October 10, 2012 - Vol. 2 No. 2

Opposition to Austerity Agenda in Ontario

Campaign to Repeal Putting Students First Act and Oppose All Anti-Worker Legislation

In the Legislature
• More Anti-Worker Legislation

Campaign to Repeal Putting Students First Act!
• Teachers, Education Workers and Students Persist in Their Fight
• Petitions Launched to Repeal Legislation
• Strike Votes Continue to Show Opposition to Government Dictate
• School Board Motion Opposes the Act
• Thousands of Students Demand Liberals "Kill the Bill"

The Pension Fight Must Be Won!
• Public Sector Workers Denounce Government's Attack on Pensions and Fraudulent Accounting
• Phony Consultations Used to Clear Way for Anti-Public Sector Pension Legislation
• Public Sector Pension Super-Fund Scheme

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• Jane-Finch Community Action - Pritilata Waddedar
• Coming Events

Sisters in Spirit Vigils
• Toronto and Ottawa Vigils Break the Silence on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women

In the Legislature

More Anti-Worker Legislation

Anti-worker bills are being presented to the Legislature at a rapid pace. The Liberal government and opposition Progressive Conservatives are introducing more legislation to take away collective bargaining rights and impose ministerial powers to dictate terms and conditions of workers' lives. Old arrangements based on collective bargaining that were already in the interests of employers are being stripped and revamped through arbitrary powers of ministers and commissions to further entrench employers' interests. It is important for workers to have common information and discuss this legislation and how the anti-social neo-liberal agenda is being imposed as a first step to oppose it.

Last week, Ontario Political Forum reported on the Protecting Public Services Act that would pass a continued wage freeze on non-unionized public sector workers and change collective bargaining for unionized workers in the same sector. For the latter, the draft legislation would also give the Minister power to impose conditions for negotiated contracts including wage restraints and veto power over agreed contracts. The Minister would also have the ability to nullify an arbitrator's decision. The draft of this legislation was published by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan on September 26, and was not originally introduced to the Ontario Legislative Assembly as a bill and does not appear on the list of current bills before the Legislature (see the website of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario under "Bills and Lawmaking"). It shows the secrecy with which the current government operates.

Changes to arbitration are also the objective of the Progressive Conservative's private member's Bill 121, the Ability to Pay Act, 2012, which deals with workers in "essential services" such as health care, emergency services and the Toronto Transit Commission. Bill 121 seeks to give the Minister of Labour new powers to appoint arbitrators and bind their decisions to government considerations. McGuinty made it clear in the Legislature that his government would not support the bill and instead introduced legislation similar to the Protecting Public Services Act. This not only demonstrates the lack of opposition in the Legislature to anti-worker legislation but also the factional infighting over who will best serve the interests of the monopolies and other private interests.

Bill 70, the Trust in Arbitration Act, 2012, which passed first reading on April 18, is also before the Legislature. It is also a private member's bill introduced by the Progressive Conservatives. It too reveals an anti-worker agenda and and would increase the concentration of powers in the hands of Cabinet and ministers by establishing a commission to oversee collective bargaining disputes and arbitration. The explanatory note for the bill states:

"The Trust in Arbitration Act, 2012 is enacted. The Act creates the Independent Arbitrators Commission and provides that certain collective bargaining disputes in the public sector shall be resolved by the Commission. In particular, the Act specifies that disputes between parties respecting matters for which a conciliation officer has been unable to effect a collective agreement under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, the Ontario Provincial Police Collective Bargaining Act, 2006 or the Police Services Act shall be resolved by the Commission. Power is given to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to prescribe other disputes that are to be resolved by the Commission."

The Act gives the commission a number of powers: from the appointment of a chief commissioner and panel to the type of dispute resolution to be used (e.g,. conciliation, mediation). Furthermore, a decision of the chief commissioner or panel is final and binding upon the parties and upon the persons and organizations represented by the parties. The extent of the commission's power is such that:

"No order, assignment, designation, decision or ruling of the chief commissioner, the deputy chief, a commissioner or a panel and no rule or policy statement of the Commission shall be questioned or reviewed in any court. No order shall be made or process entered, or proceedings taken in any court, whether by way of injunction, declaratory judgment, certiorari, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto, or otherwise, to question, review, prohibit or restrain the chief commissioner, the deputy chief, a commissioner or a panel or any proceedings under this Act."

