Andrea Horwath, Leader, New Democratic Party of Ontario

 Dear Ms. Horwath:

 RE:     2013 Ontario Budget

On behalf of the members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 79 working for the City of Toronto, the Toronto Community Housing Corporation and Bridgepoint Hospital, I was pleased to hear that through the strong voice and leadership of the Ontario New Democrats that new strategies to help our most vulnerable populations are firmly in place in the 2013 Ontario Budget. The new financial accountability measures introduced by your Party will provide the necessary strict oversight that should already be in place.

The 2013 Ontario Budget is still an austerity budget that brags about capping program spending to less than 1 per cent, giving Ontario the dubious distinction of “the lowest program spending per capita among Canadian provinces”. When public services are being flat-lined it is more important than ever for the Province to put in place financial accountability to stop wasteful spending. At a time of high unemployment and precarious work people need support and public services more than ever. Every dollar spent must be accounted for and spent on the health and well-being of the people of Ontario.

CUPE Local 79 appreciates that you have provided Ontarians with an opportunity to be engaged in the debate over transit revenue tools through new legislative oversight of the Budget plans to toll car-pooling lanes. In our May 3, 2013, response to the budget announcement, CUPE Local 79 stated its opposition to high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes that would only be available to those who could afford to pay. The road toll option will only increase congestion and pollution and will not solve the problem of helping to connect people to accessible public transit.

By consulting with the people of Ontario, New Democrats ensured that many of the critical issues were addressed in the 2013 Ontario Budget: improved home care, job creation for youth, a timely review of the minimum wage, an increase in the Ontario Child Benefit, reduced auto insurance rates and help for welfare recipients to keep more of their earnings.

I thank you on behalf of CUPE Local 79, and I’m sure working people across the province thank you too.

Yours truly,

Tim Maguire, President

Cc:       Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario                                                                

            Tim Hudak, Leader, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party                             

Dear Councillor Robinson and Members of the Community Development and Recreation Committee:

The population served by Toronto’s City-run shelters are some of the most vulnerable, facing many challenges. Women fleeing domestic abuse with their children, Aboriginals, members of the LGBTQ community, people struggling with abuse and mental health issues, in addition to the physical toll caused by homelessness. For these users, there is an even greater than normal need to create an environment that is safe and familiar. The people who provide cleaning and food services are familiar faces that contribute to a sense of well-being, safety and community.

Quality of Services

In many instances, contracting-out leads to a lowering of standards, as contractors seek to maximize their own profits by looking for ‘efficiencies’ within operations. In a shelter environment this is highly problematic.

In terms of cleaning, special attention must be paid, particularly in sleeping, washing and common facilities. In addition to general cleanliness and hygiene, cleaning staff in City-run shelters must also be mindful of increased risk of acquired infections, such as hepatitis and tuberculosis. Bed bugs are another major issue.

Dealing with these issues requires experience and an intimate knowledge of the shelter system, its challenges and the needs of the people who use the system.

With respect to food services, shelter residents’ dietary needs are, to put it simply, unique. In some instances, shelters provide residents with their only nutritious meals. Residents often have specific health challenges (diabetes, hepatitis, poor dental health, etc.), which require easily-digestible food containing a high nutritional and caloric value. Preparing meals in-house, under the direction of trained food handlers (and ideally a dietitian), ensures that residents’ dietary needs are met.

Impact on Public Health

The public health risks associated with homelessness, precariously-housed and marginally-housed populations are well-established. The system is in high demand, leading to over-crowding, which creates a high risk for acquired infections such as tuberculosis, hepatitis A and respiratory infections. While it is impossible to eradicate the public health risk associated with homelessness, the key first line of defense is a vigilant shelter system that takes all universal precautions to ensure communicable illnesses are kept contained.

Additionally, parasitic infections, such as lice and bed bugs, are ongoing challenges faced by shelter staff. Left unchecked, these infestations would not only take root within shelters, but move outside the system into rooming houses and other rental stock, including public housing, which already struggles to prevent such outbreaks.

The best way to maintain an effective line of defence against infectious outbreaks is a well-trained, experienced staff that have first-hand knowledge of the shelter. Contracting-out will eliminate this effective line of defence.

Fort York Residence

Seeking to contract-out shelter services at Fort York Residence is baffling. Fort York Residence is an award-winning shelter, a role model of best practices for the shelter system. In 2006, Fort York Residence received the Best Practices in Affordable Housing Award from Canada Mortgage and Housing in recognition of the creative and successful programs offered that enable homeless men to transition to work and permanent housing in the community.

