Freedom Flyer July 1986 Cover

Freedom Flyer 7

the official newsletter of the
Freedom Party of Ontario

July 1986




FREEDOM PARTY SUPPORTERS HELP WIN A BIG BATTLE FOR MORE FREEDOM FOR MERV LAVIGNE AND MILLIONS OF CANADIAN WORKERS

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION vs COMPULSORY ASSOCIATION

As many supporters may already know, Freedom Party has in the past participated with the National Citizens' Coalition [NCC] on an issue critical to our freedom of choice: its successful court challenge to Bill C-169, a federally-drafted bill attempting to enforce political censorship during federal elections. The NCC won, and all Canadians benefitted as a result.

In August 1985, Freedom Party once again found itself aligned with the NCC on yet another critical "freedom of choice" issue, namely, the right to associate.

Freedom Party believes that the right to associate includes the right not to associate.

You will recall that we stood behind this principle when, in September 1984, we designed and printed literature (at our own expense) advocating this right of association for Eaton's employees in downtown London. Well, we did it again in August 1985 when we arranged to allow the NCC, under strict mutual supervision, to mail a fundraiser to Freedom Party members and supporters for the purpose of supporting the NCCs court challenge to the concept of compulsory union dues, and the idea that such dues may be spent (by unions) on causes with which the contributor disagrees.

Central to the court challenge is the case of Merv Lavigne, a teacher at the Haileybury School of Mines who, despite a teacher's strike called by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union [OPSEU] (October 1984), decided to continue teaching without pay in order to avoid being personally fined $500 per day and to avoid having his college fined $10,000 per day.

Remarkably, Lavigne was not even a member of OPSEU, yet was required to pay full union dues.

Lavigne and the NCC have been arguing that the compulsory nature of unions and the manner in which they collect their dues violate Lavigne's fundamental right and freedom to associate. In being forced to pay union dues as a condition of his employment, Lavigne rightly argues that his own money is being used against him when unions take a portion of his dues to contribute to political parties (i.e., the NDP) and lobby groups which work against his own interests.

It is a frightening thing, in a "free" society, to find that anyone is a "member" of any group or association against his or her will. It is equally frightening to realize that working itself has become a crime, punishable by fines and threats of imprisonment. Yet, this is the reality in Ontario today.

For that reason, Freedom Party will continue to support the efforts of individuals and lobby groups who are working to reverse this trend.

LATE BREAKING FLASH! On July 7, 1986, it was announced that Merv Lavigne has won his case in the Ontario Supreme Court! While this represents a tremendous victory for freedom of association, we can still expect an appeal to be launched by the union. Remember that those who have interests to protect at someone else's expense will always remain unrelenting in their efforts to attain that elusive "something-for-nothing"; it will always be left to those who value their freedom to continue defending it.




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