“So, Why Should I Care that You Guys are on Strike?”
Information collected by Audrey Anderson and Lise Mackevicius (Local 628)

What do you say to your friends, your family, your neighbours when they say government workers won’t get a contract anytime soon because the public isn’t feeling the impact of the withdrawal of our services?

Here is a list of many of the services which are either unavailable or are compromised due to the labour dispute. This information may help you in those one-on- one conversations where your chances of educating the public are at their best.

This is not a complete list and we apologise for any errors in the content. Thank you to all the wonderful, caring civil servants who told us about their very important work. Many commented that often the immediate impact on the public is not felt but our work contributes to the long term health, safety and viability of a quality life in the province of Ontario that we have come to value and need to protect.

Ministry of Community and Social Services
- no inspection of day cares and nursing homes to ensure compliance with standards and law
- no daycare renewal of licenses or issuing of new daycare license
- no response to parent complaints
- no Serious Occurrence investigations
- delay in processing of applications for disabilities benefits
- no services for children with special needs (the Deaf and benefits for children with severe disabilities)
- no welfare fraud investigation
- disabled people not receiving adjustment benefits
- no appeal hearings being processed for disabled
- no employment and training supports for persons with disabilities



Ministry of Consumer and Business Services
Registrar General
- no birth certificates
- no death certificates
- no marriage certificates
- no change of names

Personal Property Registrations
- no lien services for used car purchases
- no personal or business liens

Incorporation of Companies
- companies cannot be incorporated which results in loss of tax benefits

Small Business
- No registration of business names. Business name registrations must be renewed every 5 years. Businesses selling Lottery tickets cannot sell tickets without proof of registration.

Real Estate
- Office open 1-4, but are not accepting any discharge documents or survivorship documents (i.e. death of one spouse)



Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
- no processing of Northern Health Travel grants
- no processing of Health Card applications
- medical billings of established doctors based on previous year averaging
- no registration of new doctors for billing purposes and no processing of payments for new doctors and other health care services providers
- no Health Card fraud investigations
- no renewal of expired health cards



Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
Ambulance Dispatch
- no transfers of non-emergency patients returning home after hospital stay (i.e. returning to private homes or nursing homes)
- no air transfers of non-emergency patients going from one city to another
- no patients being returned home out of town
- no non-emergency patients being moved from one hospital to another



Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal
- no processing of tenant complaints about landlords who do not provide agreed upon services (e.g., maintenance)
- no processing of landlord application to collect arrears of rental, eviction notices
- no walk-in or call-in service to the public for the purposes of providing general information about landlord/tenant issues and infractions



Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
- no monitoring of agencies receiving funding for 3rd party agreements for compliance to standards (e.g., Literacy and Basic Skills, Adjustment Advisory Program, Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program)
- no registration of new apprentices
- apprentices unable to write certification exams



Ontario Parks
- opening of parks (those under government control) delayed
- delay in chlorine rating achievement of parks drinking water
- no removal of dead and dangerous trees
- no public access to information re. Parks
- seasonal site draws will be delayed
- no public input to Ontario Parks Plans
- no implementation of site development plans
- no hiring of seasonal workers (students)
- health and safety training of staff delayed compromising safety
- delays in initiating field resource assessments (for the purposes of protecting resources)
- no monitoring of Park boundaries conflicts (e.g., logging or hunting in parks)
- no supervision of seasonal hunting and fishing regulations



Ministry of Natural Resources
- moose hunt draw delayed
- forest fire suppression compromised as limited training of new crew is available
- no monitoring of poaching activities
- no renewal and issuing of Outdoors Card
- no work permits for construction of roads, docks, etc. on Crown land
- delay in fish stock programming of the northeast and south central regions
- no regulation of logging operations (to ensure that harvest matches prescription), illegal logging in parks, approval of culverts respecting sensitive populations
- no monitoring of the movement of harvested timber and aggregates (e.g., gravel pits)
- no monitoring of activity on Crown Land (potential revenue loss to the taxpayer)
- no enforcement of safety standards for gravel pit operation compromising workplace and public safety
- lack of maintenance of dams (controlling water levels of lakes and rivers)
- nuisance bear program delayed
- canine unit program delayed (affecting anti poaching services, fire investigation and OPP canine program)
- Seasonal program of fish hatcheries operations interrupted resulting in significant loss (e.g., 13,000 Aurora Trout scheduled for introduction to natural habitat were lost)
- No Local citizens advisory committees operating (i.e., Bait Fishers’ Industry, Trappers, Cottagers’ groups)
- Forest management planning process on hold (affecting seasonal forestry workers)



Forest Fire Management Centre
- levels of fire protection are at a minimum putting at risk cottages/camps, timber stands, communities
- no prescribed burns for endangered species (e.g., elk feeding in the Burwash area)
- no team training for new hires for fire fighting crews (30% turnover in seasonal staff in Sudbury area)
- no on-going professional development for Initial Attack Fire Bosses and permanent fire rangers
- minimal assistance to municipalities for back up fire suppression services
- response time compromised due to the delay in mechanical checks of the air support (water bombers and helicopters)
- pilot training for water drops delayed
- no testing of fire suppression equipment
- winter overhauls of water bombers and helicopters behind schedule for spring and summer fire season
- Ministry agreements with industry to protect property (timber resources) from fire are not in force
- Limited professional fire suppression support to private forestry industry available



