Liberals need the boot, not a re-boot: Thomas

TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2016 /CNW/ - The Liberal government of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne needs "the boot, not a re-boot," the President of the Ontario Public Service Employees says.

"After two years of lurching from mistake to mistake, the Liberals don't need to 'refresh their brand'," Warren (Smokey) Thomas said today. "They need to call an election."

Today's Speech from the Throne is meant to erase the public's memory of Liberal missteps ranging from the privatization of Hydro One to the "cash-for-access" scandal to their attempt to close provincial schools for children with disabilities, Thomas said.

"The first two years of Kathleen Wynne's mandate have been all about the love affair between the Ontario Liberal Party and its funders," he said. "We knew it would be the minute she hired a retired banker to advise her on the privatization of provincial assets and then promoted him to be her economic advisor generally.

"Kathleen Wynne's sudden interest in the needs of everyday Ontarians is all about her political survival, nothing more."  

Thomas said he expects the Liberals tomorrow to be the same as the Liberals yesterday, only with different messaging.

"The central theme of this government has been austerity – the privatization of public assets coupled with unrelenting cuts to public services like health care," he said. "That's not going to change."

Thomas will be at Queen's Park today to comment on the Speech from the Throne. The speech is set to begin at 12:00 noon; the OPSEU President will be available to reporters immediately afterward.

SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)

Warren (Smokey) Thomas, 613-329-1931