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[OPIRG-EVENTS] Public Meeting: Sid Ryan (President, CUPE Ontario) John Clarke (OCAP)and others
please distribute widely
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Ontario Common Front and the Economic Disruption Campaign
***P U B L I C M E E T I N G***
DEFEAT HARRIS! ONTARIO COMMON FRONT ECONOMIC DISRUPTION CAMPAIGN UPDATE
OTTAWA PUBLIC LIBRARY (MAIN BRANCH)
120 Laurier St. W. (corner of Metcalfe St.)
Wednesday, September 5, 7:00-9:00pm
The Executive Council of CUPE 4600, the Union of TAs, RAs, and Sessional
Lecturers of Carleton University and the Ottawa Coalition Against the Tories
(OCAT) would like to invite you to a public meeting to discuss the labour
and community mobilization against the Tories in this Fall's Common Front
campaign of economic disruption.
On August 9th, Kimberley Rogers of Sudbury, eight months pregnant and
confined to house arrest for accepting welfare while receiving student
loans, died in the midst of a heatwave where temperatures at times exceeded
40 degrees. For attempting to survive while improving her chances of
providing a future for her family, Kimberley received what can only be
referred to as a "death sentence" from this government. Her story is a
recent example, along with the deaths in Walkerton from a tainted water
supply, along with the many deaths of increasing numbers of children,
disabled, homeless and poor people across this province every year, of why
this government needs to be removed from office.
Meanwhile, the wealthy in Ontario are doing just fine. The Harris
government and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty have cut corporate taxes to a
level which has made investment-holders in Ontario the envy of all of North
America. Jim Flaherty also claims that the introduction of tax credits for
parents who send their children to Montessori, Kumon, fundamentalist
religious or other private schools is "fair" to parents who do not send
their kids to "so-called public schools" (Globe and Mail, Aug. 20).
Meanwhile here in Ottawa, property owners have seen the values of their
investments soar to unprecedented levels, while tenants face evictions
without cause, untenable rent increases, and a vacancy rate of 0.2%.
Increasingly, the face of the student population is less diverse as it is a
smaller and smaller group who can simultaneously afford both Ottawa housing
costs and Ottawa tuition costs.
Front-line workers have had to contend with greater and greater pressures
based on the social polarization that this government has brought into
being -- in a period of prolonged economic expansion, at that. As this
period comes to an end, the real devastation will begin. Workers and
communities must get organized in order to fight back, by targeting the
beneficiaries of Harris government policies, and making their support a
losing proposition in which the costs of this support come to exceed the
benefits. We've been talking about how best to do this in our own
communities and workplaces, and soon it will be time to start escalating our
resistance. The retreat is over.
Come hear what CUPE, OCAP, and OCAT and groups across the province are
planning. Come share your thoughts, questions and ideas with others in your
community on fighting to win against the Harris government.
Speakers:
Sid Ryan, president of CUPE-Ontario
John Clarke, organizer, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)
Heidi Rimke, organizer, Ottawa Coalition Against the Tories (OCAT)
For More Information:
CUPE Local 4600: 520-7482
Heidi Rimke (OCAT Organizing Committee): 233-7057
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