Revealing the lengths to which the anti-worker legislation goes, the McGuinty government is also moving to make changes to public sector pensions. Under the guise of a "consultation process" it is seeking to further erode the dignity of workers in the form of a guaranteed retirement in the future. The planned changes include a reduction of employer pension contributions on plans where workers have negotiated paying less than 50 per cent of costs and reduced benefits to cover any plan deficits. In other words, the combined changes mean regression for workers in the form of reduced future benefits and less responsibility for employers in the form of lower contributions.

The failure of the political arrangements including the Legislature and its political parties to uphold public right in a modern sense is no longer a concern but a reality. Workers and people in Ontario are in a position where they cannot rely on old arrangements to defend their rights or organize society in a way that is modern and upholds the rights of all. Together they must continue to assess the situation and implement their own agenda on a planned basis. This is the continued work to build the independent politics of the working class which is at the forefront of building a modern society.

Campaign to Repeal Putting Students First Act!

Teachers, Education Workers and Students
Persist in Their Fight

Walkout of Windsor area high school students, October 3, 2012.

During the past week teachers, education workers and students have persisted in their fight to oppose government dictate as expressed in the Putting Students First Act. Through their actions the necessity to hold the government to account for its anti-worker, anti-social actions is coming to the fore.

Since the government adopted the Putting Students First Act, teachers and education workers are expected to accept without comment or opposition the government's austerity agenda. The teachers and education workers, however, have no say over the economy or what causes its crises and failure, let alone the alleged remedies in the form of measures the teachers must accept in the name of this or that high ideal. The government hopes to keep them in this passive position from which they have no hope of participating with others to find a new direction for the economy or to engage in actions with analysis and practical politics to defend their rights, the rights of all and public education.

The teachers and educators are not willing to passively accept the fate the government and others have in store for them. They are opposing the government dictate and starting a campaign to demand the repeal of the Act.

It is clear that the effects of the austerity agenda are all negative for their working conditions, salaries, pensions and the system of public education. Many also understand that these measures will not resolve the economic crisis either because they are just self-serving means of achieving a self-serving aim, they have nothing to do with analyzing the causes of the economic crisis and providing solutions.

For the information of its readers, Ontario Political Forum continues to report on some of the latest developments across the province. We call on the teachers and education workers to persist in making themselves heard, and on workers from all sectors of the economy to join them. Starting with the teachers and education workers, the McGuinty government has now proceeded with its wrecking of the broader public sector while the Hudak Conservatives are vying with them to prove themselves even more able champions of the ruling elite. Through the active participation of the working class to oppose the austerity agenda, the people of Ontario can clearly express their rejection of the austerity agenda, defeat the anti-social forces and then begin to turn things around in their favour.

Opposing the austerity agenda and government measures is the only means the teachers, education workers and broader public sector have at this time to defend their rights and the rights of all. These include the right of the students to the kind of education and learning conditions they require to flourish in today's world, as well as the rights of all sectors of the people who depend on the work of the public sector workers and services they provide.

Petitions Launched to Repeal Legislation

As part of their efforts to raise public awareness about how the McGuinty government is violating their rights with its Putting Students First Act and the legislation it has introduced to do the same to more workers in the public sector, local districts of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) and the Elementary Teachers' Federation (ETFO) have begun to circulate petitions at their workplaces and in the community for delivery to the Ontario Legislature. Others are joining them in gathering signatures to show the government and MPPs that the people of Ontario do not approve of the anti-worker austerity agenda being implemented in their name.

See below for the full text of the petitions. Links to the petitions are also provided so they can be used in workplaces and the community.

