FANTASY WORLD
Re “Part-time staff at Ontario’s colleges vote to unionize: OPSEU” (The Canadian Press, Jan. 11): Ah, to live in the fantasy world of the public service, absent any checks and balances or competing market forces. If only we could all live there. Wonder why we have a gutted manufacturing sector in Ontario? Two reasons: Kathleen Wynne and unions who refuse to recognize any financial or competitive realities to the ultimate detriment of their members. But the coveted public service, where no competitive realities exist and deficits are fine because interest rates are low and we are confident, is the place to be. Some jobs are minimum-wage, minimum-skill. Some jobs are part-time. If you want to earn more, show your employer how you are bringing more value to your organization. If you can’t do that, then upgrade your skills, go to night class, do something constructive. If you are really worth more and your current employer ignores you, the market will welcome you. If you are adding no additional value and are just demanding more for no more productivity, then you are a drag on the economy. Somebody has to say it.
STEVE PECK
BRAMPTON
(We doubt part-time staff at Ontario colleges are living high off the hog. That said, we agree the size and cost of the public service under Premier Wynne is out of control)
TRUDEAU AND KHADR
The other evening I developed a slight case of indigestion during the supper hour after I turned on the TV to hear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau complain that he, too, is ticked off with the $10.5-million jackpot his government paid to former Guantanamo inmate Omar Khadr in a secret transaction. When I woke up the next morning, I realized I had a bad dream about a few wrong bets in the millions that Justin had lost at a casino and at a horse race. I heard Justin muttering that the net loss would balance itself out. I was unsure what he meant!
ROBERT ARIANO
SCARBOROUGH
(If Trudeau was outraged by the Khadr settlement he would have fought the case in court since it was the Americans, Khadr’s family and Khadr’s own decisions that were mainly responsible for his incarceration)
MINIMUM RESPONSIBILITY
It’s inconceivable to me how Premier Wynne and her finance minister believe it’s acceptable to impose a 32% minimum wage hike on labour over a 15-month period and expect business can manage this type of increase. It’s short-sighted and financially irresponsible. The real hidden danger in this policy is not the layoffs you see, but all the new jobs businesses will now forego while they scramble to stay out of the red. We’ll never know the true impact.
ALAIN FOURNIER
BRAMPTON
(Exactly)