‘Broken’ arbitration system fix coming
Wynne promises solution for emergency workers
Ontario’s three party leaders have all promised to end the “broken” arbitration process between municipalities and emergency service workers.
But Liberal leader and Premier Kathleen Wynne, Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak and New Democratic leader Andrea Horwath have vastly different ideas about how to do so.
Speaking to nearly 1,600 delegates at the Association of Municipalities (AMO) conference in Ottawa on Monday, Wynne said Labour Minister Yasir Naqvi would be sitting down soon at the arbitration table to work out a deal that would satisfy everyone.
“We’ve got to bring these two sides together,” she said.
Early in her tenure as premier, Wynne said, she realized that police and firefighters and their municipal employers had not spoken to each other. With her characteristic emphasis on partnership, dialogue and compromise, Wynne said, she’s sure the two sides could come to an agreement that would satisfy everyone, as long as they come “with an open mind.”
However, leaders from across the province are crying out for help, saying they’re frustrated by the soaring cost of municipal police forces and fire services.
Barbara Marlow from the Township of Ryerson, near Huntsville, called the cost exorbitant. “They’re going to bankrupt us,” she said.
“We’re asking for transparency and accountability in the interest arbitration,” said Russ Powers, AMO president and Hamilton city councillor.
“The settlements tend to be cookie-cutter settlements … they have not taken into consideration the economic health of the community in question or settlements that have already been made with other bargaining units within the community.”
Hudak said he would end the arbitration standstill and stem the rising costs as part of a larger plan he says would get the province back in the black. He favours a wage freeze on all public-sector workers for at least two years while the province deals with its “growing red menace.”
Far from raising the spectre of a Communist invasion, the PC leader was referring to “the province’s flood of red ink.”
But, while Hudak’s plan — which he tabled in the legislature — did not pass, he got hearty applause from AMO delegates drowning under the rising costs.
But Horwath said that kind of “heavy-handed” approach wouldn’t solve anything.
“I think it’s clear that that kind of approach doesn’t work in the province of Ontario,” she said. “Driving through legislation that’s favoured by one set of stakeholders — i.e. the AMO set of stakeholders — and not taking into consideration the other players at the table is a real recipe for disaster.”
She said a New Democratic solution would respect the negotiation process that already exists in Canada and Ontario.
Wynne urged the municipal leaders to “approach the process as openly as possible,” stressing the need for consensus and reiterating her commitment to open dialogue.
“What we do is so important — as municipal leaders, as ministry representatives, as provincial government … but, the way we do it is important, too.
“It’s easy to be negative and to find points of conflict,” she said. “But the reality is that we are in this together; we are on the same team.”
Wynne’s speech, which included a commitment echoed by the other party leaders to continue a plan to upload municipal service costs back to the province by 2018, drew a standing ovation from gathered leaders.
Horwath said the uploading will allow municipalities to spend property tax dollars elsewhere.
“Tradespeople know that there’s a right tool for every job and municipal leaders know that property tax isn’t the right tool to pay for every service, yet it is virtually the only option that municipal leaders are stuck with.”
Hudak said he was committed to taking the burden back onto the province, but said he would have to review whether the deadline was realistic given his primary goal of balancing the provincial budget.
Horwath and Wynne both highlighted the need to negotiate and compromise in a minority legislature in order to move forward,
Hudak could not name any government bill that he would support.
The conference runs through Wednesday.