A regional union representative of federal employees says the prime minister is fear mongering in an attempt to cut public services.
Judith Monteith-Farrell, Northwestern Ontario representative for the Public Service Alliance, said the federal government has already said there will be cuts in the upcoming budget.
But Thursday the union, which represents around 900 federal public service employees in the region, stood near Patterson Park in Thunder Bay to protest what Monteith-Farrell calls bad times ahead.
“We’re putting Stephen Harper on notice that we’re not going to sit idly by while he guts the public service and all of the important jobs that protect Canadians,” she said as around 20 workers cheered to honking cars passing by the corner of Miles Street and May Street.
The cuts won’t just affect workers.
There will also be lower safety standards in organizations like the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canadian Grain Commission all in the name of competition with countries that have lower standards Canada shouldn’t be trying to emulate Monteith-Farrell said.
The cuts are coming because of a manufactured crisis by the federal government Montieth-Farrell said. But Thursday’s protest is just the beginning of the union trying to stop it she said.
“Stephen Harper will have hard times. There will be people in the streets if he continues on this path,” she said.
