A national referendum on electoral reform could divide the country, says former New Democrat leader Ed Broadbent. The 80-year old Broadbent yesterday told a Commons committee Canada’s current Elections Act “totally distorts the democratic will”.
MPs should enact a migrant workers’ bill of rights and permit farm workers to unionize, says Unifor. A Commons committee report on temporary foreign workers is due once MPs return from summer recess September 19: "We could not sit by".
Media coverage of unproven criminal charges is not grounds for a human rights claim, a tribunal has ruled. The judgment came over news clipping naming a police officer charged but never convicted of 26 offences: "Media leaked information".
Retroactive cuts to federal union wage settlements are lawful. The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge of a 2009 austerity law that capped increases for government employees: "It is acceptable legislation".
Canada Post reports a pre-tax profit of $45 million for the first half of the year. Management said a threatened lockout of workers appeared to have “minimal impact” on revenues.
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “You, who haven’t used a lavender, vanilla, or coconut shampoo in months, let alone jasmine, citrus, or Hawaiian-fresh bathing soap…”
Canada has seen fewer terrorist incidents since 9/11 than in the fifteen years prior to the World Trade Centre bombings, says federal research. The number has declined steadily since 1969. Public Safety Canada yesterday omitted all mention of the Access To Information data in a terrorist threat report: "Since 2001 the vast majority of incidents have involved eco-terrorism".
Labour delegates have voted to lobby cabinet for a broader increase in Canada Pension Plan benefits than proposed by the Department of Finance. Unifor members meeting in convention in Ottawa called for higher CPP payouts: "That's critical to the whole approach".
A judge has faulted one of Canada’s largest banks over its foreclosure practices. The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia threw out a $16,697 claim from the Toronto Dominion Bank on a $10,877 loan: "Justice is restored".
The Supreme Court will not hear a legal challenge of RCMP management’s right to promote and demote members. A longtime corporal sued for a promotion given to a more junior colleague: 'They tout the RCMP as a national icon but they don't treat it like one'.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a major address on labour yesterday made no mention of legislating pay equity as recommended by a Commons committee. The president of Unifor noted the omission: “Pay equity has to become a reality”.
A 2015 cabinet proposal for voluntary Canada Pension Plan top-ups was considered unworkable and confusing, say Access To Information records. The finance department subsequently proposed a mandatory expansion of CPP benefits to retirees: "Some noted voluntary schemes would not work".
Paper cheques are back by the truckload after the public works department abandoned a proposal to mandate electronic payment of benefits. The Receiver General yesterday placed an order for 150 million envelopes on a three-year contract: 'People are simply opposed to giving the government any form of access to their bank account'.
Cabinet should reconsider a policy that forces the largest telecom firms to grant network access to smaller competitors, says an Ottawa think tank. Research cited in a report by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute was faulted by a consumers’ advocacy group: "Incentives matter".
Federal anti-trust investigators are seeking a court order compelling disclosure of confidential records in a takeover of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. The Competition Bureau in affidavits questioned whether the $3.9 billion buyout by Bell Canada Enterprises will give BCE too much “market power”.