Aviation Services
- no U.S.A. wildlife (duck) survey which represents loss of revenue to the government
- no aviation support services available for resources (e.g., fly over investigations of spills and shore line development proposals)
- transportation services for the implementation of government programs to isolated and fly-in communities (e.g., goose banding, replenishing of fuel caches) are negatively affected by lack of aviation services



Ministry of Finance
- public unable to return monthly PST filing return card for payment
- delay in notice of objections for PST
- no general information available to the public re. PST
- delays in receipt of PST vendor permit number
- no processing of PST refunds



Ministry of Education
- all policies and programs on hold
- accountability audits of school boards postponed



Ministry of Public Safety and Security: Probation and Parole
- the whereabouts of offenders on parole and probation unknown due to inadequate supervision
- minimal supervision provided for high risk offenders (i.e., sex offenders)
- no pre-sentence or pre-disposition court reports (providing criminal background, issues with drugs and alcohol) being done which delays sentencing
- no pre-parole reports being provided for Ontario Parole and Earned Release Board
- minimal supervision of young offenders including no referrals being made for treatment
- no victim contacts
- no rehabilitation programs being provided
- no treatment referrals



Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (agency of last resort)
- rent and personal needs allowances provided, however, all other services for clients with physical, mental and age related vulnerabilities are delayed



Ministry of Environment
- drinking water plants not being inspected
- no sewage or industrial discharge waste sites are being inspected
- air monitoring network is compromised
- Air Quality Index for province is shut down
- no investigation of reported high sulphur dioxide levels
- no local OPSEU technicians to respond to spills
- no approvals for new or expanded industrial, private, municipal discharges into lakes (therefore risk of it being done unmonitored)
- no approvals of permits to take water (for large consumers of water, such as, golf courses, irrigation, farms)
- no renewal of pesticide license us, no inspection of safe and legal use of pesticides and no renewal of annual pesticide licenses
- no inspection or monitoring of hazardous waste generators
- no investigation and prosecution of pollution incidents



Office of the Worker Advisor
- unable to access services to assist, advise and represent injured workers who are having problems with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
- managers providing minimal services to meet time lines
- no representation at hearings is possible and therefore no resolution of claims



Ministry of Labour
- work refusals are not being investigated according to stated policy
- workers’ rights are being compromised
- investigation of workplace accidents are being investigated by untrained personnel and policies are contravened
- not conducting workplace inspections
- employment practices hearings are adjourned to future dates
- Provincial Offences Court matters are adjourned to future dates
- not protecting the workers in the province of Ontario by monitoring and enforcing the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Employment Standards
- employment standards claims not being processed (no employer compliance)
- no complaints being investigated
- employment standards (although identified by the government as key according to the web site) are not being monitored for employer compliance (in non unionized workplaces)



Ministry of Transportation
- no mechanical and safety inspections of school buses and other transports being done
- no weight enforcement inspections of transports
- Transfer of Vehicle Permits not being processed (unsafe vehicles could be on the road)
- No dangerous goods inspections of transport loads
- No enforcement of Maximum Hours of Work for commercial motor vehicle operators (leading to driver fatigue)
- No Over Dimensional Permits issued for moving large equipment and buildings
- No road tests
- No written tests for all drivers
- No interviews for drivers with demerit points
- No service for those with medical problems which affect licensing
- No license renewals or reinstatements
- No out-of-province license exchanges



Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- no supervision of municipalities which includes monitoring compliance with provincial laws and financial policies
- no new lot creation
- no new planning of subdivisions for the purposes of industrial and residential development
- no review of environmental assessments related to land use planning
- no land use amendments (Official Plan) possibly adversely affecting economic development
- no appeals to the Ontario Municipal Boards
- students not receiving housing bursary cheques
- no advisory services available to the public on municipal matters
- no new hydro or septic system approvals in the unorganized areas



Ministry of Northern Development and Mines
Geoscience Lab
- assay samples have not been processed since March 13 2001 (affects prospectors, scientists, private industry)
- geological mapping projects may be terminated for summer 2002 (therefore, no fresh data available for mineral exploration affecting prospectors and mining companies)

Provincial Recording Office
- registration of mining claims has stopped (website has not been updated since March 13, 2000 which affects mining companies and prospectors)
- no claims maps being updated (staking and recording of mining claims)
- in order to keep claims, companies have to perform geo-technical assessment work which is not being processed
- no transfers of mining lands dispositions, collection of mining lands taxes or mining lease renewals

Geoscience Lab
- no dissemination of geoscience information (maps, annual reports, digital data sets of geoscience nature) through 10 provincial sales outlets (affects junior mining companies, prospectors)



Ministry of Citizenship; Ministry of Culture; Ministry of Tourism and Recreation
- student employment grants to community organizations are on hold; in some communities these grants provide the only employment opportunity for youth
- all other community grants are on hold


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