TORONTO – Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne is lying when she says she will not cut public sector jobs, the top boss of the Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union said Tuesday.
Warren “Smokey” Thomas accused Wynne of burying $1.2 billion in cuts in the dead-on-arrival budget earlier this year.
“It’s in the fine print,” he said during an interview on Sun News Network, pointing out that at $40,000 for an average salary, the Liberal cuts would have chopped more than 30,000 jobs from the public payroll.
When asked if Wynne was lying, Thomas said: “Yes. In my personal opinion, yes, I think she is.”
The Liberal leader has campaigned as the saviour of public sector jobs, promising the public sector will be just as big four years from now if she’s elected.
But a Bloomberg report from last week found that Wynne’s budget would mean the biggest public service cuts since the time of Mike Harris.
Thomas says he wrote a letter to Wynne outlining his hope for $1.25 billion in budget savings.
He says he has asked Wynne exactly what she would cut to reach that number, in order to assuage OPSEU members who fear losing their jobs to cuts or privatization.
However, he says, he has yet to receive any specific answers, only assurances that Wynne would keep “public services public.”
“She’s not being straight with the people she employs. She’s not being straight with the people of Ontario about her plans,” Thomas says.
But Wynne has tried to scare voters with warnings that Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak would weaken government services with his plan to cut 100,000 government jobs. Thomas said at least Hudak is “honest and straightforward” with what’s he’s proposing to do.
Previously, Thomas has said he believes there could be as many as 60,000 middle management positions in the public sector that could be eliminated to find savings.
On Tuesday, Thomas said his union – the third largest in Ontario and the second largest public sector union in Canada – is “politically agnostic” and doesn’t get officially involved with any party. Personally, Thomas supports the NDP and said he’s already voted for that party in the advanced polls.
"Mothers Against Wind Turbines™" Phoenix Rising... 