ETFO Petition

TO The Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

WHEREAS Bill 115, the Putting Students First Act, 2012 constitutes unwarranted interference with the right to free collective bargaining;

WHEREAS Bill 115 gives the Cabinet and Minister of Education unprecedented authority to intervene in education sector collective bargaining;

WHEREAS Bill 115 introduces extraordinary legislative measures to prevent legal challenges to the bill;

WHEREAS Bill 115 sets a dangerous precedent for other unionized employees in particular and democratic principles in general;

WE the undersigned petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

- to vote to repeal Bill 115, the Putting Students First Act, 2012

(To download petition as PDF, click here.)

Petition Circulated by OSSTF District 9 (Greater Essex)

Repeal the Putting Students First Act, 2012

Whereas Bill 115, the Putting Students First Act, was passed September 11, 2012 by the Ontario provincial government. This bill is not about putting students first. It is about the denial of basic and fundamental rights of all workers in Ontario. It is destroying the goodwill built by teachers and educational workers with their local school boards over several years to make the public education system in Ontario one of the best in the world.

Whereas Bill 115 takes away the power and responsibility of democratically-elected local school boards to negotiate collective agreements with teachers and education workers. It gives the Ministry of Education the power to impose collective agreements upon teachers and education workers without negotiation, and without the approval of school boards or their employees, superseding the Ontario Labour Relations Act.

Whereas any decision by the Minister of Education related to the Act does not require consultation or review by the Legislature and cannot be challenged in any legal venue, including the Ontario Labour Relations Board, a third party arbitrator and/or any court of law. This includes whether it is constitutionally valid or in conflict with the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Whereas Bill 115 is a direct attack on the democratic rights of all Educational Workers in Ontario. Every worker in Ontario should be very afraid of the arbitrary power that the government is taking away from its citizens.

We, the undersigned demand:

- That the Provincial Government repeal Bill 115 immediately, and allow teachers and education workers to negotiate collective agreements with their local school boards without government interference.

- That the Provincial Government refrains from passing any legislation that denies workers in Ontario their right to free collective bargaining, and any other law that restricts any rights that protect workers.

(To download petition as PDF, click here.)

Strike Votes Continue to Show Opposition to Government Dictate

Toronto elementary teachers hold strike vote, October 4, 2012.

Strike votes for teacher and education workers' bargaining units in school districts around the province continue to show massive majorities. On October 3, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) announced that its bargaining units across the province had completed their strike votes, with 92% voting in favour.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) continues to report local results, with the percentages favouring strike action reaching the high 90s in most cases.

ETFO

Ontario North East (Hearst, Kapuskasing, Cochrane, Timmins area): Teachers 96%, Occasional Teachers 92%

Lakehead (Thunder Bay area): Teachers/Occasional Teachers 96%

Upper Grand (Guelph, Fergus, Mount Forest, Orangeville, Shelburne area): Teachers 97%, Occasional Teachers 96%

York Region (Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Newmarket, Aurora area): Teachers 98%, Occasional Teachers 95%

Toronto: Teachers 96.2%, Occasional Teachers 95%

Peel (Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon area): Occasional Teachers 95%

Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Georgetown, Milton area): Teachers 95%, Occasional Teachers 96%, Designated Early Childhood Educators 90%

Avon Maitland (Stratford, Goderich, Exeter area): Teachers 95%, Occasional Teachers 93%

Thames Valley (London, St. Thomas, Woodstock area): Teachers 97%, Occasional Teachers 94%

Greater Essex (Windsor, Essex, Leamington area): Teachers 98% (with 1,100 of 1,500 members participating in the vote)

Upper Canada (Cornwall, Brockville, Gananoque, Carleton Place area): Teachers 92%, Occasional Teachers 95%

Toronto, October 4, 2012

OSSTF

Rainy River (including Atikokan, Fort Frances area): Teachers and Occasional Teachers 97%

Superior Greenstone (Manitouwadge, Geraldton, Marathon, Nipigon-Red Rock area): Teacher/Occasional Teachers 95.2%, Education Support Staff 96.6%

Northern Shield/Keewatin-Patricia (Kenora, Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake area): Teachers, Occasional Teachers, Educational Support Personnel and Office/Clerical/Library -- average 96%

Ontario North East (Hearst, Kapuskasing, Cochrane, Timmins area): Teachers 94%, Occasional Teachers 92%, Educational Assistants 90%, Professional Student Services Personnel 93%

Simcoe (Barrie, Orillia, Collingwood area): Office/clerical staff for the local Catholic School Board 84%

Upper Grand (Guelph, Fergus, Mount Forest, Orangeville, Shelburne area): Teachers; Occasional Teachers; Professional Student Services Personnel; Educational Student Support Personnel; and Office, Clerical, Technical and Transportation Services 85.5%.

