 In the National Capital Region, PSAC supports candidates who support workers
OTTAWA, October 9, 2008 – The Public Service Alliance of Canada in the National Capital Region (PSAC-NCR) believes its members should support the following candidates:
In Ontario:
- Paul Dewar, New Democratic Party, Ottawa-Centre;
- Marc Godbout, Liberal, Ottawa-Orléans;
- Marlene Rivier, NDP, Ottawa-Ouest-Nepean;
- Dan Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell;
- Trevor Haché, NDP, Ottawa-Vanier.
In the Outaouais:
- Richard Nadeau, Bloc Québécois, Gatineau;
- Pierre Ducasse, NDP, Hull-Aylmer;
- Céline Brault, NDP, Pontiac;
- Mario Laframboise, Bloc Québécois, Argenteuil-Mirabel-Papineau.
Please read the additional notes for more details.
For a PDF version of the release.
“We hope that the 54,000 members living in the Region will take these recommendations into account when they go out and vote,” said Maria Fitzpatrick, the Regional Executive Vice-President of the PSAC-NCR. “We respect the intelligence of our members, and we are passing on these recommendations to them with all humility. We are not giving any orders, and we are supporting these candidates from a union perspective. Furthermore, this support does take into consideration the support these candidates have shown for a strong public sector, made of permanent employees, with the means to provide quality public services.”
These recommendations were ratified by members of the Ottawa Regional Council (ORC) and the Conseil régional d’action politique de l’Outaouais (CRAPO) at meetings held on October 8. These conclude an electoral process that included: face to face meetings with candidates, debates in Ottawa-Centre, Gatineau and Hull-Aylmer ridings and written responses from candidates in many ridings in the National Capital Region.
“In the Outaouais, the meetings with the candidates, the debates and the answers to our questions produced comparable evaluations of the NDP and the Bloc candidates,” explained Daniel Charron, the president of CRAPO. “This is no surprise, given the support both parties have traditionally given to workers and the Public Service. We have given the nod to Pierre Ducasse in Hull-Aylmer and to Richard Nadeau in Gatineau, because we believe they are best able to support our demands for the development of quality and universal public services accessible to people everywhere in Canada.”
The recommendations by both regional political action committees were approved by John Gordon, the National President of PSAC. The 54,000 PSAC members represent the largest union in the National Capital Region and are regrouped within some 150 locals. They were informed of these recommendations today.
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Information: Pierre Lebel, Regional Representative, PSAC
819-777-4647
Additional notes
- The PSAC in the National Capital Region has 54,000 members scattered throughout 16 electoral ridings located on both sides of the Ottawa River. Gatineau, with 5,871 members, has the largest concentration of members, followed by Hull-Aylmer, 5,723 and Ottawa-Orléans, 5,253. If we include to that total the 4,012 Ottawa-Centre members, there are more than 20,000 of our members who reside in the four ridings that were targeted by the PSAC during this election campaign.
- Members were informed of the issues in this election and the candidates’ positions through debates, meetings with candidates and especially their written answers to the PSAC questionnaire. The regional PSAC-NCR website was the preferred medium to keep members abreast of the issues.
- PSAC members in the National Capital Region have been active in the political arena for several months. They met with several candidates and MPs in Ontario and Quebec ridings to exchange ideas and views on matters affecting them and to obtain their support in certain cases. These meetings and the candidates’ and parties’ positions also figured in the final evaluation on which today’s recommendations are based.
- PSAC-RCN supports Paul Dewar of the NDP in Ottawa-Centre. We believe he is the best defender of workers’ rights and the person who best understands and respects public service.
- Marc Godbout of the Liberals in Ottawa-Orléans has displayed sensitivity to effectively representing the interests of our members both as citizens and as employees of the federal Public Service.
- PSAC-RCN supports Bloc Québécois candidate Richard Nadeau in Gatineau following a complete analysis were he and Françoise Boivin of the NDP were neck and neck. However, we believe Richard Nadeau should receive our support because he has been a staunch ally of the PSAC since his election.
- Our support to NDP candidate Pierre Ducasse in Hull-Aylmer is based on our September 29 debate and the candidates’ answers to our questionnaire.
- In the other ridings, we based our recommendations on the candidates’ and the parties’ positions on different issues, such as: quality public service, working conditions in the public service, environment, support for an anti-scab legislation and for pay equity.
- The Conservatives in the National Capital Region refused to debate, to meet with us and to answer our questions, with the exception of Denis Tassé in Gatineau and Lawrence Cannon in Pontiac whom we met with on October 8. These refusals show a lack of respect for our 54,000 members who are at the heart of the most important economic activity in the National Capital Region.
- In light of the rare exchanges we had with conservative candidates, we have to conclude that the positions taken by this party represent a threat for a public service made of permanent employees with the means to provide quality public services and universally accessible to all Canadians. We don’t believe that it would be in our members’ best interest to vote for conservative candidates.
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