With shops and stores shuttered, streets empty, and the country on lockdown, we are living through unprecedented and drastic measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

For most of us, this global pandemic is bringing the importance of strong public services into sharp focus.

But some people will never pass up an opportunity to attack public sector workers. Already, right-wing columnists are calling on governments to send public sector workers to the unemployment lines until this outbreak is over. Just last weekend, Premier Jason Kenney issued pink slips to 26,000 education workers in Alberta.

This approach is flat-out wrong. No credible economist in Canada thinks putting people out of work during an emergency like this is helpful. And as we reach the third week of a crisis that could last months, our public service workers are proving their value.

While most of us are safe at home, public service workers are still going to work, risking their well-being to keep their communities safe, healthy, and running as close to “normal” as possible.

As president of Canada’s largest union, representing front-line public service workers, I hear stories from across the country of everyday heroes doing their part.

Like the childcare workers in Toronto looking after kids so their parents can staff essential jobs. Or municipal workers in rural Beresford, N.B., who are running food, medication and other necessities to residents in need.

I’m thinking of the education assistant in Edmonton who, even though school is closed, is still helping her student with developmental disabilities over video conference so she doesn’t miss a single lesson. Now, because of Kenney’s short-sighted and mean-spirited cuts, that woman no longer has a job – and that child no longer has a mentor.

The pandemic has exposed just how vital public services are to everyday life, as well as the cruelty of depriving people who depend on them.

It has also exposed the devastating impact of cuts and neglect to the services and supports we depend on in emergencies. Our health care system, for example, was running over 100 per cent capacity long before this crisis. Now our health care workers are facing a pandemic surge in hospitals and long-term care facilities without the beds, staffing, or even basic equipment they need to keep themselves and the people they care for safe.

I’m thinking about the paramedic in Peterborough who told me “social distancing” doesn’t exist for front-line health care workers. They aren’t getting two metres space from this crisis – they’re going face-to-face with it. They’re facing down the uncertainty, and they’re facing down the risks to their families and their coworkers. And they’re doing it increasingly short-staffed and with a looming shortage of personal protective equipment.

There are hundreds of thousands of workers, just like these, who deserve our support – now, and when this crisis is over.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Mark Hancock is president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents 700,000 workers in sectors like health care, education, transportation, and municipal and social services.

Read more about: