The Ford Gang Stays True To Form

Although I don't live in Toronto, it has become an object of fascination for me since the election of Mayor Rob and Doug Ford. Within their fiefdom resides a psychology that provides fascinating examples of and insights into the darker aspects of human nature: our propensity for selfishness and short-shortsightedness, our fear of ideas that conflict with our worldview, our tendency to demonize those who disagree with us, our happy reliance on propaganda and absolutism, and our elevation of ideologies over critical thinking.

I may return to each of these aspects in future posts, but I have time for just one short illustration now. As predicted in a previous post, while some councillors are feeling the heat, Team Ford is officially dismissing the results of a recent poll showing an overwhelming majority of Torontonians strongly opposed to the cuts in city services under current consideration because it was paid for by CUPE Local 79.

You can read the full story here.

Lest We Forget Those Who Die For Canada's Economy

Although the following video was made to protect B.C. workers, perhaps it could be included as a warning to all the unprotected workers who are exposed to the asbestos that Stephen Harper refuses to stop exporting to countries such as India, insisting that it is safe if handled properly, conveniently ignoring the fact that he has also obstructed any labeling of asbestos as a toxic material.

Please sign this petition urging Prime Minister Harper to stop threatening Michaela Keyserlingk and to stop exporting asbestos.

Taxpayers Versus Citizens

It probably doesn't take a genius to understand the basic philosophical and fiscal difference between the moderate and the right-wing is that the moderate recognizes the needs of the collective, i.e., the entire society, while the right-wing gives precedence to, indeed exalts, the individual.

The traditional moderate's view on taxation accepts the progressive model, whereby the amount of taxes we pay escalates with our economic standing; by contrast, the right talks only of low taxes so that the individual can decide how to spend his or her hard-earned money. The latter, of course, totally ignores the fact that “no man (woman) is an island,” that we are all part of a larger community, with both collective rights and collective responsibilities.

Yesterday's Star had an excellent column by Edmund Pries, a professor at Wilfrid Laurier University on this distinction. Entitled Taxpayers vs. citizens, it is well worth a few minutes of your time today.

Score Another One For Rick Salutin

Consistently able to 'think outside the box' of the current North American mindset, Rick Salutin, one of my favorite critical thinkers, has a column in today's Star well-worth perusal. Entitled The sector that dares not speak its name, the thesis of his argument can be summed up by the following excerpt:

"We are a society that has largely lost sight of the fact that there is anything to debate in politics except how to save money."

Using examples from the cost-cutting crusade of Toronto Mayors Rob and Doug Ford, Salutin amply demonstrates how we have forgotten that there are dimensions to civil society that transcend the dollars-and-cents-mentality of the extreme right wing.

I hope you have time to check out the entire column.

Willful Ignorance in the Ford Administration

Toronto Mayors Rob and Doug Ford and their minions, like so many of the extreme right, tend not to let facts, reason, and data interfere with the purity of their ideological vision. Someone who describes city employees as 'the gravy' and denies that eliminating daycare subsidies are cuts, but rather 'efficiencies' will likely be unfazed by the latest poll showing Torontonians overwhelmingly opposed to service cuts.

Published in today's Star, the "Forum Research telephone survey of nearly 13,000 people reveals that more than three-quarters of Torontonians want their local councillor to protect services rather than comply with the mayor’s wishes. And only 27 per cent of residents say they would vote for Rob Ford if an election was held tomorrow."

Particularly interesting is that the results involve a ward-by-ward analysis, with wards of some of the most extreme right-wing councillors showing the strongest opposition to service cuts.

But for an administration that refuses any interview requests from The Toronto Star and excludes them from invitation-only events, the poll results, despite the very large sampling, will likely be dismissed.

After all, it was commissioned by CUPE Local 79, one of two major unions at city hall. Sometimes hard data isn't hard data, especially when your opponents are involved in its collection.

Tell People In the Maldives That Climate-Change Is A Hoax

In a story that even the most unthinking extreme right-winger would find hard to refute, The Star today reports that the world's lowest country is sinking under rising water levels. Entitled People forced to move as world’s lowest country sinks under rising seas, it describes how entire communities have had to be moved on some islands in the Maldives.

Climate change skeptics only have to look at his country, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, and other sea-level nations to see its horrific effects on the environment, Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam said.

"In the past two to three decades, we have relocated entire populations from one island to the other simply because life wasn't sustainable in those islands," he told an Asian Development Bank conference on climate induced migration.

Something tells me, however, that given the recent record number and intensity of hurricanes and tornadoes that have caused great damage in North America without arousing any corporate or governmental interest in the abatement of emissions, the plight of people so far away will mean even less to the powers that be.

A Memo From Mohawk College On How To Become A Scab

All of my adult life, I have had nothing but absolute contempt for scabs, or, as these more sensitive times describe them, 'replacement workers'. Whether crossing a picket line to work inside an operation that has been struck in order to earn some extra cash, or deserting the union to return to work, the decision to become a scab bespeaks an indefensible exaltation of the self over the interests of the collective.

In the current college support workers' strike, Mohawk College is demonstrating its willingness to take on the role of scab encourager, as the following memo from Karen Pashleigh, Mohawk's Chief Human Resources & Organizational Development Officer, makes clear. The discerning reader will undoubtedly note the manipulative nature of the letter as the writer disguises her true purpose by feigning interest in the well-being of the worker:

Memorandum

To: All Full-time Support Staff Employees
From: Karen Pashleigh
Date: September 6, 2011

Re: Your right to work during a strike

During a work stoppage you are faced with choices. Whatever decision you make, whether it is to serve on the picket line, come into work or just stay at home, as your employer we fully respect that choice. You have the right to continue to work during a strike, provided the College has work available for you. The law specifically gives you that right.

Should you return to work, the wages and benefits applicable to such work will be as set out in the Collective Agreement which expired on August 31, 2011. When a new collective agreement is entered into, its terms will then begin to apply to the work being done by you at that time.

We have been informed that the Union has been threatening employees with fines and penalties if they choose to exercise their legal right to work. This is wrong. We have consulted our legal advisors and have been informed that such fines would be unenforceable. Threatening employees in an effort to prevent them from exercising their legal rights also amounts to an unfair labour practice under the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act.

In the event you choose to exercise your right to work and OPSEU attempts to impose a fine on you, the College will refuse to implement such a fine. If OPSEU attempts to recover this money from you through the Court system we will provide you with legal counsel for your defense at our expense. In the unlikely event that the Courts uphold these “fines” we will pay them. You have the right to continue to work and we are disappointed that OPSEU would try to impede these rights.

If you wish to exercise your right to return to work at any time during the strike, please contact the Human Resources Hotline at 905-575-2354. Please leave your name, position held, department worked, manager’s name and a telephone number where you can be reached. A representative from the Human Resources department will be in contact with you.

Again, whatever your choice, we will fully respect that decision.

Sincerely,

Karen Pashleigh
Chief Human Resources &
Organizational Development

Please sign this petition urging Prime Minister Harper to stop threatening Michaela Keyserlingk and to stop exporting asbestos.