Feb 7th

Dear Mayor Kelly,

I am writing to you today to ask you to take action to end this public transit strike.

As the strike enters its second week, it’s clear that unless action is taken, this strike could potentially last for several more weeks. The strike creates a significant impediment to thousands of people who rely on our public transit system each and every day to get to their jobs or carry out their daily responsibilities.

There is a solution.

Our organization asks that as soon as possible a motion be made at city council calling on the Nova Scotia Government to recall the legislature and pass back-to-work legislation.

Metro Transit is a monopoly, and the union should not be using their position at the only people who can provide that service as a means to extract more concessions out of taxpayers.

We have all heard Premier Dexter say that the province will not get involved in the dispute between public transit workers and Metro Transit. However, we believe if the democratically elected city council passes a motion, that politically and morally the provincial government has the responsibility to step up to the task.

Last year in Toronto, public transit workers were declared an essential service and denied the option to strike after the elected city council asked the labour friendly McGuinty government to pass essential service legislation. We are asking for a similar process here.

This proposal is not about choosing sides in the dispute. Put simply, public services that are paid for by taxpayers should be available to them and they should not be deprived of those services as a bargaining tactic.

I hope that with this letter, we can start a debate about how best to move forward. We urge you to consider asking the province to pass back to work legislation.

Thank you for your attention to this matter,

Kevin Lacey

Atlantic Director 

Canadian Taxpayers Federation

902.407.5757

klacey@taxpayer.com