There was only one loser in this whole civic strike mess. It’s you. The plural you. The citizen you. Most councillors took a summer holiday, effectively being on strike themselves. Against you. Those who vacationed avoided the unpleasantries of civil so-called servants hassling you over your attempts to get rid of the garbage you paid them to handle.
It’s okay for you to suffer wrongdoing at their hands. McGuinty is blameworthy because he hasn’t come up with a solution to prevent public workers from taking out their grievances on the public. Miller and his council lackeys are to blame because they in large part kept their heads down and offered no relief from militant union tactics. And they didn’t seek police support to protect the public from those tactics, though their ticket-givers never missed a stroke in larding the city’s bottom line.
CUPE leaders, of course, are to blame because they punished the public despite the fact their pampered members have secure jobs in an economic downturn where many of the citizens they’re supposed to serve are losing their economic security. Worse, they tormented and harassed the public. Perhaps most members didn’t approve of those tactics, but they have so far done nothing to show otherwise and to ensure it never happens again. Further, to ensure you suffered to the maximum extent, they waited until summer when they could cause the most damage and discomfort to pull their act.
Sadly there’s nobody in the wings to replace McGuinty. The Tories are completely unacceptable. They’re a rerun of the despicable Mike Harris regime, complete with his handlers and lackeys hovering like flies over the corpse of Ontario.
Our best hope is that McGuinty steps aside for a more competent leader. Perhaps someday Ontario will get a truly liberal government instead of alternating between back-country yokels and neocons masquerading as progressives.