seven-o-seven seven-o-seven REPORTER - CAW Local 707

First, I would like to thank all my co-workers for their support
and encouragement shown me when I decided that I would
once again fully utilize my E.I. benefits as well as our SUB plan
to stay home after the birth of our second child. I am pleased to
say that my decision to do so is one I shall never regret.
Provincial Elections – October 6th
A special strategy session has been called by the CAW National
Union for August 27th at the Sheridan in Toronto. At this meeting,
I will push for a priority riding list for the upcoming provincial
election for our workforce in Oakville. The reason I support the
distributions of these lists is twofold. First of all, our current First
Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system resulting in millions of wasted
votes is antiquated; and secondly, the fact that the highest voter
turnout in Oakville for the NDP was during the last federal election
drawing a record of 17 per cent of the vote was hardly impressive.
In the case of our FPTP electoral system, the reason for the
numerous wasted votes is resultant of the inability of constituents
to vote for their preferred party along with their choice
of representative in their respective ridings. This is essentially
what would occur in a proportional representational electoral
system which ensures that the overall party vote would be proportionally
represented within the House of Commons or the
Provincial Legislature, thus ensuring that every vote counts.
Unfortunately, a referendum on this change was turned down
by 57 per cent of the Ontario electorate in 2007 and has not
been adopted as a policy by CAW Council or the NDP.
So where does this leave us on October 6th? Many hope for
the orange wave to sweep into Ontario. I however am sceptical
of this unfounded optimism since the vast majority of the new
federal NDP seats were won in Quebec, a region now representing
60 per cent of the federal NDP caucus. The final match
to the NDP surge may be the fact that it’s newly elected interim
leader is a federal politician that had dual memberships with
both the federal NDP as well as the Bloc Québécois, a party
unfairly stigmatized by its policy of separating from Canadian
federalism (the latter, a possible catalyst in the systemic shift of
Quebec voters from the Bloc to the NDP in the last federal election).
Still, regardless of the social policy synergies between the
NDP and the Bloc, one ought to contemplate the Ontario electorates’
perception of hoping for Official Opposition Leader Jack
Layton’s speedy recovery from his battle with cancer to play a
prominent role for the NDP in the upcoming provincial election.
As a rank and file member, I always heard debates of the effectiveness
of the ABC policy and the possibility that people would
simply vote Liberal. Upon undertaking this position, it was the
first question I asked Ken Lewenza when he visited our Hall prior
to the 2007 provincial election. I was assured that a Liberal push
was not at all what was intended by the ABC strategy and that a
list would be provided in the future. In my opinion, if we as the
CAW do not stick by our policies in practical ways, we should
Page 30 – July – September 2011
Union In Politics Committee Report
By iain fleming
Anything But Hudak
Some political analysts have looked at historical electoral trends in Ontario
politics and determined that the electorate in this region prefers differing
federal and provincial parties. Once again, I am sceptical!
come up with new policies to replace them prior to dropping
them. Unfortunately, our options at this time are severely limited.
As the elected political representative of Local 707, it is
my responsibility to make decisions that will benefit our local
membership as well as our retirees and I cannot in good conscience
support an NDP candidate in the riding that represents
our workforce. With the historically dismal results for the NDP
in Oakville due to the affluence in the downtown core, we as
a membership need a representative that will listen to our concerns
and support us in our struggles.
Let’s look at how our priority riding’s federal list panned out
in proportion to the votes cast.
CAW Local 707 Federal Election 2011
Priority Ridings List Vote Results
(please note that the top candidate was our candidate of choice)
NDP Priority Ridings
Parkdale-High Park
X Peggy Nash, NDP 17,015
Gerard Kennedy, LIB 11,328
Taylor Train, CON 5,523
Hamilton Center
X David Chistopherson, NDP 21,114
Jim Byron, CON 9,845
Anne Tennier, LIB 5,062
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek
X Wayne Marston, NDP 18,179
Brad Clark, CON 14,326
Michelle Stockwell, LIB 5,315
Hamilton Mountain
X Chris Charlton, NDP 21,553
Terry Anderson, CON 14,326
Marie Bountrogianni, LIB 7,343
Liberal Priority Ridings
Oakville
Max Khan, LIB 10,320
X Terrence Young, CON 18,265
James Ede, NDP 5,069
Halton
Laurie Connie-Bowie, LIB 8,960
X Lisa Raitt, CON 20,539
Pat Heroux, NDP 6,352
Burlington
Alyssa Brierley, LIB 9,523
X Mike Wallace, CON 23,317
David Laird, NDP 8,511
Mississauga-Erindale
Omar Alghabra, LIB 6,812
X Robert Dechert, CON 10,572
Michelle Bilek, NDP 4,471
Mississauga South
Paul Szabo, LIB 13,970
X Stella Ambler, CON 18,164
Farah Kalbouneh, NDP 5,453
Brampton-Sprindale
Ruby Dhalla, LIB 7,193
X Parm Gill, CON 11,726
Manjit Grewal, NDP 4,634
As a result, I offer the following recommendation:
M/S that the membership of local 707 adopt the aBc
strategy for the upcoming provincial election.
Have your say at the September 18th membership meeting.
All criticism is welcome!
Labour Day Parade
Don’t forget the Labour Day Parade in Hamilton on September
5th. This year, the Hamilton and District Labour Council
will concentrate on activities for kids ranging from face painting,
lion dancing, clowns and even a “reptile” man. USW Local
1005 will lead the march and food and drinks will be provided.
In Solidarity,
iain fleming, UPC Chair