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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   32427 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 31, 2022

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But this union's raises in the past decade combined were less than inflation last year.

Though the union seems to be asking for annual wage increases of 11.7%. I'd imagine this is a 5-year contract. So the average will go from $48k to $80k. And this would be what every other union asks for. Basically doubling Ontario's expenditures.

All the more reason to engage in negotiation or arbitration, as expected, rather than pushing the constitutional “FU” button.

As a taxpayer, I want my government to use every reasonable tool available to keep costs down. Why should the government negotiate if it doesn't have to and if it might result in them overpaying their employees?

Is deploying this provision "reasonable"?

A government is more effective when it is predictable and accountable. Following the Charter is more predictable than breaking with it at random points. Waiving the potential for judicial review is a blow to accountability--at least from my American perspective.

More broadly, I think there's merit to some of the rights being suppressed here, and that it's unjust for the government to say they're protected up until they're suddenly not. That's not a right, but a privilege. I would be worried about a law which "notwithstandinged" Section 10 to deny me legal counsel, or Section 12 to decide that torture is fine just this once, or Section 2 to demand I convert to a religion. Freedom to form contracts isn't as sympathetic, but it's important nonetheless.

What recourse, if any, should the government have when the courts go rogue and start inventing rights that never existed before at the taxpayers' expense? Your argument seems to rely on the assumption that it's important to protect rights just because the Supreme Court decided it was protected by the constitution.

I'm not saying that it's good the government va always override the constitution on most matters. But I do think that it is good in this case, because allowing public sector unions to strike is harmful.

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