Hamilton-Wentworth: Office/Clerical/Technical 84%, Professional Student Services Personnel 91%

Waterloo (Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge area): Educational Support Staff 83%

Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Georgetown, Milton area): Teachers 96%; Professional Student Services Personnel, Occasional Teachers, Office, Clerical, Technical units -- similar results

Toronto: Teachers 93.4%, Occasional Teachers 93%

Upper Canada (Cornwall, Brockville, Gananoque, Carleton Place area): Teachers 94%, Occasional Teachers 92%, Professional Student Services Personnel 88%

Ottawa-Carleton: Plant Support Staff 95%, Student Support Professionals 94%, Professional Student Services Personnel 90%, Occasional Teachers 89%, Educational Support Professionals 82%

Provincial School Authority (Teachers in Provincial Schools for the Deaf, Blind, Deaf/Blind, Adult Correction and Young Offender Facilities): 98%

(For other results reported, see Ontario Political Forum, September 26, 2012 - Vol. 1 No. 52).

School Board Motion Opposes the Act

Ottawa Carleton School Board trustees will be asked at an upcoming meeting to call on the government of Ontario to repeal the Putting Students First Act. Trustee Pam Fitzgerald tabled the following motion:

"A. THAT the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board join others including The Ontario Public School Boards' Association to demand the repeal of the Putting Students First Act, 2012;

"B. THAT the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board join others who are advocating an approach that upholds the law while reducing educational costs, such as the merger of public and Catholic boards into one school system."

Speaking to a local radio station Fitzgerald said the motion was to end the chaos in the schools, stating: "We've got to find a way out of this impasse. We're basically saying to the government 'You have to take a look at what you've done here. It's having really bad consequences for the kids.'"

(Agencies)

Thousands of Students Demand Liberals "Kill the Bill"

Walkout of 700 students at Belle River High School in Windsor to protest Bill 115, October 3, 2012.

As part of the ongoing mobilization of students across the province in support of their teachers and against government dictate, on Wednesday, October 3 at approximately 10:30 am, thousands of high school and elementary students in the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB), walked out of their classes to protest The Putting Students First Act, also referred to as Bill 115. The demonstration was organized by students through the Facebook group, "Windsor-Essex GECDSB Student Walk-Out" and was the first board-wide walkout in Ontario in reaction to the bill. The students chanted, "Kill the Bill" with high energy in front of their high schools. Walk-out numbers varied: more than 700 at Leamington, approximately 700 at Belle River, 350 at Herman, Riverside and Kennedy, 300 each at Walkerville and Vincent Massey, 150 at Essex and Forster, 100 at Western, and 50 at Century. Strong turnouts were also reported at Kingsville, Sandwich, Amherst, Essex and Harrow.

The students pointed out a variety of reasons for protesting Bill 115. A student from Massey raised concern not only over the loss of extra-curricular activities, formals and clubs but also over the loss of rights for new teachers and the inability to bank sick days. She also noted that the issue wasn't just about a wage freeze, but more significantly about the attack on collective bargaining. At Walkerville, a student protester wanted teachers to know that the students support them and care about them, so they could use this protest to strengthen the case when it is brought to the Supreme Court. She also stated that she will be writing letters to MPPs against the bill. At Riverside, a student articulated that they are taking a role fighting against the bill to speak for the teachers since the government has stripped teachers' ability to strike themselves.

Students at Kennedy Collegiate joined by students from Walkerville and Herman also marched to City Hall and the Board of Education in Windsor after walking out of class. A Youtube video posted as "Kennedy Students protest Kill Bill 115" showed about 80 students outside the Board of Education Office chanting in a call and response, "Kill The Bill, What?! Kill The Bill!"

