Mayor David Miller, an unabashed union boy finds himself in a potential lose-lose situation
Toronto mayor plays children’s card during strike
The strike of Toronto’s city workers is now entering its third week and Mayor David Miller, an unabashed union boy finds himself in a potential lose-lose situation. During the last strike back in 2002, then Councillor Miller walked the picket line with his overpaid and underworked brothers and sisters. Now, although his loyalties lie with the unions and not the constituents that he represents, he didn’t blindly cave into the unions unreasonable monetary demands, forcing the strike.
Still he is essentially on their side; regular city council meetings have been cancelled because union workers are necessary to perform such important functions as turning the lights on and off. Within hours of the beginning of the work stoppage altercations occurred between some city residents and picketers at garbage transfer stations. Miller raged at citizens for illegal dumping while remaining silent about the union thugs that were preventing residents from disposing of their garbage. The mayor made it clear whose side he was on in the labour dispute.
Miller’s popularity began to plunge since the strike started and he even managed to make the unions look good. Miller’s reason for not giving in to his buddies’ demands was that there is a recession. While we have been in a deep recession for months now, the Toronto mayor has just seemed to realize it. The recession hasn’t stopped spending as usual. During the first week of the strike, council held an emergency meeting to fork over almost half a billion dollars for transit that the federal government refused to provide. Miller’s reference to the recession would be laughable if it weren’t so costly to the taxpayers’ of Canada’s largest city.
As the second week of the labour stoppage wound down, the mayor began to change his tune. For the first time since winning the mayoralty in 2003, future reelection appears not to be a slam dunk. Miller praised Torontonians for their patience during the strike although, except for some vocal city residents with way too much time on their hands who are protesting temporary garbage dumps, Torontonians have adjusted well to the withdrawal of city services. People do adjust and having gone two weeks could go two months or two years if they had to. People just take their garbage to the temporary dumps and a host of private entrepreneurs have appeared on the scene to assist those who can’t or don’t want to dispose of their own garbage. It’s really no big deal.
Fearing a much deserved backlash, a desperate Miller is trying to lay a guilt trip on the striking unions by urging them to settle for the sake of the children. These poor kids have ended up in third world like conditions. They are unable to attend city daycare centers or city camps and are unable to go swimming in city run pools. The unions just have to go back to work; for the children you understand.
If anything a lengthy strike may actually be good for kids. Sure, there are a lot of people out there that think that irreparable harm will be done to Toronto’s children. No doubt in the years to come there will be people standing before criminal court judges lamenting the fact that their problems all began during that dreadful summer of 2009 when they couldn’t go swimming. But, the longer this strike goes, the greater the opportunity there is for these kids to actually learn something.
They can learn that this strike is not the great tragedy that the unions and the left wing media are portraying it to be. The kids, if they pay attention will learn that people have a wonderful ability to cope, especially with situations that are at most, minor inconveniences. Children will also be able to learn that contrary to what they learn from their left wing teachers and media is that workers can be just as greedy as all those capitalist bankers and businesspeople that they have be conditioned to blame all the problems of the world on.
Most importantly these kids have a great opportunity to learn what happens when people become too dependent upon the government. Hopefully they will question why the former city of Etobicoke still has garbage collection while parks fill up with refuse in the rest of Toronto (Etobicoke’s garbage is contracted out to the private sector). They have a wonderful opportunity to learn just how pervasive the government is in their lives and what the downside to that is. If only a few of the city’s children pick this up, the strike will be well worth it.
David Miller is a socialist ideologue who is now shifting his position simply to save his own skin. He doesn’t care about the city’s children any more than he cared about the taxpayers who encountered difficulties at the garbage transfer stations. Let the strike continue and hope that the children at least get to learn a few things.
| | Arthur Weinreb
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Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men’s News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck.
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