Whitby Free Press, Wednesdav. June 30. 1993. Page 17 'Ontario factor' weighed by federal NDP candidates PROM PAGE 1 Jacklin said the Tories have done nothing to offset jobs lost through free trade with the United States and she warned of more job losses when the deal is expanded to include Mexico. Durham riding NDP candidate Lucy Rybka-Becker, a provincial government employee, declined to comment on the merits of the social contract legislation. But like Jacklin, Rybka-Becker feels it is a provincial issue and most people will differentiate between federal and Ontario issues. "I'm confident that Canadians and local residents realize and understand that many of the current economic problems are a result of bad federal policies that have also severely hurt the pro- vinces," she said. Rybka-Becker mentioned reductions in transfer payments to the provinces and cuts in unemployment insurance as examples. "I don't think the provincial situation will have an impact," she added. Oshawa MP Breaugh, howe- ver, is not that confident. "Among the general public it will be an opportunity for people to vent their rustrations. I think that will happen,"he said. As far as support from tradi- tional NDP constituencies such as organized labour, Breaugh has etected no animosity towards Audrey McLaughlin or the federal party. "But it's so volatile it's hard to say that with any assurance,"he said. Still, when it comes time to vote, "reality has.to set in," said Breaugh. "People will hav to make choices about who they want to lead Canada,"he said. Yet Breaugh conceded that "if we have a federal election now, there would be problems" in obtaining the party's usual sup- port from labour. "But by September we could be looking at it in a different way,» especially if Untario workers agree to the government's social contract proposals by the Aug. 1 deadline Breaugh said. If public sector unions do not come to agreement by then and the government is forced to legis- late rollbacks (as it is now in the process of doing), that is a dif- ferent matter, Breaugh said. "If Ontario moves by law and opens up contracts, that will cause problems,"he said. "I think it's untenable for the NDP to introduce some form of wage controls." Breaugh, who was an MPP rior to replacing former Oshawa MP Ed Broadbent in a byelection three years ago, cannot condone the government's action. "WhenI was elected (in 1975) it was against the Liberals and PCs policies of wage controls," he said. "It's one thing to negotiate controls. It's another to do it by legislation." Doug Harvey, president of the Ontario riding NDP association, has noticed a reluctance among some area union members to commit themselves to Jacklin's campaign. e sen out feelers asking for help and it's not been positive. I think there will be problems," he said. "I can't tell at this point (how bad it might be). After the writs are dropped (election called) we'll know better." Harvey hopes voters will be able to separate the federal party from its provincial counterpart. "But you have to remember that as the press keeps going on at the provincial level, people won't distinguish between (Pre- mier) Bob Rae and Audrey McLaughlin,"he said. That would be unfortunate, Harvey said, "because I have a strong feeling Audrey would be more sympathetic to the average person than what's going on in Ontario." Harvey admitted the recent decision by Local 222 of the Canadian Auto Workers to dis- affiliate from the NDP will cost local riding associations money and election workers, but he did not know to what degree. "We'll have to target indivi- duals in unions who feel we still represent them," he said. 'Their (222) contributions were great, but I think we can over- come the shortfall." Wilson: Labour will support NDP federally Durham riding NDP associa- tion president Vern Yorgason is uncertain how labour's difficul- ties with the provincial govern- ment will affect the party's federal fortunes. "You have to realize that as far as votes go, labour (individual union members) has never been NDP-oriented, it's been the uni3n leaders," said Yorgason. "I'm a union-oriented person who used to work at Goodyear in Bowmanville and I never saw much support,"he said. Yorgason said his riding asso- ciation will miss the election campaign workers which 222 provided, but "the money from 222 tended to go to Mike Breaugh." Yorgason does not know how the provincial situation will affect the party's "electability" in Durham riding, which includes Whitby north of Taunton Road. "One reason people didn't sup- port the NDP in the past was its strong labour orientation. Whether this breaks down, I don't know." Labour's opposition to the social contract legislation has Yorgason questionnng its overall commitment to the party. "If you're really a true New Democrat you have to give up something of your own," he said. "The NDP believes in self- sacrifice to a great degree, in the interest of benefiting others. Selfishness is not an NDP trait. "One wonders if they (union members) are true NDP or just supporting a particular party.» Ian McLeod, communications co-ordinator for the federal NDP, admits the Ontario government's performance has been discussed by the party hierarchy. As a result, the party is devis- ing a strategy for federal candi- dates to use when the subject is raised by voters, McLeod said. "The approach taken is to point out the positive things they're (government) doing...the positive aspects of the social con- tract and whether the Liberals and Conservatives would do the same thing with unions," he said. This strategy will apply not only to Ontario, but in British Columbia and Saskatchewan as well McLeod noted. "Wherever we hold the proviin- cial government when asked, we will highlight their accomplish- ments and compare them with previous governments." McLeod said any diffliculties New Democrats have encoun- tered in recruiting help from union members is merely the result of the rank and file's "usual tendency to be reluctant." "Raising money and getting workers is never easy at the best of times,"he stresse d. But it has become tougher in recent yea'rs, McLeod said. Even though public sector unions in his organization are feuding with the provincial government, Ontario Federation of Labour president Gord Wilson has no doubts about his electoral preference. "I'll certainly be supporting the New Democratic Party at the next federal and provincial elec- tion,» said Wilson. "The fight at Queen's Park is simply saying we don't agree with what youre doing,"he said. Wilson, a Whitby resident, said neither Ontario Liberal lea- der Lyn McLeod nor Progressive Conservative boss Mike Harris have endeared themselves to labour, based on their comments in the social contract dispute. "For us, there is no alternative to be found in the Tories and Liberals," he said. Despite its differences with the provincial government, Wilson said labour will support the NDP federally. "I thnk they would promote the idea of Ëeb creation and I think Mr. e is doing the same,"he said. The only problem is that the government's financial invest- ment in companies such as Chrysler, Algoma Steel and de Havilland has not received the publicity other issues have, Wil- son said. Durham Region Labour Coun- cil president Jim Woodward echoed Wilson's commente. "We'll be supporting federal NDP candidates in Durham Region, there's no problen with that," said Woodward. "What's happening on the pro- vincial level dosen't mean we've completely abandoned support for the NDP,"he said. 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