Angry in the Great White North

The AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, is the largest largest federation of unions in the United States. Included in the federation are a number of Canadian unions. One of the sections of the AFL-CIO is the Building and Construction Trades Department, which lists a number of affiliated unions:

• The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
• International Union of Operating Engineers
• International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
• United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada (Ontario Pipe Trades Council)
• International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers (Ironworkers Local 721)

That list represents 6 of the 10 union groups that are behind the Working Families Coalition, the third party operation with close links to the Ontario Liberal Party that is working very hard to make sure that Dalton McGuinty wins in the upcoming election.

The links are about to get closer.

The Working Families Coalition website was registered by the Ontario Building and Construction Trades Council. The Council is also a member union of the AFL-CIO.

So what does this all have to do with the Ontario Liberal Party?

According to Labour Organization Annual Report filed by the AFL-CIO in Washington, DC, as required by the US Department of Labor, the AFL-CIO received a generous contribution from the Ontario Liberal Fund:

Ontario Liberal Fund
243 Rue College Street
Toronto
Total of All Transactions: $6,650

And what is the Ontario Liberal Fund?

ONTARIO LIBERAL FUND INVEST IN A BETTER ONTARIO

The Ontario Liberal Fund is responsible for raising funds to support the on-going operation and electoral activities of the Ontario Liberal Party and to work with the riding associations to achieve a similar end. All donations to the Ontario Liberal Party are processed and receipted by the Ontario Liberal Fund.

Rooted in the principles, goals and policies of the Ontario Liberal Party, the Fund’s mission is to devise and implement strongly innovative ways and means to broaden the base of contributors, encourage donor regularity, gain knowledge to guide and strengthen our efforts, seek out and form partnerships to move forward in unity, offer opportunity for participation in the mission and, in all matters, to push forward with passion and enthusiasm to achieve our goals.

So how does a $6,650 donation to the AFL-CIO support the on-going operation and electoral activites of the Ontario Liberal Party? How does it represent an investment in a better Ontario?

It seems to me it represents an investment in a wealthier AFL-CIO in Washington, DC.

And have a giggle when you see how the OLF is described by the AFL-CIO to the US government:

Community & Social Organization

Sounds like a charity instead of a fundraising operation by one of the most powerful political parties in Canada. Dalton McGuinty himself is the driving force behind the OLF:

McGuinty's second term as opposition leader was more successful than his first. With the Liberals consolidated as the primary opposition to Harris's Progressive Conservatives, McGuinty was able to present his party as the "government in waiting". He hired a more skilled group of advisors and drafted former cabinet minister Greg Sorbara as party president. McGuinty also rebuilt the party's fundraising operation, launching the Ontario Liberal Fund.

Given that the OLF was created by Dalton McGuinty, it is fair to ask just how he defined the mandate of the OLF such that money it raised is going to the AFL-CIO in the United States.

Regardless of the answer, I think we can fairly conclude that if a bunch of AFL-CIO affiliated unions in Ontario were asked if they wanted to help make sure Dalton McGuinty's Liberals were re-elected, the AFL-CIO would quickly provide permission.

Does the support just stop at allowing member unions get deeply involved in a pro-Liberal advocacy group during an election campaign? Just what does $6,650 buy?

And then you have to ask if money going from the Ontario Liberal Party to the AFL-CIO in the United States is finding its way back into Ontario through these member unions to help run the Working Families Coalition.

In any case, why would the OLF, whose mandate is to make sure the Ontario Liberal Party gets elected, give money to the US-based AFL-CIO? How does that help re-elect the Dalton McGuinty's Liberals?

For more links between the Ontario Liberal Party and the Working Families Coalition, check out Working Families Coaltion Watch.