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The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario is calling on Ontario Provincial Police to clarify its position on free and fair elections in Ontario after the union representing its officers, in an unprecedented move, issued two attack ads against PC candidate Tim Hudak.
Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod said she was “confused” when she first saw one of the ads on the Ontario Provincial Police Association’s YouTube account, access to which was restricted by late Monday afternoon.
“The OPP should be an impartial voice, and my hope is that they still are and that this is just some of their union flacks attacking our leader,” MacLeod said.
Macleod said she was calling on OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes and Premier Kathleen Wynne to clarify whether they endorse the attack ads by the Ontario Provincial Police Association.
The 15-second television ads, which began airing on Monday morning and were slated to air in some markets until June 10, question Hudak’s agenda. It was not immediately known whether the ads, no longer available online, would be pulled from the air.
“We work hard every day,” the voice-over begins on one ad as police cruiser lights begin flashing.
“We risk our lives,” the narrator continues as still images from police funerals drape the screen. “Tim Hudak says he’s a friend, but Tim wants to cancel our contract, cut our pay, and cut pensions for new hires.
“We’re the OPP and we’re here for you,” the narrator continues as the OPPA logo appears on the screen expressly stating that the ad is brought to Ontarians by the Ontario Provincial Police Association, which represents 9,000 provincial employees across Ontario, including 6,000 officers. “Who’s Tim Hudak here for?”
In a news release, OPPA president Jim Christie said the union had “no choice” but to weigh in on a provincial election campaign for the first time in its 60-year history, given Hudak’s positions.
“A Tim Hudak led government would launch a direct assault on the Collective Agreements of Police Associations right across the Province,” Christie added. “His positions on arbitration, public sector pensions and further wage freezes, among others issues, are unacceptable to our members who put their lives on the line for their communities every day.”
MacLeod, however, said the ads were nothing more than posturing from a union that has benefitted from a Liberal government.
“This is a union. Tim Hudak will be premier for all Ontarians. We’re not concerned that unions are angry. They have for far too long been so cosy with this Liberal government that the spending in this province has gotten away from us,” she said.
Further complicating the ads is that the Liberal government is under two OPP investigations, MacLeod said — one involving ORNGE air ambulance and a second surrounding the gas plants scandal.
“These negative attack ads aren’t fooling anyone. People know that it’s disaffected unions who have been, for far too long, in the back pocket of the Liberal party,” MacLeod said.
In the same news release issued Monday, Christie said the ads shouldn’t be viewed as an endorsement of Liberal or NDP candidates, nor should the association be seen as anti-Conservative. The opposition is to Hudak alone and his “divisive ‘Tea Party’ style politics.” Christie also called Hudak’s million-jobs plan an “illogical” promise.
“We just don’t want this Conservative as Premier.”
MacLeod fired back saying that the PC plan is to “get the size and scope of government under control” through a balanced budget. She stood by the party’s positions: to look at arbitration reform in Ontario — something Ottawa Police Services Board chair Coun. Eli El-Chantiry has repeatedly asked the Liberal government, for without success — and a two-year, provincewide wage freeze for the broader public service.
Police salaries have been a hot-button issue in the province and among police unions and police boards, with several municipalities calling on arbitration reform to control the ballooning costs of policing in a province where crime levels are on the downtrend.
Matt Skof, president of the Ottawa Police Association, said his union will never endorse a provincial candidate but that the union does provide its members with access to all party platforms to help them to make informed decisions at the voting booth.
syogaretnam@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/shaaminiwhy
查看原文...
Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod said she was “confused” when she first saw one of the ads on the Ontario Provincial Police Association’s YouTube account, access to which was restricted by late Monday afternoon.
“The OPP should be an impartial voice, and my hope is that they still are and that this is just some of their union flacks attacking our leader,” MacLeod said.
Macleod said she was calling on OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes and Premier Kathleen Wynne to clarify whether they endorse the attack ads by the Ontario Provincial Police Association.
The 15-second television ads, which began airing on Monday morning and were slated to air in some markets until June 10, question Hudak’s agenda. It was not immediately known whether the ads, no longer available online, would be pulled from the air.
“We work hard every day,” the voice-over begins on one ad as police cruiser lights begin flashing.
“We risk our lives,” the narrator continues as still images from police funerals drape the screen. “Tim Hudak says he’s a friend, but Tim wants to cancel our contract, cut our pay, and cut pensions for new hires.
“We’re the OPP and we’re here for you,” the narrator continues as the OPPA logo appears on the screen expressly stating that the ad is brought to Ontarians by the Ontario Provincial Police Association, which represents 9,000 provincial employees across Ontario, including 6,000 officers. “Who’s Tim Hudak here for?”
In a news release, OPPA president Jim Christie said the union had “no choice” but to weigh in on a provincial election campaign for the first time in its 60-year history, given Hudak’s positions.
“A Tim Hudak led government would launch a direct assault on the Collective Agreements of Police Associations right across the Province,” Christie added. “His positions on arbitration, public sector pensions and further wage freezes, among others issues, are unacceptable to our members who put their lives on the line for their communities every day.”
MacLeod, however, said the ads were nothing more than posturing from a union that has benefitted from a Liberal government.
“This is a union. Tim Hudak will be premier for all Ontarians. We’re not concerned that unions are angry. They have for far too long been so cosy with this Liberal government that the spending in this province has gotten away from us,” she said.
Further complicating the ads is that the Liberal government is under two OPP investigations, MacLeod said — one involving ORNGE air ambulance and a second surrounding the gas plants scandal.
“These negative attack ads aren’t fooling anyone. People know that it’s disaffected unions who have been, for far too long, in the back pocket of the Liberal party,” MacLeod said.
In the same news release issued Monday, Christie said the ads shouldn’t be viewed as an endorsement of Liberal or NDP candidates, nor should the association be seen as anti-Conservative. The opposition is to Hudak alone and his “divisive ‘Tea Party’ style politics.” Christie also called Hudak’s million-jobs plan an “illogical” promise.
“We just don’t want this Conservative as Premier.”
MacLeod fired back saying that the PC plan is to “get the size and scope of government under control” through a balanced budget. She stood by the party’s positions: to look at arbitration reform in Ontario — something Ottawa Police Services Board chair Coun. Eli El-Chantiry has repeatedly asked the Liberal government, for without success — and a two-year, provincewide wage freeze for the broader public service.
Police salaries have been a hot-button issue in the province and among police unions and police boards, with several municipalities calling on arbitration reform to control the ballooning costs of policing in a province where crime levels are on the downtrend.
Matt Skof, president of the Ottawa Police Association, said his union will never endorse a provincial candidate but that the union does provide its members with access to all party platforms to help them to make informed decisions at the voting booth.
syogaretnam@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/shaaminiwhy
查看原文...
