THE WRONG PERSON WAS FIRED

I congratulate the honourable members who kept their seats after the last federal election. Now, let us all get back to work making the government work for us. The crises of housing, climate change, lack of services that help unemployed, or veterans, or those in need of medicine or health services were all crises created by the very governments which have again won the most seats. It’s like we keep hiring arsonists to put out fires.

My issue is from the story in The Guardian on Oct. 22, “Labour board upholds firing of federal fraud investigator.” This woman dared to leak the story that there was a quota system for rejecting employment insurance claims. In 2008, two labour unions took the government to the Supreme Court arguing the Jean Chretien and Paul Martin governments had taken roughly $54 billion from the employment insurance surplus and diverted it into regular tax revenue stream. Joe Oliver used $2.7 billion from the EI surplus to balance his budget. Morally, that is indefensible. In my opinion, legally, the government won.

After both federal governments raided the funds in the Employment Insurance program, funds put in by the workers and their employers, the government says it can’t trust this woman and she must be fired. You can’t make this stuff up!

I will not stop asking for a redress to this travesty. I believe the wrong person was fired and I hope the woman finds an honest employer who values her ethics and honesty.

Lynne Thiele, Stratford