Federal Election 2008

PIPSC is a non-partisan union which does not tell its members for whom to vote. Our duty is to defend the interests of our members and, by extension, the interests of the Canadian public.

That’s why the Institute went into action to encourage its members to speak up on issues affecting them during the federal election campaign. Over recent months, the federal public service has been under attack and subjected to insidious and often unpredictable cuts which threaten the health and safety of Canadians.

The federal election was called for October 14. Within the limited time frame of five weeks (37 days) leading up to the election, the Institute’s election strategy endeavoured to:

1. Motivate Canadians to question the decisions of the current government which has been pursuing a privatization/dismantling agenda towards the public service. This has had a dramatic and devastating impact on the safety and health of Canadians (ie. food safety, sale of federal buildings, security of personal information, devaluation of science, contracting out).
2. Engage the candidates of all parties in a discussion around these critical issues and record their position/commitment and make members and the general public aware of these commitments/positions.
3. Engage and mobilize members in our election strategy.

The Professional Institute and the 2008 Federal Election

During the election campaign, the Institute:

• Supported the Agriculture Union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada in the press conference launching the www.foodsafetyfirst.ca campaign
• Wrote to all candidates requesting them to pledge to the food safety commitment
• Wrote to all party leaders asking them to make a pledge to the food safety commitment and encourage their candidates to do so as well (received 53 responses)
• Developed questions for members to ask at town hall meetings
• Conducted opinion poll with Nanos on Canadian view on food safety
• Released the opinion poll reports at press conference
• Issued a press release asking for the resignation of Agriculture Minister Ritz followed by extensive media coverage
• Published full page ad in The Ottawa Citizen on the day of the English debate (October 2)
• Published full page ad in La Presse on the day of the French debate (October 1)
• Published ad in weekly newspapers in swing ridings

Institute newspaper ad

At a press conference on September 29, 2008, President Michèle Demers released the results of a survey conducted by Nanos Research, commissioned by the Institute, on Canadians' views on current government policy on food safety. Pictured above with President Demers: (left to right) Chris Roberts, Research Officer; Anu Bose, of the consumer advocacy organization Option consommateurs; and Mike McBane of the Canadian Health Coalition.

According to the survey, an overwhelming majority of Canadians are opposed to the Conservative government’s plans to cut key food safety programs and to expand industry self-policing. The survey results were obtained through a random telephone survey conducted by Nanos Research with 1,200 Canadians from September 20 to 22, 2008. The results are accurate within 2.8%, 19 times out of 20. Visit www.pipsc.ca for the full report on the survey.

The responses to one of the questions in the Nanos Research poll conducted in September 2008. President Demers commented: “Listeriosis, tainted mik and Gerry Ritz have put food safety on the agenda. The message from Canadians is clear. They reject the discredited laissez-faire approach to food safety.”