Saturday, October 2, 2010

New Brunswick voters respond to public ownership issue

The electorate in New Brunswick may have finally manifested a sentiment that has been simmering in so many corners of the country for a very long time. In fairness the vehemence of the attack on the ruling Liberals in New Brunswick may have had something to do with deals on the selling of NB Power being made in secret, but it is clear that a statement has been made on the selling off of public assets. The trade-union movement has most certainly vocalized the folly of selling off public assets for a short term gain on balancing the books at any level of government and has done so for what is likely better than 20 years.

I don't want anyone to think for one minute that electing a Conservative government in New Brunswick provides any degree of solace to anyone in the trade-union movement or anyone of social conscience, but it does make it clear that the voters have seen through the facade of selling of public assets for short term gain. The voters in Ontario need to either learn this lesson or, if already understood, manifest the lesson into action when considering where to put their votes this fall or next year in the provincial election.

Public assets owned and regulated by the public for the public good belong in the hands of the public. Recognizing that the NB sale was going to Quebec does not alter the fundamentally flawed principal of selling off public assets to private interests or to another public entity. Across North America many public assets have been sold to private interests only to see the level of service drop off drastically while a narrow group of investors harvest the asset with little or interest in seeing the asset(s) flourish for the benefit of anyone other than themselves. By example, private money and investment in healthcare have created competition in healthcare where the only competing interests should be the patients and caregivers as they compete with the illness or injury with but one goal in sight; the well being and ultimate care and hopefully cure for the patients. Instead profit margins enter into the equation and the caregivers and the patients become the expendable quantity while the profiteers do what comes naturally.

The variety of public assets in such jeopardy are wide and are represented in almost facet of the public sector. In fact in numerous jurisdictions, Ontario being one, public entities such as the LCBO, Toronto Hydro and Hydro One are or have been targets of such attacks. The senselessness of this is not only the selling off of a public asset, but selling assets that actually provide revenue for the government of Ontario. Of course this promotes an entirely different letter; the selling of public assets for purely ideological reasons.

Many people will argue that for Ontario, as was likely in New Brunswick, that the books must be balanced to attract investment to the province. Funny about that; the same people that push that argument are the first at the trough when it comes buying these public assets for their own personal gain. They are not beyond making something look like it is a mess to encourage public sentiment that the "fire" sale makes sense; what a shell game! Thankfully the good people in New Brunswick finally made someone pay a price for this recklessness with public funds and fiduciary folly of selling off and possibly further deregulating public assets.

In the end public assets owned by the public, publicly regulated and staffed by well represented unionized staff is the wining formula and may well be the mantra for success at the polls.

Dave Trumble
President
Grey-Bruce
Labour Council

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