I attended the 2026 annual convention of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) as an Observer. So, here are a few of my observations. The company for which I work, LifeLabs, is ostensibly a part of the Broader Public Sector (BPS) and receives most of its revenues in public funding from OHIP, Ontario’s public health insurance. Most BPS institutions–such as hospitals, universities and colleges, and school boards–also get funds from the Ontario government and are public and not-for-profit.

By comparison, LifeLabs is decidedly private and for-profit, makes about a billion dollars per year, and is now owned by the US company Quest Diagnostics. So, it cannot possibly be legitimately considered a part of the Ontario Public Service or even the Broader Public Sector. OPSEU understandably dislikes Doug Ford and his Conservative Ontario government, and it particularly dislikes his interest in privatizing health care. The irony of all of this is that Ford must actually love LifeLabs, which has been doing privatized health care in Ontario for about sixty years.