Canada Cutbacks

Jacki reports on the turmoil in the Canadian province of Ontario over budget cutbacks. The Conservative government of Premier Mike Harris has cut about 8-million dollars in spending so far in an effort to curb a 100-million dollar debt. On Friday and Saturday, tens of thousands of union workers rallied in Hamilton, Ontario to protest government policies. The province faces a strike by members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) at 12:01 Monday morning. Union offices warned the walk-outs would escalate, with as many as 55-thousand of the province's 81-thousand union workers off the job by mid-week.The chief issue in contract talks between the union and the government is job security. On Friday, the government announced an 18-percent cut in provincial hospitals and as many as 20-thousand layoffs of hospital workers during the next year.