Our final response to this agenda item to contract-out Shelter Services is to quote the Service Efficiency Study itself:

“SSHA management expressed concerns about a decrease in the quality of services, because outsourced food and facilities service providers would not be part of the team and their staff would not care about the clients in the same way City staff would.  Management was also concerned that food and facilities service providers would not understand the complexity and true costs of the services provided by the City.”

I would like to thank the Community Development and Recreation Committee for their time and understanding of this issue.

Yours truly,

Tim Maguire
President

Homophobia is becoming increasingly present on the Web and in social media. The anonymity of the Internet facilitates the spread of abusive comments and cyberhomophobia.

Cyberhomophobia is the manifestation of homophobia on the Internet and in social media. It is the circulation of negative attitudes towards homosexuality and gender identity. It often presents sexual minorities as inferior or abnormal and can be expressed in the form of jokes, teasing, hateful or hostile remarks, denigration and stereotypes toward homosexual or transsexual persons.

May 17th is symbolic due to its significance in improving the status of gays and lesbians. It is the anniversary of the date on which the World Health Organization (WHO) put an end to over a century of homophobia in the medical field, by removing homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. The Declaration of Montréal (July 29, 2006), borne out of the International Conference on LGBT Rights that preceded the first World Outgames, recommended the worldwide recognition of an International Day Against Homophobia on May 17th of each year.

This special day, which is dedicated to fighting against homophobia in our communities, was initiated by Fondation Emergence and its partners to combat the prejudices and negative attitudes that some Canadians still have towards homosexuals. The Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition, the Department of Justice (Canada), and Heritage Canada are among the many sponsors of National Day against Homophobia.

Local 79 recognizes that discrimination, in any form, focuses on characteristics that make us different. This reduces our capacity to work together to achieve decent wages, safe working conditions and justice in the workplace.

While we cannot fix the problem of homophobia in our country overnight, Local 79 realizes that taking a day to acknowledge and raise awareness about the discrimination faced by gay, lesbian, transgender and transsexual Canadians, will in time have significant impact on attitudes and treatments towards all peoples.

Local 79 is a proud sponsor of the Public Servants Reception in recognition of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Local 79 President Tim Maguire will join more than 200 members of the public sector from all levels of government on May 16th at this event at The 519.

Local 79 is also proud to be included with the many labour groups and community organizations across the country that recognize and support this important day. Since May 2006, when the Mayor responded to a request from Local 79 to proclaim May 17th as National Day against Homophobia in Toronto, this important date has been included every year in the Mayor’s proclamations. The current Mayor has proclaimed May 17th 2013, as “Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia in Toronto”.

At the same event, the Facilities Management Division was awarded the Domenic Mele Award for Health and Safety. This is given annually to individuals or groups who make a significant contribution to the City’s goal of achieving a strong health and safety culture and a “Zero Injuries” workplace.

Local 79 really appreciates the remarks made by Councillor Janet Davis, Chair of the City’s Occupational Health and Safety Coordinating Committee, during the presentation of these two awards at City Council. She thanked the Joint Health and Safety Committees for their dedication and applauded the role that Unions play. You can watch her speech in the video below.

Kathleen Wynne, Premier

Dear Premier Wynne:

RE:     2013 Ontario Budget – Austerity will never bring prosperity

On behalf of the 20,000-strong membership of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 79, I would like to comment on the 2013 Ontario Budget introduced on May 2, 2013.

CUPE Local 79 is the largest municipal union local in Canada and our members provide front-line public services in the City of Toronto, Toronto Community Housing Corporation and Bridgepoint Hospital – We Take Care of Toronto.

Policy direction and funding allocations by the Province of Ontario are critical to the City of Toronto and its communities that our members serve. CUPE Local 79 knows all too well the harm that flat-lined budgets, wage freezes and cut backs can do to public services and the people who depend on them. It was shocking to hear Ontario Finance Minister, Charles Sousa’s Budget speech announce proudly that “16 out of 25 Ministries are delivering quality public services while spending less than they were allocated this year”. And it was also alarming to read in the Budget that, “growth in program spending is projected to be less than 1 per cent in 2012 – 2013 for the second consecutive year,” and that, “Ontario currently has the lowest program spending per capita among Canadian provinces”. Spending less when people need it most is not the way to prosperity and fairness.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has appropriately raised concerns about your Budget’s new proposed high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes to cover the cost of expanding transit. This is a totally unfair response to the transit crisis that working people in Toronto face when commuting to work every day. This so-called solution would be only available to those who could afford to pay, and would increase congestion and gridlock for all commuters. This won’t help connect people to accessible public transit and it will worsen Toronto’s pollution problems.

