We’re here to help: Bartolucci - Rick Bartolucci

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein

Take note, NDP.

The labour dispute between Vale Inco Ltd. and its employees has gone on for seven months too long and has produced little dialogue that would affect the positive outcome our community wants.

We all want a resolution, we want working families and local businesses to prosper, and we want a bright future for our youth.This is why I am again strongly urging both sides to return to the bargaining table, make use of a provincial mediator, and resume negotiations so that we can end this strike.

As your Member of Provincial Parliament, a teacher for over 30 years and as a father, I know that taking sides in a dispute - as opposed to working to achieve consensus, solves nothing. It alienates and brings out the worst in people, making the situation worse than when it began.

Ontario MPPs are elected by a diverse group of citizens, all with different beliefs and backgrounds, and it is incumbent upon all politicians – including myself — to represent every person in the community and give each and every one of them a voice.

I would like to point out that, in accordance with the Members’ Integrity Act, provincially elected Members must represent the interests of all our constituents broadly, rather than pick and choose when politically convenient to do so.

Similar to the events leading up to the 1990 election, political opportunists (the NDP) are again using the hardships of others to profess a new balance to labour relations and a staunch commitment to the working family. But when we look back to those dark days, we remember that those same opportunists (the NDP) brought forth one of the largest violations of workers’ rights in the history of this province; the social contract. Almost one million unionized workers in Ontario had their contracts ripped to pieces by the NDP. They introduced 60 hour work weeks, imposed wage freezes, mandatory days off without pay, and paved the way for a decade without a single minimum wage increase. They alienated workers and only used them as a means to their end – forming government.

On the other hand, our government — the McGuinty government, has not abdicated its responsibility to the working men and women of Sudbury, or the businesses that have helped us stay afloat during challenging global economic times.

We have and will continue to represent every Sudburian with diligence and enthusiasm.

In the last seven months alone, the McGuinty government has invested over $40 million into our local economy. From education and training to health and safety to social programs and recreation, our government continues to show its unwavering commitment to our community because we are all devoted to the growth and prosperity of Sudbury.

Our government has also introduced measures that will mean more money in the pockets of hard working families, more jobs and more opportunities through the implementation of the largest tax cut package ever introduced by a provincial government. We are ensuring that every Ontarian has genuine opportunities to provide for their families and to get ahead.

Let us not be fooled by those (the NDP) who squawked about this tax cut package yet missed the key vote in the Legislature. I wonder, would the NDP rescind the biggest tax reform package in Ontario’s history, if they form the government after the 2011 election? History tells us, talk is particularly cheap when it comes to the NDP.

The McGuinty government doesn’t spew rhetoric; we produce results.

So, to the striking workers and the company involved in this dispute, please cast your differences aside, make use of mediator which has been offered from the outset, and immerse yourselves in talks that can provide for a speedy and rewarding resolution to this dispute. I, along with our government, am here to help.

Rick Bartolucci is MPP for Sudbury.