“The legislation passed today reflects a balanced and collaborative approach to engaging with stakeholders and responding to their feedback.”
Those were the words of Peter Bethlenfalvy, former Wall Street banker turned Ontario provincial politician, on the day the government of Ontario passed Bill 124, the so-called Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, in November 2019.
The bill, which imposed a maximum wage increase of one per cent on unionized public sector workers for three years – below the rate of inflation, even before inflation skyrocketed during the pandemic – certainly did not represent a “balanced and collaborative approach.” Nor was it about protecting the public sector. It was a full-frontal attack on public sector workers.