HOME > MEDIA > WFW NEWSLETTER

WorkingFamiliesWatch.ca Newsletter - September 21, 2007

FIRST 20 DAYS OF WORKING FAMILIES WATCH ARE A HUGE SUCCESS

Message from Director Anas Melhem:

Many of you share my outrage at the antics of the Liberal Party of Ontario and the Building Trades Council because they set up the so-called Working Families $5-million political attack fund. It is so fundamentally wrong that Elections Ontario allows this farce to continue, instead of forcing the Building Trades to do their attack advertising directly under their actual name. Sadly, many Ontarians still think the so-called Working Families are a legitimate group, instead of just another special interest doing the Liberal's dirty work.

I started this organization just some 20 days ago at the end of August to let the rest of Ontario know just how they are being misled by Working Families, and to expose its workings and activities. I aim to get this message out to as many Ontarians as possible.

Although we are running our organization on the barest of shoe-string budgets, I am ecstatic at the progress Working Families Watch has been making since our founding a scant three weeks ago.
I am happy to report to you that since the start of the election, and our appearance on the scene, Working Families has been virtually silent! Gone are their misleading television ads. I checked their website yesterday - it is dead with practically no activity.

Regardless, we're elated that nobody seems to be paying any attention to the so-called Working Families and we hope the neutralization of their messages will continue.

I personally registered on the Working Families website under the name "workingfamilieswatch" I have seen first hand that their blog page has less than 10 participants, and no planned events. I have no qualms about registering on their website - because their press release says their site is open to all voters. (We'll see how long they maintain that fiction.)

And most crucially, the so-called Working Families are still not talking about Construction Issues on their website - at all!

In fact, all they've done since September 10 was issue a press release about a contest that they are running throughout the election. This doesn't mean they are gone for good though - there are 19 days left until the election and with a $5-million pot of money, there is no telling what their next step will be.

Our New Name is Working Families Watch

Some of you may have noticed that we have also dropped the word "Coalition" from our name. This was done for three reasons; the first was to avoid confusion between our watch group and their Liberal front group. The second reason was because the name was a mouthful and shorter is better in this case. But most importantly, we changed our name because the Working Families Coalition was forced to drop the word "Coalition" by Elections Ontario due to a dispute between them and the Family Coalition Party.

Now all of our links direct you to www.workingfamilieswatch.ca although we continue to keep the old website active to forward links to the new site. If you write in the old website you'll be automatically directed to the new one.

Working Families Watch Presents to Hamilton City Council on September 12

I made my maiden speech as Director of Working Families Watch to Hamilton City Council on September 12. The taxpayers of Hamilton are really getting taken to the cleaners by the Building Trades Council affiliated Carpenters Local 18. In the speech, Working Families Watch formally threw its support behind the municipality in its fight against this abuse of power by local 18. You can read the speech on our site or by clicking on this link , we have also set up a section on the website to track this issue called Hamilton Payoffs.

Anas Melhem Quoted in Daily Commercial News Story September 20, 2007

Vince Versace of the Daily Commercial News ran a hard hitting story on the so-called Working Families in the September 20, 2007 version of the paper. Quoting Pat Dillion, the Working Families spokesperson, myself and Clive Thurston, of the OGCA, Versace did a great job exposing the how much Working Families is really a Liberal front. Read the story here at: http://www.dcnonl.com/article/id24446.

Working Families Watch covered by Inside Queen's Park
In the September 19, 2007 edition of Inside Queen's Park by senior government relations practitioner, Graham Murray, Working Families Watch earned an honourable mention. The story was part of a piece on how the so-called Working Families are actually picking a fight with Ontario's NDP on the use of the phrase: "Working Families". Contact Graham directly at (416) 597-3470 and I am sure he would be happy to send you a copy.

What's next for Working Families Watch?

Over the next 19 days we will continue to make sure our message continues to get out. We will be concentrating on publishing more research on showing what the real payoffs are that the Building Trades can expect for their $5-Million investment in the Liberal front known as Working Families.

I am also starting to turn our attention on how I can continue to keep the pressure on after the election and make it as difficult as possible for McGuinty to use public money and legislation to pay off the Building Trades like he has done since his first election in 2003. If possible, I am committed to ending this free pass they have been given.

Keep the Information and Tips Coming:

I want to thank you all personally for your continued support and we encourage you to keep the information, blogs, and donations coming. We are really counting on all of you to help us continue to produce our research during this election campaign. Please don't hesitate to contact me at anas@workingfamilieswatch.ca if you have some ideas or tips on how we can make our watch site even more effective.

Best Regards,