As of December 10th, 2008, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 agreed to go on strike, leaving thousands of Ottawa residents stranded for over 45 days and counting.

We the people of the City of Ottawa, by placing our names as facsimile signatures on this electronic petition do hereby state the following:

The City of Ottawa has jeopardized the health and safety of the citizens of Ottawa by:

- Failing to provide alternate suitable means of transporation,
- Failing to negotiate with the ATU Local 279 in an expedient and timely manner,
- Failing to listen and respond to its constituents.

The ATU Local 279 has jeopardized the health and safety of the citizens of Ottawa by:

- Regularly interfering, disrupting, and potentially harming public safety by picketing at schools, school bus lots, the Junior World Cup, and other areas.
- Failing to negotiate with the City of Ottawa in an expedient and timely manner,
- Callousness and complete lack of consideration towards members of the public affected by the strike, by holding the strike during the coldest months of the year, and during the holiday season.

The Federal Government has not acted on its citizens' best interests, by:

- Failing to intervene on behalf of its citizens,
- Failing to order a back-to-work rule for ATU Local 279 members,
- Failing to provide alternate suitable means of transportation,
- Failing to propose a feasible solution to end the Ottawa transit strike.

We ask for compensation for damages incurred by the OC Transpo strike, including but not limited to:

Compensation for loss of income and/or wages, physical and emotional distress, physical injuries, illness and health risks, safety risks, isolation, significant decline in our standard of living, loss of mobility, all of which will affect Ottawa residents and businesses, now and years after this strike has ended.

We also ask that Laws and Bylaws be passed, and that measures and precautions be put in place, so that the citizens of Ottawa, a G8 World Capital, will never again be held hostage by a prolonged, disruptive, and harmful strike.

Thus affirming its common benefit to the people of Ottawa, we strongly encourage all serving City Council Members, Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279, and the Federal government, to compensate the citizens of Ottawa for hardships incurred by this transit strike.

The haste and initiative you show as elected representatives, individually and collectively in furtherance of this cause, will be to voters a measure of your success in office.