Media Advisory - Kapuskasing demonstration April 15 to protest CAS
under-funding crisis

KAPUSKASING, ON, April 14 /CNW/ - More than 100 workers with the Services Familiaux Jeanne Sauvé Family Services, and their supporters, are expected to attend a demonstration and rally in Kapuskasing on Thursday April 15 to protest a crisis in under-funding that has resulted in job losses and program cuts.

The one-hour rally is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at the Kapuskasing Curling Club, 68 Brunelle Rd., N.

Invited speakers at the Apr. 15 rally include Gilles Bisson, MPP, (Timmins-James Bay), David Ramsay, MPP, (Temiscaming), executive board members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), local labour leaders and mayors from the affected communities including Kapuskasing, Cochrane, Timmins, Val Rita, Moonbeam and Hearst.

The Kapuskasing rally caps a week of smaller demonstrations in communities across northeastern Ontario where Services Familiaux Jeanne Sauvé Services operates child protection services. Faced with a $211,000 operating deficit this year, the agency faces the prospect of laying off more staff and cutting popular summer programs like Camp Cadanac.

For further information: Barb Hutchings, OPSEU Local 639, [phone]; Norm Pilon, OPSEU Staff Representative, [phone]