Group calls government's Ontario Northland sell-off a 'fire sale'

NEWS RELEASE

GENERAL CHAIRPERSON'S ASSOCIATION

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'Mr. Bartolucci, it is a fire sale'

NORTH BAY - Representatives from the General Chairperson’s Association (GCA) which represents all unionized employees at Ontario Northland (ONTC) have finally received the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the new ONTC Transition Board which is in charge of the divestment process.

The MOU clearly demonstrates that the McGuinty government’s divestiture of ONTC is one thing and one thing only a fire sale no different than the scandal-plagued sell-off of BC Rail, which is still before the courts today.

“The GCA received the MOU for the new ONTC Transition Board through a freedom of information request of May 14, the document clearly states that the mandate of the board is to sell off the assets and business units of the ONTC and if anything is left then it is to be wound up and liquidated,” said GCA spokesperson Brian Kelly.

“Northern Development Minister Bartolucci has consistently rejected the North’s concerns that the ONTC divestiture was a fire sale that was eerily similar to the divestiture of BC Rail which left communities without passenger train services, tore up of rail lines, levelled shop maintenance facilities and slashed over 500 jobs,” added Kelly.

“The MOU has no instructions to the ONTC Transition Board about service retention, impact on Northern communities or any form of commitment to employment. The only instructions is 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,” concluded Kelly.

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