Over the summer, PSAC members will be engaged in a lobby campaign with their Federal MPs. They will be meeting with and writing letters and emails to MPs and talking to them about Bill C-10 (Equitable Compensation Act), fisheries, food safety, and the defense of quality public services. Here are some resources.
- Download a sample letter to MPs on the importance of strong public services.
- Download six practical tips on how to lobby your elected official.
Talking Points
Bill C-10
I urge you to commit to taking the following action and including these commitments in party policy and any election platform:
Repeal the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act and introduce and support a real proactive pay equity law based on the actual federal Task Force recommendations.
Honour signed collective agreements as a general principle and reinstate any rollbacks of wage increases contained in the Expenditure Restraint Act.
Improve the EI system and ensure that there are a sufficient number of qualified staff to administer it both quickly and properly
Defend and support quality public services including reversing the erosion of public services and programs that have occurred as a result of expenditure review, privatization, etc.
Read more: What is Bill C-10?
Defending Quality Public Services
Federal public employees are on the job every day to protect our health, safety, environment, culture and standard of living. Our quality of life would be poorer in Canada without them. As workers, citizens, and neighbours, they contribute to strong communities.
Chronic under-funding, privatization, and contracting out continue to undermine the ability of public employees to provide the level and quality of service we expect as Canadians.
As a Canadian I believe that public services are the tools we have created for ourselves to build and maintain our collective vision of a fair, equitable, healthy and wealthy Canada. Public services are a public asset. They are a public good worth preserving. They belong to us as Canadians. I expect you, as my Member of Parliament, to speak out and vote for initiatives that keep services public and ensure adequate staffing levels.
I want you to know that in the next federal election I will be voting for a candidate that shares my respect for federal public services.
Protecting Our Fish
The 2009 Spring Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development reinforces the importance of fish to all Canadians and the economy. The report speaks to the lack of monitoring and enforcement and the DFO inability to assure that proponents are compliant yet the DFO continues to recommend the use of contracting out to do the work of public servants.
From a more regional perspective it also highlights the lack of accountability on the Fraser River gravel project which has a detrimental impact on fish stocks.
As a concerned Canadian I expect your commitment to ensure that there is adequate funding for monitoring and enforcement to be conducted by public servants.
Food Safety
In a report issued June 18, 2009, the House of Commons Agriculture Committee called for a number of measures to tighten up the country’s food system, including a public inquiry into the response of both the Conservative government and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency into last year’s listeriosis crisis.
I ask you to call for swift implementation of the Committee recommendations. In addition, if a lack of funding for inspections is identified, I ask that you and your party commit to address these shortfalls as soon as possible.