Given the billions of dollars we invest in the operations of government each year, it is a shame that there is very little public discussion about public services in Canada. Public services are mostly taken for granted until they are interrupted by a labour dispute or natural disaster. A garbage workers’ strike in the middle of summer tends to focus the public’s mind and nose on public services fairly quickly.
In the case of disruptive strikes, it is common for the media, politicians and the public to call for a move to private sector delivery or for taking away the right to strike. Toronto’s new mayor, Rob Ford, is doing both. He has ridden a wave of public concern in moving to contract out a large swath of garbage collection in Toronto while also convincing the government of Ontario to remove the right to strike for Toronto’s transit workers. Contracting out and privatization are incendiary for the trade union movement. The Canadian Union of Public Employees sees...
Tony Dean is a professor at the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto. He is the former head of the Ontario Public Service and continues to advise governments in Canada and abroad on public policy and public service reform.
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