Unions at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) have discovered that the marching orders of a government-appointed special board, tasked with dismantling the Crown agency, is to stage a “fire sale” of all the assets and business units.
In an Aug. 27 release, Brian Kelly, a spokesman for the Ontario Northland General Chairpersons Association – representing the five unions at ONTC – claims that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) issued to the new ONTC Transition Board states the mandate is “sell off the assets and business units of the ONTC and if anything is left, then it is to be wound up and liquidated.”
The unions said the documents were obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
In calling out Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci, Kelly said it's “eerily similar” to the government divestment of BC Rail which left communities with passenger rail service, removed track, demolished shop facilities and axed 500 jobs.
“The MOU has no instructions to the ONTC Transition Board about service retention, impact on Northern communities or any form of commitment to employment,” said Kelly. “The only instructions (are) to divest and liquidate, that is the definition of a fire sale, Mr. Bartolucci, no different than the BC Rail deal the Liberal government of British Columbia pulled off a decade ago.”
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