In addition to high schools, elementary schools in Windsor and Essex County took part in protesting Bill 115. At Forest Glade, approximately 75 grade 7 and 8 students participated in a walk-out from 11:00-11:50 am. At Essex Public School, approximately 180 grade 6,7 and 8 students staged a sit-in, and at Dr. David Suzuki School, 125 students in grades 6, 7 and 8 walked out. At Belle River Public School, many intermediate students participated in a walkout during and beyond the school's nutrition break. On October 4 at 11:00 am, 30 to 40 students chanted "exercising their rights" in front of Gordon B. McGregor School in reaction to the bill.

Belle River High School


Forster High School; Catholic Central High School


Riverside High School


Sandwich Secondary School


Walkerville High School


Leamington High School

Walkouts were also held in other parts of Southern Ontario. On October 2, approximately 50 students in the higher grades and a number of Grade 3 and 4 students walked out of Westmount Public School in Peterborough, the fifth elementary school in the area to experience a walkout. They were protesting the loss of extracurricular activities and Bill 115. The same day 65 students walked out of Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton in support of their teachers. And in Toronto, of 200 students at Winona Drive Senior Public School who walked out on Monday, October 1 to protest the lack of sports and Bill 115, 70 still were not back in class Tuesday morning. Thirty-five of the students stayed out of class for two full days after it was established they had their parents' backing for their actions.

On October 4, several dozen students from three Peterborough high schools left their classes and walked to the Constituency Office of Liberal MPP Jeff Leal. A group of them entered the office and asked to meet with Mr. Leal, but were told he was at Queen's Park. One of the walkout organizers told a local newspaper, "This is to show Peterborough, Ontario, Queen's Park and Mr. Leal that the students are aware of what's going on at Queen's Park," adding that, "We're protesting because they're taking away the civil rights of teachers."

On October 5, students from H.B. Beal Secondary School in London walked out at 12:30 pm and marched down Dundas Street, chanting and carrying signs with messages in support of their teachers and the slogan that has become the rallying cry for many students: "Kill the Bill!"

(With files from Sootoday.com, Peterborough Examiner, Seaforth Huron Expositor, Toronto Star, London Free Press. Photos: TML, OSSTF, H.J. Jaber, C. Girardin)

The Pension Fight Must Be Won!

Public Sector Workers Denounce Government's
Attack on Pensions and Fraudulent Accounting

Public sector workers in several bargaining units are opposing the McGuinty government's plans for imposing changes to their pension plans with legislation this fall. Among the changes the workers are opposing are:

- capping contribution increases so any future shortfalls have to be covered by decreased benefits (making their defined benefit plans into de facto defined contribution plans);

- reduced employer contributions on pensions where employers pay more than 50 per cent of contributions (even where these ratios were the result of previous negotiated agreements)

- forced mergers of smaller pension plans with bigger plans.

To counter the preparations of the McGuinty government, workers in units represented by Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) have been participating in rallies and electronic town hall meetings throughout September to discuss the changes to their pensions the government is planning to impose. They are speaking up demanding that the government keep its hands off their pensions.

Public sector workers entirely reject the excuse the government is using to impose changes to their pensions, its claim that there is a "crisis of rising pension costs." This excuse was used by Don Drummond in his report of the Commission for Reform of Public Services. The report used deceptive bookkeeping tricks to suggest that public sector pension contributions of the government will double or triple in the next 6 years.

The Drummond Report's crisis-mongering about "rapidly rising pension expenses." was exposed as shameless deceit in a recent publication by one of the public sector pension sponsors, OPSEU:

"For example, HOOPP's employers made $79 million in contributions in 2011. But the budget states that HOOPP's 'pension expense' for the fiscal year 2010/2011 was $938 million. CAAT employers made contributions of $149,224 in 2011 but the 'pension expense' quoted in the budget for 2010/2011 fiscal year is $184 million."[1]

The Drummond Report made pension calculations based on the ridiculous assumption about the government having to "wind up" its operations. For obvious reasons, public sector pensions are designed to operate as going-concerns, not on a wind up basis. The Drummond Report produced "frightening" figures based on the absurdity of the government, sometime, somehow, having to "wind up" its operations.

