Northumberland Coalition for Social Justice held a information picket outside the local post office on Queen Street on Wednesday, January 16, 2019.
Co-Chair of the NCSJ Derek Blackadder said the purpose was to “draw people’s attention to the fact that our Federal and Provincial Governments seem to be getting into the habit of overriding all of our Charter Rights whenever something gets in the way of their agendas.”
Approximately 10 people showed up handing out information to people entering the post office.
“Back in November we saw the Federal Government override the Charter right to collective bargaining and force 55,000 postal workers back to work.”
Blackadder said they are supporting the postal workers the NCSJ, “we are trying to draw as much attention as we can that our longstanding belief that the Charter was there and we could rely on it to protect us as individuals against arbitrary acts by government. That may not be true anymore. The importance of the Charter seems to be shrinking in the minds of the politicians.”
The pamphlet that was being handed out read as follows:
Late last year the Canadian Union of Postal Workers began a series of rotating (so as to minimize the impact on the public) strikes. Safety was a key issue for the union. With Canada Post delivering more and more and larger and larger packages for online retailers, injury rates among postal workers are skyrocketing.
The federal government responded by running roughshod over the workers’ Charter rights to collective bargaining. It did this under the pressure from online shoppoing giants like Amazon.
This happened just a couple of months after the Ontario governmnet invoked the “notwithstanding” clause and promised to do so in furture whenever our Charter of Rights and Freedoms gets in the way of its agenda.
We are Northumberland residents who are concerned that our governments, federal and provincial, Liberal and Conservative, see our Charter rights as obstacles to their agendas or the agendas of their supporters.
We hope that you will help hold our politicians accountable. And if you have a moment please consider sending the Prime Minister an e-mail about his government’s violation of the Charter rights of all Canadians by going here:
http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=3966
If you would prefer to have the link e-mailed to you please send a request to NorthumberlandSocialJustice@yahoo.com.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
