2010 City of Toronto Operating Budget

Local 79 would like to congratulate the City for balancing the 2010 Operating Budget, without selling off assets, but we will not be lulled into thinking that services are not going to be affected by the decisions that have been made on staffing. Staffing cuts will, without a doubt, have an impact on programs for people with the greatest needs.

Our members can be found in every corner of this City providing professional support and services to communities, neighbourhoods and individuals. Public Health staff administer flu shots at the H1N1 clinics; our members can be seen on the streets, in the coldest of weather, helping the homeless and the disenfranchised to shelter; our members nurture thousands of children in municipal child care centres; bring comfort to the elderly; support new Canadians, to name a few. Local 79 members are the cogs and gears that make this great City tick.

On behalf of Local 79, I must register, once again, a protest about the budget process itself. There has been no consultation, no inclusion and no transparency. I would like to be able to know, definitively, what the next year has in store for the services and programs that the people of this City need. I would like to be able to know, exactly, what will be happening to the workforce that provides these services. 

To read whole deputation click here

For President Ann Dembinski’s media comments please click on the following links:

Toronto Star

The Globe and Mail

CP24

Inside Toronto

CBC

CTV Toronto

Canadian Business

Newstalk 1010

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 1, 2010) - The City of Toronto is planning to rid itself of the city's two publicly-owned and operated ski hills along with other recreation facilities and programs, according to the union representing ski instructors and other workers.

"The public needs to know that decisions are being made in secret about which facilities and programs will continue as city services," said Ann Dembinski, president of CUPE Local 79. "Operations are going to be affected by the city's staffing cuts and the public won't know a thing until the decisions have been made, whether they're about ski hills or long-term care, public health or children's services."

While the city's budget presentation showed cuts in almost every department, the way those cuts will be achieved is not transparent, Dembinski said, noting that management wants to avoid informing staff about cuts until the decisions have been made.

"But that means the public is being denied an opportunity to have a say on which services should remain public," she said.

Possible candidates for shutdown, sale or leasing include the city's two ski hills at Earl Bales Park and Centennial Park as well as the Glen Rouge campground.

"These are affordable and accessible facilities for families and individuals to enjoy a healthy, outdoor activity that otherwise might be out of reach for many," Dembinski said. "Handing operations over to a private operator could take skiing back to its status as elite recreation."

Dembinski pointed to the example of Chicago, which leased out its parking meters in a move the city's Office of the Inspector-General called a "dubious financial deal" that was decided without time for city council to conduct a thorough analysis or for public comment.

"In addition, rates at most of the city's parking meters immediately quadrupled," she said. "Let's not repeat those mistakes in Toronto. Let's not give up programs that work for the public by making secret decisions behind closed doors."

Resounding Affirmation of Public Services

A study released in April, 2009 by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) strongly confirmed the benefits that Canadians derive from public services.

Here are some highlights from the report, entitled "Canada's Quiet Bargain: The Benefits of Public Spending".

• The majority of Canadian would be better off if their governments had invested in improving and expanding local public services instead of cutting taxes.
   
• 75% of Canadians would be better off if their provincial governments invested in public services instead of broad-based income tax cuts.
   
• Tax cuts are not free money. They cost us in vital public services that help make Canada the envy of many nations.
   
• Canadians are often sold tax cuts as though they're the best bargain a government can offer its citizens but the opposite is true.
   
• The tax cuts implemented by federal and provincial government over the past 15 years have reduced the living standards of the majority of Canadians.
   
• 80% of Canadians would be better off if the federal government had not cut the GST.
   
• 88% of Canadians would be better off without federal capital gains tax cuts.

Visit www.policyalternatives.ca or www.growinggap.ca to download the report and calculate the value of your family's public services.

Public Services