Ontario votes for good jobs, strong public services and healthy communities

TORONTO, June 12, 2014 /CNW/ - "Ontario voters sent a clear message tonight that they want an Ontario with good jobs, strong public services and healthy communities," Unifor National President Jerry Dias said. "Ontario has clearly rejected Mr. Hudak's offer to race Ontario to the bottom."

"These results show that Ontario voters want leadership that will help build a prosperous Ontario - not Hudak style leadership that would have destroyed jobs, public services and communities," Dias said.

Unifor, working with other unions and progressive groups, is proud to have been part of the movement that successfully prevented Hudak from forming a majority government.

Hudak had tried to make his party more appealing by saying he would not pursue killing the Rand Formula if elected, but voters still knew he would push an anti-labour agenda and so rejected his party, Dias said.

"Voters soon figured out that firing 100,000 people would be bad for the province, and that Hudak's million jobs plan was just bad math," Dias said.

"The Liberals have offered Ontarians a plan to build a strong and inclusive Ontario, and some of the best ideas have come from the NDP," Dias said. "It is Unifor's belief that Premier Wynne's government should work with the NDP to ensure Ontarians benefit from the very best ideas on offer, regardless of party affiliation."

Noting that there were some significant losses for the NDP, Dias stressed, "We are disappointed that some very strong, progressive NDPers were not re-elected. The NDP - and Ontario - needs smart, bold political leaders who are willing to pursue a progressive vision of Ontario. We lost some of those important leaders tonight. The party is worse off - and our province is worse off as a result."

Dias will attend victory parties for both Kathleen Wynne and Parkdale-High Park NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing more than 305,000 workers. It was formed Labour Day weekend 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union merged.

SOURCE: Unifor