Jobs: PRODUCTIVE, SAFE & REWARDING

Current Problem:

Every citizen should have the right to a safe and equitable workplace where they are free to pursue their own individual interests in alignment with their employers’ and without interference from third parties. This right does not exist in a unionized work place that is not governed by Right to Work legislation.

Past liberal and conservative governments have passed legislation to enable union leaders to operate under the premises that, if ‘majority rule’ is the foundation of democracy in society at large, then it must be equally applicable in the workplace. They claim that, if the majority of workers vote for union representation, then it must be accepted and funded by every worker since “every worker benefits”; no ‘free riders’ allowed.

However, the individual rights of the ‘minority’ who reject union representation are ignored. They are forced to join the union and pay its dues under threat of job loss or on-the-job union bullying tactics aimed at non-union members.

Result: Past liberal and conservative governments have award unions the power to “tax” [‘union dues’ are coerced and, therefore, share the same nature are government-imposed taxes ] workers and force membership to a group with whom many workers have rejected. There is nothing safe or equitable about such a workplace.

Current Problem:

No one, not even the government, can accurately predict or control the job market. [You can only prepare for it and respond to opportunities as they arise.]

While the past liberal and conservative governments have poured billions of tax dollars into public education, a perpetual under-supply of eligible workers has persisted in many job domains where employers are desperate to hire skilled workers. Why are 8% of Ontario’s workers unemployed while so many employers cannot fill their vacant jobs? 

The current system relies too much on costly and ineffective central planning in a futile attempt to forecast and supply future job market dynamics.

Result: Central planning has been proven, once again, not to work.

Ontario prosperity suffers.

Current Problem:

Foreign consumers would buy more Canadian products if they were not discouraged by our government protectionist policies. This fact reduces  employment opportunities for Ontario workers.

Past liberal and conservative governments have succumbed to political pressure from paid Supply Management lobbyists who have demanded and won anti-free market public policies that unfairly coddle large industry segments such as the dairy industry.  These protectionist policies impose insurmountable barriers for foreign producers from accessing Ontario’s consumer market – producers who could provide our consumers with a greater range of product choices at competitive prices. In retaliation, foreign governments block access to their markets for Canadian made products.

Result: Ontario consumers face significantly higher prices for a limited selection of dairy products. Ontario workers lose employment opportunities within businesses that could serve foreign consumers profitably.

Current Problem:

Ontario businesses have suffered from low productivity for many years. This can partially be attributed to the growth of employment in the public service.

Prosperity comes from producing wealth. Wealth-creation can only occur in private sector enterprises because it is the purpose of these enterprises to profitably :

·      Innovate, produce and deliver goods & services for which customers are freely willing to pay at competitive market prices. 

·      Compete in dynamic and free markets that ensure consumers the widest possible selection of products & services regardless of primary purchasing criteria: price, quality, convenience or fashion preferences.

Governments, on the other hand, are coercive wealth-consumers. For every person hired into a government position, the private sector loses one potential wealth-producer and taxpayers gains one additional resource towards which additional coerced wealth [taxation] must be funneled in order to support the employment costs for that resource.  Currently, about 40% of the Ontario work force is employed in government sector.

Result: Is it any wonder that Ontario has a productivity problem when so much of our ‘human capital’ has been employed in jobs that not only DO NOT produce wealth but actually consume it in massive quantities?

Current Problem:

Two classes of citizen have emerged over the past two generations. The ‘government class’ enjoys preferred treatment at taxpayer expense for such employment advantages as higher wages, rich employment benefits, guaranteed job security and very expensive pension entitlements.  The ‘non-government class’ receives none of these advantages but is forced for their entire lifetime to contribute tax payments to support the ‘government class’ advantages.  This inequality may manifest as simple jealousy now, but how is it likely to manifest in the future as Ontario ‘Baby Boom’ cohort ages and retire?

I doubt that the past liberal and conservative governments, who created these  ‘government clas s’ employment advantages, ever envisioned a day when:

·      the cost of these advantages would become unsustainable and present a serious threat to the Ontario government’s financial stability.

·      global trade would play such a dominant role in the world economy that private sector wage growth would stall [reverse?] due to highly competitive market forces. These have both occurred while public servants have enjoyed rising compensation packages. Hence, the current ‘wage disparity’.  

Result:  The Provincial deficit and debt are both at record highs. Bill 115 was passed in an attempt to reign in the high cost of workers in the Public Education sector and similar legal strategies will likely be applied to other ‘government class’ workers. Generations of citizens will pay the price for this mismanagement with high taxes. 

Current Problem:

‘Entry level’ job opportunities in promising areas of specialization are scarce for many young workers who seek their first step on that specialized  ‘career ladder’.

Economics teaches that the ‘division of labor’, which has created a complex labyrinth of specialized professions and trades, is one of the main reasons that technologically advanced societies have prospered so greatly. This phenomenon, however, is a two-edged sword. Most of theses higher-paying jobs demand a degree of specialization, which can only be gained from a combination of unique training and relevant work experience. It is difficult for employers to find and hire these scarce resources.  At the  higher wages these specialist can command employers expect these  new hires to be productive almost immediately. Consequently, they rarely willing to hire ‘juniors’, ‘new grads’ or ‘wannabes’ for these roles.

Past liberal and conservative governments have spent billions on its publicly- funded education monopoly which delivers a "one size fits all" curriculum.  While meeting a general education objective, the central planning and monopoly delivery model that characterizes public education in Ontario falls terribly short of satisfying a job market where specialization is the norm.

Result:  Too many of our younger workers will likely never gain that first ‘Entry level’ job – the one is the first step on along a specialized career path which will lead them on a career journey filled with challenge, growth and financial prosperity.