Liberal MP David McGuinty (Ottawa South) cynically credited President Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa on Feb. 19 as the reason why Labour Minister Rona Ambrose moved to end the strike.Somebody please tell me that's not the real reason. Granted, it would have been highly embarrassing to have the U.S. President here in a gesture of international partnership, while getting stuck in extra traffic and driving past yelling ATU picketers and yelling anti-strike protesters. Obviously, if we cannot resolve municipal issues in our own capital city then it doesn't really bode well for our capability for international partnership, now does it?
"Ultimately, because (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper was worried about Barack Obama's mobility in this city for his photo-ops," said McGuinty. "I believe that was a contributing factor of solving this strike. Honestly." (full article)
Despite the TTC strike having been ended within 3 days, ours was allowed to drag on for nearly 2 months - maddening and grossly unfair in itself. Given the proximity of Premier McGuinty's very public demands for federal action, citing these facts, and the sudden reversal by Rona Ambrose a few hours later, I admit I assumed a direct correlation between these two events. This situation alone would be an outrage and a disgrace, since it should not require public humiliation plastered all over the mass media to force the government to take care of business - especially given the near-immediate resolution of such a matter in Toronto. But honestly, if the Tories' only motivation to alleviate Ottawans' suffering is potential embarrassment at the impending visit of a foreign leader, and not the embarrassing outcry at home, then they're even worse low-lifes than I originally thought. And that's saying something.
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2 comments:
Not the sort of thing that would embarass Obama.
Special police escorts would have cleared a way.
Mr. Harper has quite a cavalcade of limos and SUVs,etc. to take him across a street or 2.Transit strike or no transit strike.
Ah yes of course, so he'd probably never get to see the traffic aspect. But there would be a lot of people lining the street to see his arrival, wouldn't there? As far as I know there'd be no way of weeding out protesters (not without violating someone's civil rights, anyway). Mind you, I claim ignorance as I haven't been to that type of event before.
It's nevertheless reassuring to know that the impact would not be as great as I imagined. Thank you.
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