Having noted some of our concerns above, CUPE Local 79 welcomes the Budget promises of help for welfare recipients to keep more of their earnings, an increase in resources for home care health services, a desperately-needed increase to the Ontario Child Benefit, a youth employment strategy, a long-overdue review of the Minimum Wage, and a reduction in auto insurance rates. These progressive changes are good for working people and families and we support these elements in the 2013 Ontario Budget.  However, like NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, we remain concerned about accountability, future outcomes, and timelines for the implementation of these Budget proposals.

We would urge your government, Premier Wynne, to institute accountability practices to ensure implementation of these Budget promises.

Yours truly,

Tim Maguire, President

Cc:       Andrea Horwath, Leader, New Democratic Party of Ontario

            Tim Hudak, Leader, Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario

 CUPE Local 79 President Tim Maguire thanks City nurses.

The theme for this year’s Nursing Week – Nursing:  A Leading Force for Change – captures the value and importance of the work you do every day.  You lead by example.

You perform some of the most important work there is throughout the City.  You promote healthy living, provide training and education.  You work in vaccination clinics, communicable disease control, falls prevention, sexual health, prevention and early detection of disease — to name just a few areas of leadership and excellence.

You look after our seniors, our children, the sick and the injured, the homeless, newcomers, mental health and wellness, new mothers and their babies.  You unfailingly provide comfort, kindness and hope for those who need it most.

We are proud of our nurses, wherever they may be; Toronto Public Health, Bridgepoint Hospital, Long-term care, Shelters and elsewhere. You put people first, and you have led the way in the fight for quality public healthcare. 

Recently CUPE Local 79, after surveying our members, came out against a casino in Toronto.  So many detrimental effects of gambling would fall disproportionately on front-line workers in public health and social services.  The Medical Officer of Heath’s report sounded the alarm about the welfare of children in a problem gambler’s household, starting with child poverty and leading to other health-threatening behaviours such as substance abuse, emotional problems, and learning disorders.  As nurses you want our residents and communities to be healthy and stay healthy — that’s why saying no to a casino is so important.

On behalf of Local 79 I want to thank you for your dedication to nursing and your commitment to the health and well-being of all the people who call Toronto home. 

Your life’s work is about helping people.  On behalf of Local 79 you have our respect and our thanks.

We acknowledge all Local 79 members who were working in the City of Toronto, Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), and Bridgepoint Hospital, serving the public, during that stressful time.

According to The SARS Commission Interim Report – SARS and Public Health in Ontario, Toronto Public Health, which had the majority of the SARS cases, shouldered a staggering workload which included :

• Approximately 2,000 case investigations. Each took an average of nine hours to complete.
• More than 23,000 people identified as contacts.
• Of these, 13,374 placed in quarantine.
• More than 200 staff working on the SARS hotline.
• Over 300,000 calls received on the hotline.
• On the highest single day, 47,567 calls.

Local 79 continues to emphasize to the City, TCHC and Bridgepoint Hospital the need for all workers to be protected at the highest level possible in the event of any infectious outbreak.

This Bill recognizes and honours the significant contributions of Jewish Canadians to the social, economic, political and cultural fabric across Ontario for more than two centuries. The Jewish community has worked side-by-side with Ontarians from all backgrounds to help build this province, and their continued involvement has supported and enhanced the diverse multicultural mosaic that makes Ontario a place envied around the world. Jewish Heritage Month is an opportunity to remember, celebrate and educate future generations about the inspirational role that Jewish Canadians have played, and continue to play, in communities across Ontario.

May was chosen because it is an important month for the Jewish Canadian community. Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israeli Independence Day frequently occur in May depending on the lunar calendar, and the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and Jewish Music Week are annual May events.

Canada has the fourth largest Jewish community in the world, exceeded only by Israel, the United States, and France. More than half of this country’s 360,000 Jewish Canadians live in Ontario. Local 79 stands in solidarity with Jewish workers and proudly celebrates Jewish Heritage Month.

Renowned Canadians of Jewish Heritage include:

Rosalie Abella, Supreme Court Justice
Dave Barrett, former Premier of British Columbia
Leonard Cohen, musician and poet
David Croll, first Jewish senator
Drake, hip hop artist and actor
Lew Hayman, Toronto Argonauts & Montreal Alouettes coach
Naomi Klein, Activist
Stephen Lewis, Former Leader of the Ontario NDP, United Nations’ special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Anne Michaels, poet and novelist
Peter C. Newman, journalist
Nathan Phillips, Former Mayor of Toronto
Louis Rasminsky, Order of Canada, 3rd Governor Bank of Canada
Mordecai Richler, author, screenwriter and essayist
William Shatner, actor and director
Miriam Waddington, poet

This is a worthy acknowledgement of the long and rich history of Asian Canadians and their contributions to Canada. Canada’s, and Toronto’s, rich cultural diversity strengthens the country, and our city, in so many ways.

