The editorial claims that under Premier Dalton McGuinty public sector employees have had a “good ride” and have been “sheltered” from the recession. The editorial goes on to extol Dalton McGuinty's musings that public sector employees should share some of the load in addressing the worst recession since the Great Depression. Now it's time for Dalton Days!

The editorial infers that Dalton Days — like the former Rae Days — is the magic bullet that will reverse the recession. Nonsense.

Rae Days (Social Contract) was a flawed and ultimately pointless attempt to roll back public sector employees negotiated wages. It was argued that Rae Days would save jobs, but in fact it did the opposite. The Rae government cut spending by approximately $5 billion, an action that resulted in between 9,000 and 11,000 public sector workers losing their jobs. As well, it resulted in raised taxes and cuts to public services.

It is also interesting to note that in efforts to maintain public services many public service workers on Rae Days had to be called back to work. Many of them were paid overtime since they were on compulsory time off.

The editorial fails to mention that the British Columbia government introduced legislation to override negotiated public sector collective agreements by forcing wage cuts and unpaid time off. The Supreme Court ruled such action was unconstitutional. McGuinty therefore cannot legally override existing collective agreements.

The recession and its effects on private sector workers will not be addressed by violating public sector collective agreements. In fact, the McGuinty government should take the advice of the International Monetary Fund and not attempt to cut spending on public services until employment rebounds. This is the advice the Mountain News should be advocating.

Malcolm Buchanan, Hamilton Mountain