In this letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty, CUPE Local 79 President Tim Maguire criticizes the direction of the 2012 Ontario Budget, which punishes some of the most vulnerable people in the Province for a deficit they didn’t create.
Premier Dalton McGuinty
Queens Park
Main Legislative Building, Rm 281
Toronto, ON M7A 1A4
Dear Premier McGuinty,
Ontario’s budget deficit was not caused by out-of-control public spending or by the people who deliver needed public services. The deficit is due, in large part, to your Government’s reaction to the global recession caused by corporate financial negligence, recklessness and greed.
But who pays the piper in this ‘tough’, austerity budget? It’s the poor, families and public employees who will bear the brunt with cuts to services and lost livelihoods. It’s too bad that the poor, families and public employees never get to call the tune.
This budget is punishing some of the most vulnerable people in the Province for a deficit they didn’t create. Premier McGuinty, the 2012 Budget signals an end to Ontario’s poverty reduction agenda. Cuts to social assistance, benefits frozen for the people who rely on the Ontario Disability Support Programs (ODSP), cuts to education and health care will not stimulate economic growth in this province. Nor create a single job.
By adopting over half of the recommendations in the Drummond Report in formulating the 2012 Budget, your government has opted to cut vital services to try and balance the books. This approach to cost cutting creates inequality and disproportionately harms women and children.
Over 70% of the membership of CUPE Local 79, are women. As front-line workers delivering public services to residents of the City of Toronto they know the value of these services and the needs of families and communities. CUPE local 79 members work in public health, child care centres, shelters, hostels, youth outreach programs, long-term care homes, affordable housing and social services. The effects of these budget cuts will devastate some of the City’s most vulnerable families and communities.
There was no mention of child care in this budget. Lack of funding will destabilize the whole child care system, causing child care centres to close, and put at risk families who need child care in order to work.
Premier, throwing people out of work, threatening pensions, cutting back funding for Children’s Aid Societies, cutting back on social housing are strong actions, but not the actions needed to get families, communities and the province back on its feet.
Yours truly,
Tim Maguire
President
