By Terry Vanderheyden
OTTAWA, May 25, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A local chapter of the country’s 150,000-member Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is unanimously supporting a member’s bid to redirect her dues to a charity because of her religious opposition to same-sex “marriage,” which the Union strongly supports.
Ottawa’s Local 70160, which represents approximately 600 members from Industry Canada, is behind the bid by Treasury Board employee Susan Comstock to redirect the funds, after the Union refused to recognize her right to freedom of conscience.
“The members of local 70160 of the PSAC, in a free vote open to all members, sent a strong message to the top brass of the PSAC that we support Susan Comstock’s right to avail herself of the rights that are available to her under the PSAC Constitution,” said the chapter’s president, Dave MacDonald, in comments made to LifeSiteNews.com.
Comstock made the request initially in 2004, on the grounds that PSAC’s open support for Bill C-38, the bill to legalize same-sex “marriage,” went against her personal beliefs. Although the PSAC’s collective agreement contains a clause allowing a member to divert their dues to charity for reasons of religion or conscience, the union refused to grant her request, claiming the clause did not apply to her.
The local chapter’s “vote was near unanimous with only two abstentions and no one in opposition,” said MacDonald. Their resolution stated: “BE IT RESOLVED that Local 70160 wishes to affirm Sister Susan Comstock’s right to divert her union dues to a charity because of her religious objections.” They added, “BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Local 70160 denounces the actions of the leadership of PSAC for failing to accommodate Sister Susan Comstock’s religious beliefs by allowing her to divert her union dues to a charity.”
The Canadian Human Rights Commission declined further investigation of the complaint against the union last October, stating that the Catholic Church does not forbid trade union membership.
“We feel that it is our duty to stand up and support and to denounce the leadership of the PSAC for failing in their duty to respect her rights,” MacDonald emphasized. “Susan Comstock is a hero to many people of faith within the PSAC. She has not only stood up to the huge goliath which is the PSAC and asserted her rights but she is rallying others to do the same because of her actions.”
To contact PSAC and express concerns:
Public Service Alliance of Canada
233 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, ON K2P 0P1
(613)560-4200
Email the national president of PSAC, John Gordon, at:
[email protected]Â