is some of the 9 billion for jail upgrade in the budget what a difference it would make to put the jail plan in the garbage and stop thinking about putting the public in jail when crime is at a 40 year low do they believe thing are going to get real bad and the public may want to hang them because a person with downs syndrome is bright enough to know jails are not needed ...... jails in a depression are not needed...... jails are a good place to put people who vote against you.... jails are a good place to put people who lost faith in you..... jails are a good place to put people when you anger them with austerity ,because you wasted their money on jails IS THIS WHAT MCGUINTY MEANT WHEN HE SAID ''IT WAS FOR ALL THE UNREPORTED CRIME''.......ARE ANGRY PEOPLE PROTESTING CONSIDERED UNREPORTED CRIME........

Any stat will be skewed as the few private sector benefits that still exist drop all the time as profits for corporations and CEO bonuses, while unions bolster support for workers. Unions effectively can be standing still while the privates drop and that increases the gap in lifestyles.

Support an environment with benefits and a pension, not circling the drain on the next lowest denominator. Costs need not be out of control, but raising the bar in your private business would be a better solution rather than jealous rants from the position of a failed corporate model.

Unionization. It's a good gig if you can get it

"Hudak points to .... study saying public sector workers get 27 per cent more in pay and benefits than their counterparts in the private sector doing the same work."

So, are the public sector employees over-paid, or are the private sector employees under-paid?

Hudak, the Scott Walker of the North

As a conservative I am constantly amazed at the stupidity that comes out of Hudak's mouth. But in this case I do agree - public sector workers are very much overpaid and they get a pension, which I'll never get. They should take a haircut while we're all suffering. Now if only I could get a frontal lobotomy so I can be convinced to vote for an idiot like Hudak.

Public sector pay is too high- and add in the benefits and pensions, it is far higher them the average private sector job. I typically vote/ lean middle - left and yet in the last couple of years I am tired of hearing about the wages of public sector employees. I am not anti union as I believe they help with regulations and safety, but remember who the unions are getting the money from - that tax payer, and worse, the tax payers ability to cover their debts. Borrowing so that the public sector can continue to have their yearly increases... No thanks.

I suppose he has been watching how well that has been working out in the US. Blaming public service workers for the economic problems is getting a bit tiresome. I suppose if we could all be forced to adopt Walmart's pay scale and benefit packages our economic problems would be solved. Meanwhile, his friend in Ottawa continues to push laws which make dissent more and more difficult.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25091

Military Spending in Canada
Message to the Protest Movement against the Ottawa CANSEC Arms Show

by Steven Staples


Global Research, June 2, 2011

Military spending is out of control in this country. While our social programs are inadequate, we still have joblessness, homelessness, and an appalling lack of justice for aboriginal communities, this government pumps billions into arms.

It’s hard to walk down Ottawa’s Sparks Street these days without tripping over some lobbyist or public relations consultant for the arms industry. Strategically located only a block from Parliament Hill, the street is a beachhead for firms vying for a larger piece of the military budget.

Year after year defence spending has been rising. Increases brought in by the Paul Martin Liberals, and later boosted by the Stephen Harper Conservatives, have created a lucrative market for Canadian and international (especially U.S.) defence contractors.

Military spending will reach $22.3 billion in 2010-2011, according to a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives authored by Rideau Institute senior advisor Bill Robinson – 54% higher than before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

As the total budget increases, so does the amount spent on equipment. Last year DND told NATO that it intended to devote 17.5% of its spending to equipment expenditures in 2010, a 38% increase from the previous year.

It's nice to see how only Hudak could of managed to lose to the Liberal Party in the last election his vision and understanding of the economic pressure in play really make one wonder if Texas might need a newer slightly dumber Governor.

Isn't this alot like showing up to a party after its over? Too late Hudak. Horwath stole your thunder (and perhaps 2% more of your take home).

I'm not a public union fan per se. CUPE is the sole reason we wound up with Rob Ford as mayor. Holding a city hostage for a month over the banking of sick days is not exaclty a noble cause. But I do believe in the purpose for unions. Their rise directly contributed to growing and strengthening the middleclass after the 2nd world war. We also saw a more equitable income distribution amongst all classes. Union erosion due to globalization and right wing attacks mirrors the widening gap between rich and poor. The need for unions will become more important as markets become more deregulated.