it in perspective, during the first four years of Mike Harris’s Conservative government in the 1990s, Ontario lost $13 billion in revenues, and we know the devastation that wreaked – costly public sector restructuring and privatization, dozens of hospital closures that devastated small and rural communities, and tens of thousands of layoffs.
Can you even imagine what $22 billion in cuts would look like under Ford? I shudder to think about it.
Well, according to one economic analysis of Ford’s plan, the combined impact of tax and spending cuts could lead to a net job loss in the range of 63,000 to 135,000 depending on how far Ford would go to balance the budget in his first three or four years.
That’s why we, as progressives, must unite.
We’ve done the work, we’ve drafted our own platform to compare our priorities with what the parties are promising. It’s become clear that the NDP are the best option to block Doug Ford, and they are the only choice for progressive Ontarians.
If 155,000 of our OPSEU members and their families all vote, we could turn the tide in this election. On June 7, let’s head to the polls focused on what’s best for our future.
In Solidarity,
Warren (Smokey) Thomas
OPSEU President
Vote Better Platform Comparison
Better Services & Economy
- End costly privatizations and P3s and reinvest that money into quality public services
Liberal: No
NDP: Yes
PC: No
Better Jobs
- Respect constitutional right to collective bargaining, and make it easier for workers to join unions
- Raise the minimum wage to $15 in 2019 and raise it by the inflation rate every year after
Liberal: ¼ – no commitment to collective bargaining and no commitment to raise wages after 2019
NDP: Yes
PC: No
Better Health Care
- Guaranteed dental care for ALL Ontarians
- Universal Pharmacare for ALL Ontarians
- Commit to a 5.3% investment increase to keep pace with health care inflation
Liberal: No
NDP: Yes
PC: No
Better Education
- Moratorium on school closures
- Convert all new student loans to grants and forgive all interest retroactively
Liberal: No
NDP: Yes
PC: No
To view OPSEU’s full platform comparison guide, click here.