Today Fri Sat
It is forcast to be Fog at 11:00 PM EDT on May 24, 2012
Fog
29°/18°		 It is forcast to be Chance of a Thunderstorm at 11:00 PM EDT on May 25, 2012
Chance of a Thunderstorm
31°/19°		 It is forcast to be Mostly Cloudy at 11:00 PM EDT on May 26, 2012
Mostly Cloudy
26°/16°

24 Comments

news

Duly Quoted: Toronto and York Region Labour Council

By Hamutal Dotan

“Slashing wages is ‘efficient’ only for the top executives of private companies who stand to gain the most profit. The decline of good jobs that pay decent wages will impact current and future generations of Canadians. Public dollars should serve public interest and ensure good jobs with decent pay.”
—The Toronto and York Region Labour Council responds, via press release, to Monday’s announcement by Rob Ford that he is going to try to outsource some waste collection services, and to ever-blunt brother, Councillor Doug (Ward 2, Etobicoke North), who put their shared enthusiasm for the endeavour like this: “We’re going to be outsourcing everything that is not nailed down.”

Comments

  • Eric S. Smith

    Meanwhile, in Ottawa:

    “An in-house municipal garbage collection contract has saved taxpayers $4.8 million over four years, the city announced yesterday…. the work was done for millions less than the lowest private-sector bid, and even beat the in-house bid itself.”

  • Astin44

    “Public dollars should serve public interest and ensure good jobs with decent pay.”

    Woah. Public dollars should serve public interest and ensure quality SERVICE for the best price. There's no mandate that taxpayers should ensure that anyone gets paid above what the private sector is willing to pay.

  • tyrannosaurus_rek

    When did taxpayers start getting mandates? (And what of non-taxpayer citizens?)

  • rich1299

    I currently live in Etobicoke where trash collection is already privatized and I've seen more problems with trash collection than when I lived in parts of the city with public trash collection. I've seen garbage dropped and left on the streets too often to think that we've got a good deal out here, maybe it saves some money it means our streets are dirtier. When I used to live at St. Clair and Bathurst I'd see the garbage men make use of the broom and shovel to clean up dropped garbage, something that never happens around here. There's truth to the saying that you get what you pay for.

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    “Public dollars should serve public interest” is as far as you'll get with 100% agreement. Maybe some people believe that good jobs with decent pay are in the public interest. Most politicians can be relied on to mention jobs periodically, at the very least.

    @rek: “taxpayer” follows “consumer” on the list of things I don't like being called :(

  • John Duncan

    A bit of a tangent, but this is something that's been nibbling at the back of my head for a while… what should we call people?

    Consumer brings up all the negative imagery tied to consumption (that's what we used to call TB!).
    Customer ignores civic duties and rights.
    Client implies a subordinate relationship.
    Taxpayer says that if you don't directly pay property taxes you don't count.
    Citizen cuts out the huge population of recent immigrants.
    Resident feels sort of accidental… you just happen to live here.
    Stakeholder works but is just so dry.

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    I think that's why we have demonyms.

  • avp77

    I've spent a lot of time in Etobicoke and I've never seen that problem. Either you're just seeing what you want to see, or maybe it's the neighbourhood.

    Properly packed and set-out garbage shouldn't spill. From what I've seen, the contracted garbagemen don't even touch containers that are improperly set out (overflowing, etc).

  • torontothegreat

    And yet the non-contracted garbagemen seemingly do. Hrmm….

  • Eric S. Smith

    When you consider sales tax, most people are taxpayers. “Citizen” only excludes recent immigrants if you assume that it's short for “Canadian citizen,” since there isn't really such a thing as official municipal or provincial citizenship.

    I'm going to say that “the public” works pretty well, and then you can refer to “public money” instead of “taxpayer dollars,” too.

  • Functionalist

    Yet if that were to become a problem, who would you hold accountable? The company with the contract? Good luck.

  • MichaelOrnot

    'Citizen' works for me. The thing I like about Canada (when it lives up to its ideals and principles). In the States one has to 'become' an American – in Canada, you just have to show up and get started. You're a Citizen as soon as you start doing the things a Citizen is responsible for: work, feed your family, think about what it means to be here, etc.
    From an Aboriginal perspective, you could add 'settler' to the list, but it's intended to make you feel uncomfortable (i.e. to think about those responsibilities).

  • tyrannosaurus_rek

    Let's not suggest even more exclusionary terms. I didn't settle in Canada. Neither did my parents. We were born here.

  • MichaelOrnot

    It's not meant to exclude anyone. It's meant to re-sensitize us to the responsibilities of sharing in someone else's land.
    We are not all one entity – we have genuine differences and no one wants to be erased. Respecting this reality (and each other's humanity) is another element of citizenship.

  • torontothegreat

    It's much more exclusionary to think that the majority of us (Aboriginals) are part of “Everyone's Canada”.

    Love this:

    “It's meant to re-sensitize us to the responsibilities of sharing in someone else's land.”

    :)

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    “You're not holding up your end of the contract, so it's done! Over! Effective today, we're giving the contract to this company over he— uh, this…er…I could swear there was another one around here somewhere…”

  • http://twitter.com/accozzaglia accozzaglia

    If you're not a taxpayer, then you're not a citizen. If you are a taxpayer, that doesn't automatically make you a citizen, either.

  • http://twitter.com/accozzaglia accozzaglia

    One quibble: “citizen” does not cut out recent immigrants.

    I am a recent immigrant. I am a citizen because I participate. We all pay taxes as a function of living here. Citizenship, at its core, signifies the act of belonging through active involvement and participation within a locality, society, and/or community. It means sharing, learning, and giving back to those spaces and places. Citizenship is not the exclusive domain of a nation-state. It can be a city, just as its etymology demonstrates.

    The formal passport of citizenship might make one legally so, but it doesn't predispose them to be a good citizen. This is the point being made with this button: if you care enough about the health and immediate well-being of Toronto as well as its long-term future, then you're a citizen of Toronto even if you are a new immigrant without a Canadian passport.

    That was sort of the tack the Miller mayoralty flirted with in suggesting non-Canadian citizens in Toronto should vote in municipal affairs. I can't say that's an easy legal case to make, but I understand what the core context was saying.

  • simonyyz

    Has anyone spotted an article that breaks down the working conditions and situation for private workers in etobicoke vs. city of toronto? I was suprised to learn that the etobicoke workers were 'mostly' unionized. Have they ever gone on strike there? I'm basically looking for some facts to guide my opinion on this one, but I haven't seen anything very rigorous or straight forward.

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    Please share if you find any.

  • simonyyz

    Torontoist – this could be you!

  • simonyyz

    Has anyone spotted an article that breaks down the working conditions and situation for private workers in etobicoke vs. city of toronto? I was suprised to learn that the etobicoke workers were 'mostly' unionized. Have they ever gone on strike there? I'm basically looking for some facts to guide my opinion on this one, but I haven't seen anything very rigorous or straight forward.

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    Please share if you find any.

  • simonyyz

    Torontoist – this could be you!