Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

We are excited to announce the first edition of the new Public Service Alliance of Canada BC newsletter THINK public was mailed to members last week! The regional newsletter will come out about every three months and  serves the approximately 14,000 PSAC members located in 142 locals and branches in BC.

THINK public will include member profiles, features on membership and staff-supported activities, and articles on a variety of issues including defending public services - over the next few weeks we’ll be highlighting a few of the articles in the Fall 2008 edition - here’s the lead article, written specially for us by Bill Tieleman, a columnist with 24 hours Vancouver newspaper and a commentator on CKNW AM 980. We hope you enjoy it!

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Dear PSAC member:

Food safety has been on the minds of a lot of people these days. And with all of the food recalls, you may have been thinking about it too.

It’s a sad day when parents worry that the school lunches they are packing for their children might make them sick. Or that a parent in a nursing home might be served food that could prove fatal.

This shouldn’t be happening in Canada. That’s why we’ve set up a special website - www.foodsafetyfirst.ca. I urge you to check it out and to use it to send a message to the candidates running for election in your riding about food safety.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency food inspectors - PSAC members - are doing the best job they can but there just aren’t enough of them. And, now the Harper government wants them to concentrate on paper work, rather than spending the time they need to on the plant floor to make sure our food is safe.

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One of the hallmarks of a healthy democracy is the ability of citizens to participate freely and actively in determining who they elect to govern and make decisions on their behalf.

PSAC members are encouraged to take an active role in exercising their democratic political rights by:

• Signing a candidate’s nomination papers.
• Wearing a party or candidate button in public.
• Placing an election sign on your property.
• Giving political opinions in public or elsewhere
• Working as a canvasser for a political party or candidate.
• Working in a campaign office
• Participating in the formation of party or candidate policies
• Taking part in election-day activities on behalf of a party or candidate
• Attending peaceful demonstrations on political topics.
• Soliciting funds from the public for political campaigns and parties
• Attending a political convention as a delegate.
• Writing letters to the editor endorsing a candidate or party.

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We’re back at the table but where are our agreements?

Negotiations have resumed with Treasury Board for our PA, SV, FB and EB units. Our TC team will be in mediation from October 8 to 10. Our Parks Canada team started mediation on September 29 and our CFIA team is back at the bargaining table this week. We’re back at the table but we’re still not close to settlements.

What’s the election got to do with it?

This federal election is critical for PSAC members and for the future of federal public services. What will happen to individual Canadians and to our communities if governments continue to cut budgets and programs, contract out, privatize or eliminate the services we deliver?

It’s also critical because PSAC members in the federal public sector are not just electing a government, we’re electing our employer.

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via Make Poverty History

All the federal party leaders except Stephen Harper have gone “on the record” answering questions on video about what they would do to tackle global, domestic and Aboriginal poverty.

Check out what the leaders of the Bloc, Greens, Liberals and NDP would do about poverty if elected. And make sure to ask Stephen Harper what he would do, because he won’t tell us.

In these short video clips, Stéphane Dion, Gilles Duceppe, Jack Layton and Elizabeth May talk about their support for Make Poverty History goals and answer specific questions about reaching the target of giving point seven percent of our income for foreign aid, a national plan to end poverty in Canada and what they would do to narrow the living standards gap between Aboriginal people and the rest of Canada.

Once you have seen the videos, send a message to Stephen Harper asking him to say what he will do to make poverty history. We believe that before Canadians go to the polls they should know what all the party leaders would do to end poverty so that they can make an informed decision about which party is best able to help make poverty history.

Maybe you can get Mr. Harper to go ‘on the record’ with his plans to fight poverty.

OTTAWA-Today the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released The Harper Record, the most comprehensive analysis of the Conservative minority government’s record to date.

“Scheduled for broad release in early October, we are releasing the electronic version of this book today, to help Canadians make informed choices about the future of their country,” says CCPA Executive Director Bruce Campbell.

• Download the entire book at the CCPA website.

Edited by Canadian Labour Congress Researcher Teresa Healy, Ph.D., with contributions from 47 policy analysts and economists, The Harper Record documents in exhaustive detail the Conservative government’s performance over the last two-and-a-half years.

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Another federal election is underway and Canadians are still putting child care on the front burner. Here’s why:

• Despite repeated election promises, Canada still does not have a child care system.
• Despite Stephen Harper’s claim that he spent more than ever before, Canada still spends less on early childhood education and care services than 13 other developed countries, including the USA.
• Despite Harper’s so-called Universal Child Care Benefit, Canadian families still can’t find or afford quality child care.
• Despite Harper’s promise of more spaces, Canadian children still have less access to early childhood education and care services than those in 19 other countries.

It’s clear. Harper’s policies have failed Canada’s children, families and communities. He has failed those who provide child care and he has failed workers and employers who rely on child care to make our economy work.

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