If you listen to unionized workers and labour leaders at this year's Labour Day Parade in Windsor, there are many issues warranting concern.
The list is long. Provincially, there is the repeal of the $15 minimum wage, and the relationship between Ontario's new Ford government and teachers. Nationally, there is the plight of asylum seekers crossing into Canada from the United States, and the rights of Canada's Indigenous peoples. However, above all, labour leaders are keeping their fingers crossed that trade negotiators in Washington can secure a free trade deal friendly to Canadian interests when talks resume Wednesday.
Unionized workers march in Windsor's annual Labour Day Parade, September 3, 2018 (Photo by Adelle Loiselle)
Unifor Local 444 President, Dave Cassidy is holding out hope that Foreign Affairs Minister, Chrystia Freeland and her team will reach a deal, but admits the time has come to seriously think about what will happen to the auto industry, locally and nationally, if she is unsuccessful.
"We have to be," he replied without hesitation, pointing out that there are costs on both sides of the border should talks fail. "It will negatively affect Windsor and Essex County. Make no mistake. We trade directly with 33 states. That will negatively affect United States workers in numbers more than it will Canadian workers."
A report in the Toronto Star last Friday detailed comments made, off-the-record, to Bloomberg reporters that suggest U.S. President Donald Trump is not in a mood to compromise, a report Cassidy and others at this year's Labour Day event at the Fogolar Furlan Club call a clear case of "bad-faith bargaining".
"If [Trump] is trying to flex his muscle and bully people, well than you what, take the issue on. We have to," he said.
Fr. Bill Capitano kicked off speeches with his own words of condemnation. He drew upon the words of Mel Hurtig in his book, "The Truth About Canada" which asked the question in 2005 whether Canada had been tough enough in trade talks with the U.S. over softwood lumber.
"Not tough enough? We acted like a bunch of helpless wimps. Simply put, we should have told the Americans that we were going to cut off all of their Canadian supply of oil, natural gas, uranium, and electricity," he told the gathered crowd to cheers and whistles.
While the condition of Canadian-U.S. trade relations may have weighed heavily on the minds of teachers at Monday's event, they have their own concerns regarding relations with Premier Doug Ford and his government.
Teachers unions have decried the implementation of a so-called "snitch line" for parents to report teachers who use the 2015 sex-ed curriculum.
BlackburnNews.com asked a teacher, Chris D'Annunzio, what he made of the reporting mechanism, and he thought current relations were reminiscent of the days of former Premier Mike Harris.
"Even though I always disagreed with things the Harris government was doing, I at least in the back of my mind thought there was some intelligence behind their thinking," he said. "I'm scared to say I fail to see the same intelligence behind the thinking here."
Windsor-Tecumseh MPP, Percy Hatfield admitted he could not begrudge the Ontario government for revamping the sex-ed curriculum since Ford campaigned on it, but he is shaking his head at some of the other moves made at Queen's Park.
He lamented a 1.5 per cent increase in social assistance instead of the 3 per cent proposed by the former Liberal government, along with the repeal of the basic income pilot project.
"Here's a guy that goes out and makes a big deal over buck-a-beer which nobody mentioned to me during my campaign. Why not a buck for a gallon milk? Why not a buck for a loaf of bread?" Hatfield mused. "He says he's for the people, but unless it's for his people, the very rich in the province, I don't know whom he stands for."
Thousands of unionized workers from across Windsor and Essex County took part in Monday's annual parade along Walker Rd. to the Fogolar Furlan Club.
