Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak wants a union-free Ontario for Christmas. He figures he can make this happen by attacking the Rand Formula. For more than 60 years, the Rand Formula has supported industrial peace in Canada by the simple measure of making sure all who benefit by a union’s actions pay the equivalent dues. What Tiny Tim does not realize is that the action of dumping the Rand Formula can help destroy the quality of life in this province.
Despite the old images, the union worker today is not a dirt smudged individual in coveralls and a hard hat. Today, union workers are the back-bone of the middle class in this country. The union member can be a teacher or fireman, a scientist or lab worker, a carpenter or brick layer, a police constable or an engineer. And you can sometimes be hard-pressed to find a socialist among them.
But without the Rand Formula, the infighting such as we saw in the Depression would bring back the class hatreds that beset our society in those times.
What Tiny Tim also does not seem to realize is that many of the union members in Ontario do not necessarily vote NDP. He does not seem aware that there are unions with a heavy investment in the status quo. They are almost as conservative as he. To declare war on them with an ultimate plan for right-to-work legislation is to polarize them and push them into the wrong camp.
If Hudak is really out to stop the unions from spending member’s dues to tell people not to vote for him, there are lots of NDPers and Liberals who agree that third party advertising should require clear identification of who is paying, who it is for and come under the control of the Chief Electoral Officer of the Province.
There is no question that the McGuinty Liberals have let Ontario down at a time when the rules should have been stiffened to provide proper spending limits for parties and candidates and more rigid accounting for candidates’ expenses. The time is long past that we should allow those with the money to call the tune at election time. Neither business nor unions should have an unfair advantage.
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Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
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