Voices of reason on the OC Transpo strike

Finally... it's so refreshing to hear from politicians who get it and are willing to do something about this:

[Ottawa Centre New Democrat MP Paul Dewar:] If the two sides can’t agree on arbitration, it will be ordered by Parliament with his support, he said.

“This is not an inconvenience. We’ve got a full-blown crisis.”

...

Ottawa South Liberal MP David McGuinty called on Labour Minister Rona Ambrose to introduce the legislation as soon as possible.

“I hope it comes as soon as possible — yesterday. This should have been dealt with three weeks ago,” he said.

Mr. McGuinty said it was unfair that the Ontario government legislated an end to a strike by Toronto Transit Commission operators within 72 hours, while the federal government treats people in the national capital region like “second-class citizens.”

“The well-being of the citizens, in my view, have to take precedence over the right to collective bargaining,” Mr. McGuinty said. He said both sides in the labour dispute have lost perspective and it’s time for the federal government to intervene.

“There is just too much suffering and too much cost. We have got to get these buses rolling.”

See, some of our MP's get it. It is a full-blown crisis and should have been treated as such weeks ago. The two sides aren't going to budge and if anything have gotten more entrenched over the last couple of days. It's ridiculous. And because the feds were far more worried about staying in power than anything else, they left Ottawans literally in the cold. Yes, it struck me as more than a little unfair that TTC was legislated back within 3 days but Ottawans have been allowed to suffer through almost 2 months of winter without transit, and with no relief in sight until Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty cranked up the pressure on the feds. Is it that we're just not as important as Torontonians? Just a few days ago, Rona Ambrose was saying she had no intention of getting involved and John Baird was promising us a minimum of several weeks of red tape. Suddenly these two have reversed themselves and are talking about how too many people are suffering and they couldn't let it go on. Their hearts weren't bleeding for us 3 days ago - Premier McGuinty made a public stink about it and held their feet to the fire. Ottawans would do well to remember this at voting time. I know I will.

In case I wasn't direct enough before, I'd like to extend a big thank you to the Premier for forcing the feds' hand on this, since they were stubbornly unwilling to do anything and both sides of this debate are obviously so pigheaded we'd be fighting to keep this from ruining another Christmas if somebody didn't do something. I'll be sure to write him a nice thank you letter.

Oh and don't worry, Mayor O'Brien, I won't forget you at the polls either. Your insistence on making this a public referendum on union-busting, and your stupid union-busting games, have contributed greatly to this impasse that has caused so much suffering. Make no mistake about it - the ATU does need a swift kick in the rear, but so do you. And I hope Ottawans give it to you but good.