Local 79 members reflect the diversity of our city, and the programmes and services that our members deliver bring them in daily contact with the many diverse communities that make Toronto so unique.

Although the federal government did not officially signed a declaration until May 2002, cities across Canada, including Toronto, Halifax, Montréal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, have been holding annual festivities during the month of May to recognize Asian Heritage Month since its inaugural celebration in Toronto in 1993.

Over the last two centuries, immigrants have journeyed to Canada from East Asia, Southern Asia, Western and Southwest Asia bringing our society a rich cultural heritage representing many languages, ethnicities and religious traditions. Women and men from these communities have contributed to every aspect of Canadian life – from the arts and science to sports, business and government. However, it is unfortunate that the history of Asian Canadians has too frequently been marred by exploitation and lack of access to basic human rights, such as the exploitation of Chinese railway workers and the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Today, the Conservative government’s temporary foreign worker Program plays a central role in the ongoing exploitation of Asian workers and the denial of human rights, particularly in the treatment of women in the live-in caregiver programme. Local 79 stands in solidarity with Asian workers and proudly celebrates Asian Heritage Month.

Renowned Canadians of Asian Heritage include:

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., who became Governor General of Canada in 1999, was the first Chinese Canadian and second woman to hold the position.

The Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, QC who became the thirty-third Premier of British Columbia in 2000, was Canada’s first Indo-Canadian provincial leader.

Ratna Ghosh, who is a celebrated educator and administrator, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1999, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2000.

Joy Kogawa, who published her first novel, Obasan in 1982. This narrative was considered an important work as part of the movement to redress the wrongs against Japanese Canadians.

Lim Kwong Yew, aka Normie Kwong the China Clipper, who was the first Chinese Canadian to play in the CFL. He became the youngest player to win a Grey Cup and was named to the Order of Canada in 1998.

Jean Lumb, who in 1972, became the first Chinese Canadian woman to receive the Order of Canada. In 1995, she became a citizenship judge, swearing in new Canadian citizens.

Deepa Mehta, whose films probe at the cultural taboos and political tensions of her native India, has been nominated for many international film awards. Her film Water was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, making it Canada’s first non-French-language film to receive a nomination in that category. Mehta divides her time between Toronto and India.

Rohinton Mistry, whose novels about family and community amid the crushing poverty of his native India have earned comparisons with Charles Dickens. Mistry emigrated to Canada in 1975, settling in Toronto.

Michael Ondaatje, who is one of Canada’s most accomplished and varied writers and was named to the Order of Canada in 1988. In 1970, he settled in Toronto and, from 1971 to 1990, taught English literature at York University and Glendon College.

Dr. David Suzuki, who is a geneticist, broadcaster and author, has an international reputation for scientific and environmental education and is recognized as a world leader in the study of sustainable ec

In 2012, a Local 79 member suffered a heart attack and passed away at work.

Steven Hanneson was a heavy-duty cleaner for the City of Toronto, and he passed away on Christmas Eve while cleaning Metro Hall. He died alone and was not discovered for hours.

A co-worker went looking for him and found him dead in the washroom. This was the last place he cleaned before he died.

The working life of a cleaner is a hard one. Last year many cleaners in the City of Toronto had their jobs taken away from them by the Divisions’ and some City Councillors’ relentless efforts to contract out cleaning jobs. In the wake of layoffs Steven was redeployed to work at Metro Hall.

Cleaners in the City now find their work undervalued, unnoticed and under constant threat of contracting out. We will never know how much stress Steven Hanneson may have been under as a result of what was happening in his workplace.

On the 10th anniversary of SARS, I would also like to take a moment to remember Nelia Laroza. She was a nurse at North York General and a Local 79 member who was also a nurse at Bridgepoint Hospital. She contracted SARS while caring for patients at North York General and died as a result. Many health care professionals risked their lives to care for residents of our City during this time. Many became sick and Nelia died as a result of her efforts.

It is Local 79’s belief that employers owe a “duty of care”, so to speak, to those that care for us. Employers must make every effort to provide appropriate protections for workers and not be motivated by optics or economics.

Workers are expected to be oblivious to what is going on around them and simply to carry on with their work for as long as they have the work.

Local 79 firmly believes that employers must recognize and take responsibility for the “conditions of work” that they create in the workplace.

In conclusion, I want to say that together we will continue to fight for safer working conditions for all so that perhaps one day there won’t be new names to add to our memorial.