The United Steelworkers union (USW) is the largest private-sector union in both Canada and North America, representing approximately 850,000 active and retired workers. USW District 6 is the largest of the USW’s 13 districts, with nearly 120,000 members and retirees across Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Our union is diverse and our members work in a variety of sectors in all regions of Ontario. On behalf of all of our members across the province, we thank the Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly for providing us the opportunity to comment on the potential impact of Bill 254 (the bill) should it be enacted in its current form.
When introducing the bill for the first time in the legislature, the Attorney General correctly noted that “each and every Ontarian is a driving force in our democracy.” He said the government’s intention with this bill is to “make sure that the electoral system continues to evolve to protect Ontarians’ central role in elections and promote fairness in the electoral process for everyone.”
The USW is in full support of that stated goal, but far from protecting the role of everyday Ontarians in our shared democracy, this piece of legislation undermines basic fairness in our democratic freedoms during and outside of elections.
More specifically, it would limit free speech and have serious impacts on freedom of association. For these reasons, we submit that this bill must be defeated.
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