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New Brunswick’s Finance Minister, Edmond Blanchard, says that CUPE’s claims are “absolutely false.” Alberta Health spokesperson Garth Norris says that CUPE is “blatantly dishonest”. And now Michael Walker, executive director of the Fraser Institute, is accusing CUPE of “dubious” logic that amounts to a “pile of garbage.”

What is it that has spurred the wrath of the right? CUPE’s Public Works! campaign.

Blanchard was trying to deflect attention from CUPE’s expose of the sky-high cost of privatizating a portion of the Trans-Canada highway. The Alberta spokesperson was countering our critique of Bill 37 that would allow private hospitals. And Walker was dishing out some dirt on garbage collection, because he knew that he couldn’t defend private medical labs.

And what can we learn from this? It reminds us that the arguments for privatization are so weak that even the right know they won’t stand up to scrutiny.

It seems that the right is pretty thin skinned, preferring to lash out at its critics rather than deal with the facts. So when we expose these schemes, we can expect that the reaction will be fast and furious. Our response? Full speed ahead.