A similar book keeping fraud has been used by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, which calculates "unfunded liability" on a wind-up basis and uses this as an excuse for denying workers just compensation for their injuries.

Notes

1. HOOPP is the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan; CAAT is College of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan.

See also TML Weekly, September 22, 2012 - No. 35: "Harper Government's Insidious Attack on MPs' Pensions"; "Workers Discuss Pension Reform"; "DBRS Neo-Liberal Study of Defined-Benefit Pension Plans -- Parts 1-4" - K.C. Adams.

Phony Consultations Used to Clear Way for
Anti-Public Sector Pension Legislation

To clear the way for its anti-public sector pension legislation, the McGuinty government has been conducting phony consultations with union and employer sponsors of public sector pension plans. The consultations were headed by Bill Morneau, chief of Morneau-Sheppell, the largest human resources outsourcing company in Canada. He is also the Chair of the C.D. Howe Institute and sits on its Pension Council. The C.D. Howe Institute is a political organization of the biggest financial-industrial monopolies operating in Canada. It puts out a steady stream of sketchy "studies" opposing public pensions. To conduct these phony consultation, Morneau was appointed as the Minister of Finance's Special Advisor on Broad Public Sector Pensions last May.

The consultations show that the government is planning to renege on some of its public sector pension obligations. It is also planning to merge several public sector pension plans to create large pools of capital that will be at the disposal of financial oligarchy for financing large capital projects. Always careful about paying lip service to the "duty to consult" legalities, the McGuinty government went through the Morneau consultation fraud before imposing legislated changes on the pension plans.

As when he appointed Don Drummond to head the Commission for the Reform of Public Services to justify the austerity agenda, McGuinty knew what he would be getting from Morneau. According to reports by union plan sponsors who attended the meetings, Morneau's consultations were really just sessions for laying down the details of government policy. There was no discussion on the framework Morneau imposed on the consultations. This is despite the questionable central premise of this framework -- the government's claim that there is an urgent crisis of rapidly rising public sector pension costs. Discussion was confined to the narrow parameters set out in Finance Minister Dwight Duncan's March budget which have the aim of solving an alleged crisis by reducing government pension plan contributions:

- reduction of public sector employer pension contributions on plans where workers have negotiated paying less than 50 per cent of costs;

- a cap on contribution increase regardless of funding status of plans;

- reduced benefits to cover any plan deficits (which turns defined benefit plans into de facto defined contribution plans);

- compulsory consolidation of smaller plans to create large capital pools.

For their part, the union sponsors of the plans did not agree with the appointment of Morneau to head the consultation, pointing out his obvious pro-capital bias and his conflict of interest as a representative of the biggest monopoly groups. Nor did the union representatives at the phony consultation agree with the unfounded assertion of the government that pension costs are increasing rapidly. Worker representatives said the claim is based on a bookkeeping fraud presented in the Drummond Report. The union plan sponsors say the pension plans are working just fine and the government should keep their hands off.

There will be no public report on the Morneau consultations, instead the government is publicizing the pre-determined decisions through media leaks. According to media reports, the legislation will be brought down in October or early November.

Public Sector Pension Super-Fund Scheme

At the end of September, the Ontario Ministry of Labour began releasing details about the public sector pension consultations organized over the summer by Bill Morneau, the Ministry's Special Adviser on Broad Public Sector Pension Efficiencies. Among the changes the government is planning to impose is the forced merging and consolidation of 88 of the public sector pension plans into what are being called super-funds. These super-funds would be huge pools of investment capital that would be made available to the international financial oligarchy.

This change is in response to Morneau's advice to the government that $40 billion be set as the minimum for stand-alone pension funds. The funds would be controlled by boards organized along corporate lines. Many broad public sector (BPS) funds are now controlled by worker and employer trustees using professional staff and services hired by the trustees.

