Tuesday, December 16, 2008

In the news: OC Transpo strike, Day 7

The biggest news story of the day has got to be Capital Councillor Clive Doucet suggesting that the costs of the strike aren't justified by what is being fought over (namely a new scheduling method that would reportedly bring $3.4M in operating-cost savings and $12M in capital-cost savings). According to the Ottawa Citizen:

“It’s lunacy,” said Mr. Doucet. “It should not have come to a strike.”

He said that 250,000 transit riders in the city are being hurt by the strike and businesses are seeing sales fall at a time when they should be booming. He said citizens have been pleading with him for the city to do something to end the strike.

Other headlines from today:
  • Ottawa police are reporting that the increased traffic resultant from the transit strike is a risk to public safety, according to the Citizen. Given the gridlock, police have had difficulty responding and arriving to emergencies, and ambulances may have difficulty navigating the traffic to respond to health emergencies.
  • According to CBC.ca, the city is cracking down on illegal 'underground' taxis that are frequenting carpool websites, stating that it's a public safety issue. Users of the taxis say that they're easier to get because not everyone knows about them, and they're cheaper.
  • Once again from CBC.ca, "poor kids" might not get as many presents from the Salvation Army's Toy Mountain campaign, because their parents will likely have difficulty getting to depots to pick them up. Combined with a shortage of volunteers able to get to posts, it seems the Salvation Army is going to be hard-hit by the work stoppage.
  • The Ottawa Citizen poses the question of Andre Cornellier: Confrontational zealot, or hero of the working class? (In slightly less hyperbolic terms.) I ask: Can't it be both?
  • Still on Cornellier, there are conflicting reports about reasons for his unavailability to media: 'A' News is saying that he will "only speak to media that reports favorably to the union", while CBC.ca is stating that it's because he's received "significant threats". I ask: Can't it be both?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Nice post, thanks for sharing the news regarding OC Transpo strike which was highlighted in the online News Papers.