How the PSAC strike affected the lives of Canadians
Schoolchildren stay at home, and rare fish are being caught by poachers.
The strike of the local Public Service Union (PSAC) continues in Canada. Thousands of people across the country are participating, demanding pay increases and the introduction of seniority pensions. In the case of most agencies, it slows down their work rather than stopping it altogether — while some employees are on strike, their colleagues continue to work. Very small institutions, however, are having a hard time: they are forced to close temporarily. Recently, schoolchildren from Quebec were lucky, and rare fish were in danger of being caught completely by poachers.
There is a small town in Quebec called Sanon. Only about 7,000 people live there. Recently, as many as three schools canceled classes there. No, the teachers did not run away from classes to support the union. They just stayed to do their duty. But the strikers blocked the car routes that students used to get to the schools. Buses and cars were stuck in hours-long traffic jams, and schools canceled classes because the children could not get to them safely.
Mayor Sarah Perrault says the township has become hostage to the strike. "The consequences for the residents of the town have become unbearable," Perrault said in a press release Wednesday. She is demanding that the federal government use all means at its disposal to end this situation, including a court injunction against the strike.
In the same press release, city officials listed all its disruptions because of the civil servants' union: obstruction on De la Bravoire Street during rush hour, blocking of school bus traffic, danger to students and school security guards, the closing of two elementary schools and kindergartens.
Nova Scotia's animal advocates are sounding the alarm: Poachers are taking over local rivers, and the striking employees of Canada's equivalent of the Fisheries Inspectorate are not responding to appeals from the public. Rare and valuable species of fish, such as glass eels, are under threat. With prices as high as USD 5000 per kilogram, animals are very important to the region's economy. In addition, they are an integral part of the ecosystem of local rivers like the Liscombe. If eels disappear, some inhabitants of water reservoirs will also die, and others, on the contrary, will overbreed.
Right now, the law in Nova Scotia prohibits fishing for glass eels and their fry — their population has recently declined and needs time to recover. Poachers don't care about these restrictions: They continue to kill rare fish because Fish Control officers are on strike and can't stop them. Residents of the region are outraged by what is happening. Some abusers leave nets in the river for long periods, causing the fish entangled in them to simply starve to death.
Read our piece on how the PSAC strike affected the Department of Immigration.