One super-fund would be based on pooling the $15 billion pension savings of workers employed by Hydro One Ontario, Ontario Power Generation and other power sector entities. A second super-fund would be made up of college and university pension funds merged with other government controlled funds to create a pool of $46 billion. This second fund would include the government's $12 billion nuclear plant decommissioning fund and the investment assets of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. With the aim of creating as large a pool of capital as possible, other capital funds would be allowed to merge into the super-funds.

Unions representing workers covered by some of the affected plans have expressed opposition to what they see as an attempt by the government to use workers' pension savings as "seed money" for creating giant capital pools, even when this is not in the best interest of the members of individual plans. They are also opposed to the government's intention to structure the super-funds in a way that dilutes control of worker-trustees over their pension plans and hands control over to a corporate-style investment board. The union sponsors of some of the affected plans are opposed to the government making it compulsory for plans under $40 billion to merge with the super-boards.

Two of the plans at risk from mandatory pooling are the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Pension Trust (OPTrust) and the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension Plan. OPTrust is a plan with almost $14 billion in assets and 84,000 members. The CAAT Pension Plan has 32,000 members and $5.6 billion in assets. Both are fully funded.

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Jane-Finch Community Action

- Pritilata Waddedar -

Poster for Jane and Finch anti-poverty action on October 17, 2012. Click to enlarge.

The brutal neo-liberal offensive of the rich to drive down the standard of living of the people by attacking workers' rights, degrading and privatizing public services and cutting social programs is targeting even the most vulnerable in society. The number of people living in poverty is rapidly increasing and the gap between the rich and the poor is steadily increasing. People affected by this increasing poverty are organizing and taking action to demand that their right to a livelihood and to live in dignity be respected by governments. Actions are being organized across Ontario by community and anti-poverty groups during October.

One of the community groups taking action is the Jane and Finch Action against Poverty (JFAAP). This organization has been established in the Jane-Finch neighborhood since 2008. At the time when JFAAP was founded, unemployment rates and poverty rates were sharply increasing in national minority and immigrant communities across Toronto as a result of the global economic crisis. This situation was made much worse by government cuts to public service jobs and to social programs.

JFAAP is organizing a community demonstration on October 17 to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. October 17 has been marked by the United Nations as a day for upholding the principle that a secure livelihood is a basic human right. All community groups from across the city and the allies of people fighting poverty have been invited to participate in the action.

October 17 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and Related Events

Sisters in Spirit Vigils

Toronto and Ottawa Vigils Break the Silence on
Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women

October 4 marked the 7th annual Sisters in Spirit vigils which took place across the country in more than 130, the largest such action to date.

Toronto

In Toronto, participants gathered at Allen Gardens in the downtown. The vigil was a moving event in which those who have lost loved ones were joined by many others to demand an end to the disappearances and murders of Aboriginal girls and women. The need for immediate government action to address the impoverishment and marginalization of First Nations women was brought home by the final speaker, Michelle Perpaul, whose daughter Kodianne Anakons has not been seen since September 29. As part of the action, a large mural was set up in Allen Gardens.

Ottawa

In Ottawa, the day's event's began with a midday vigil organized by the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) on Parliament Hill. Along with the families of missing and murdered women and girls, also present were the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Public Service Alliance of Canada, and other workers and social organizations. Nearly 300 people took part in the vigil in Ottawa, which was endorsed by Mayor Jim Watson.

One speaker pointedly stated that the question of missing and murdered Native women is not just a women's issue and not just a Native issue but an issue for all Canadians and that action is needed now. She denounced the Harper government which is refusing to respond to the demand for a public inquiry into the situation, which is even more shameful given that various international organizations have long condemned the situation facing Native women in Canada. A petition demanding such an inquiry is being circulated.

In the evening, another vigil was held at Parliament Hill, followed by the annual Take Back the Night March, organized in coordination with the Women's Events Network. Some 800 people attended. Mothers, sisters and other relatives of murdered and missing Native women and girls spoke with courage and emotion about their losses. All thanked the people at the vigil for their support and several denounced the Harper government for its inaction. At the conclusion of the rally, about 500 people marched behind the Take Back the Night Banner from Parliament Hill to the ByWard Market and then to City Hall.

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