Labour Councils Occupy Select Conservative MP Offices in Ontario

Group Demands Accountability Over Threats to Old Age Security and Pensions

by Zach Ruiter

(Audio interview begins aprox four seconds after you click play)

Toronto Media Co-op spoke with James McDowell, Second Vice-President of the Brampton Mississauga Labour Council over the phone as McDowell and ten others are occupying Conservative MP Bal Gosal's office 8500 Torbran Road, Unit 44, Brampton.  According to McDowell "this is happening across the province; I am aware of at least 20 offices being occupied around the province."

The Ontario Federation of Labour press release states: "At 1:00 pm today, outraged pensioners, soon-to-be pensioners and supporters have resorted to constituency office occupations to demand that Conservative Members of Parliament abandon plans to push back the OAS eligibility age from 65 to 67, or make any reductions to benefits. Instead, they are calling for the Harper government to introduce modest increases to Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions that would double benefits for all retirees and seniors."

According to McDowell, "if they continue the attacks to the working people of this country in the next four years they are going to be taken to task on it."

When asked what their plans are, McDowell replied "this office is publically funded, so we will be here until we get some kind of proper attention to this problem." When asked if they will leave the building once it closes for the evening, McDowell said that the occupiers will "have to make that decision when it happens."

The Ontario Federation of Labour has provided contact list for occupations that are currently taking place at the following Conservative MP constituency offices:

 

MP OFFICE	OFFICE ADDRESS	LEAD OCCUPIER	TEL #
Hon. Jim Flaherty	701 Rossland Road East, Unit 204, Whitby	Jim Freeman	905-431-5607
Hon Bal Gosal	8500 Torbram Road, Unit 44, Brampton	James McDowell	416-587-8809
Kyle Seeback	160 Main Street South, Unit 29, Brampton
Phil McColeman	3-108 St. George Street, Brantford	Gary MacDonald	519-751-9371
Hon. Gary Goodyear	1425 Bishop St North Unit 3, Cambridge	Mike Devine
Guy Lauzon	621 Pitt Street, Cornwall	Elaine MacDonald	613-330-3117
Hon. Michael Chong	5-200 St. Patrick Street E, Fergus	Janice Folk-Dawson	519-766-8376
Peter Braid	22 King St. South, Waterloo	Sandi Ellis
Harold Albrecht	153 Country Hill Dr, Unit 2A, Kitchener	Len Carter	519-239-7692
Stephen Woodworth	12-300 Victoria Street North, Kitchener	Orville Thacker	519-893-3974
Barry Devolin	68 McLaughlin Rd Unit 1, Lindsay	James Mulhern	705-344-0287
Susan Truppe	546 King Street, Main Office, London	Len Elliott	519-671-9320
Ed Holder	200-390 Commissioners Rd West, London	Jim Kennedy	519-697-0360
Hon. Rob Nicholson	2895 St. Paul Ave, Unit 11, Niagara Falls	Heather Kelley	905-993-2078
MP OFFICE	OFFICE ADDRESS	LEAD OCCUPIER	TEL #
Jay Aspin	100-133 Main Street West, North Bay	Henri Giroux	705-471-7746
David Tilson	229 Broadway, Unit 2, Orangeville	Primrose Short	519-938-6030
Dean Del Mastro	1875 Lansdowne St W, Peterborough	Doug McDonald	705-740-3489
Gary Schellenberger	544 Huron Street, Stratford	Dave Jasper	519-801-5409
No Tory MP in Thunder Bay	Service Canada, 975 Alloy Drive, Thunder Bay	Melanie Kelso	807-620-0396
Jeff Watson	186 Talbot Street South, Essex	Dino Chiodo	519-995-3603

Check back to Toronto Media Co-op for more updates and interviews as they become available.  If you have photos or video of any of the events you can upload them by creating a Media Co-op account for free or I can post them for you if you e-mail zruiter@gmail.com

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