Category Archives: Canada

Thomas Mulcair says that controversial Quebec secularism bill is a ‘non-starter’

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Jennifer Ditchburn, Canadian Press | 13/08/26

Federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair visits the Nova Scotia legislature in Halifax on Monday, Aug. 26, 2013. Mulcair has come out against the "principal" of the leaked Quebec secularism proposal.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair visits the Nova Scotia legislature in Halifax on Monday, Aug. 26, 2013. Mulcair has come out against the “principal” of the leaked Quebec secularism proposal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew VaughanFederal

OTTAWA — Another federal politician is venturing into the turbulent debate over religious freedom and Quebec’s proposed secular charter.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair had earlier avoided commenting on the so-called charter of Quebec values, calling it a trial balloon.

A leaked media report — which the Parti Quebecois government has not denied — said the charter would ban public employees from wearing religious head coverings and other religious symbols at work.

Mulcair now says he opposes anything that might scapegoat certain kinds of Quebecers.

“I don’t want to see scapegoating, particularly of Muslim women,” Mulcair told reporters on Parliament Hill on Monday.

“That seems to be one of the particular targets here. So we’ll wait and see what’s in it.”

Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois says a charter of values will unite Quebecers. A Leger Marketing poll released this week suggests a majority of Quebecers support the idea behind such a charter, although nearly half also think it will create divisions.

Mulcair and most of his caucus come from Quebec ridings — a fact that might explain his reluctance to come out too strongly against the proposals.

He says he won’t support legislation that goes against the recommendations of a 2008 provincial commission on accommodating cultural communities.

That commission recommended that judges, police officers and others in the legal or law enforcement arenas be barred from wearing religious symbols, but exempted teachers, doctors and other public servants.

“If there’s anything in what Madame Marois is proposing that goes against that, then for us it’s an absolute non-starter and we will stand up strongly against it,” said Mulcair. “But we haven’t seen the text of anything yet. So rather than going against something that we haven’t seen, we’ll simply state the principle.”

If there’s anything in what Madame Marois is proposing that goes against that, then for us it’s an absolute non-starter and we will stand up strongly against it

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has been more direct in his criticism of the secularization charter, saying it would promote fear of others and is unworthy of the province.

So far, the Conservative government has said very little about the issue, calling it a provincial matter.

But senior figures in the government did oppose a Quebec soccer league’s ban on turbans earlier this year. The Tories also speak out frequently on protecting religious freedom internationally — Foreign Affairs John Baird underlined that distinction Monday.

“I think one of the things that we made very clear when we launched the office of religious freedom within the Department of Foreign Affairs was that my mandate is strictly outside of the country,” Baird told reporters in Toronto.

“So I’m going to repeat that obviously I’m a big believer in freedom, I’m a big believer in freedom everywhere, but the mandate that I have is in Foreign Affairs.”

The Quebec government has not formally released the details of the proposed charter, but Marois trumpeted it over the weekend.

“We’re moving forward in the name of all the women, all the men, who chose Quebec for our culture, for our freedom, and for our diversity,” she said Sunday at a gathering of young PQ members in Quebec City.

Stephen Harper ‘hasn’t seen anything yet’

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Mulcair warns of Senate-scandal grilling when House returns

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair says Conservatives should be paying for audit.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair says Conservatives should be paying for audit. Photo: The Canadian Press / Files

August 26, 2013    http://o.canada.com

OTTAWA — Stephen Harper may have bought himself an extra month of peace by proroguing Parliament and delaying the fall session but when he returns in October, he can expect to be back on the hot seat over Senate spending, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair warned Monday

“In the last five weeks of Parliament, the prime minister showed up to answer questions exactly five times. By the time the House finally reconvenes, it will have been five months since he’s had to answer a question,” Mulcair told party faithful during a stop on Parliament Hill as part of the Opposition’s “Roll Up the Red Carpet” campaign to abolish the upper chamber.

“Well, Mr. Harper needs to answer for himself and he needs to answer to Canadians. If Mr. Harper thought the questions last spring were tough, he hasn’t seen anything yet. We’re just getting started.”

Mulcair, who was lauded by political observers last spring for his performance during question period — namely his rapid fire grilling of Conservatives over Senate spending that left them squirming —  returned to Ottawa to draw attention to the prime minister’s absence and rail against the “unelected and unaccountable” Senate.

It’s part of a cross-country campaign to sway public opinion and get provincial leaders on his side in the hopes of winning a mandate in the next election that would allow his party to scrap the so-called chamber sober second thought. It’s a crucial proposition for the NDP which has no senators and would likely struggle to pass legislation if it were to form government.

Mulcair, has yet to explain exactly how he would get rid of the Senate — a complicated proposal the Supreme Court has been asked to clarify — but acknowledged Monday that it wouldn’t be easy even if it is a “vestigial organ that can safely be removed with no harm to the body.

“I intend to meet with the premiers. I know that not all are in agreement. We’ve never had any illusion. We don’t think that this is going to be easy,” he said.

“But we want to start the conversation now, while we’re still in Opposition, to make sure that Canadians understand that we’re serious about it. That we know it’s a profound institutional change but we want to get a mandate to do that as part of the 2015 election.”

Mulcair also reiterated calls for the Conservative Party to pick up the tab for embattled Sen. Pamela Wallin’s $127,000 audit. Not only did Harper initially defend the senator in the House of Commons, he argued the audit later revealed that many of the expenses under question had to do with partisan fundraising efforts.

With the auditor general now set to review the expenses of all senators, Mulcair said both the Liberal and Conservative parties should be prepared to cover the cost should any “irregularities” related to party financing be uncovered.

Mulcair also touched on other priorities in advance of upcoming meetings in Saskatoon where his caucus will hammer out a strategy for the return of Parliament. Mulcair said the “public protection” of Canadians and the erosion of regulations related to rail safety, food security and maritime search and rescue, are among the issues the NDP will explore in the lead up to the next election.

tcohen@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/tobicohen

Ottawa Turns Its Back on Steelworkers-Op-Ed

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Aug 23, 2013    http://www.thespec.com   https://i0.wp.com/www.thespec.com/Portals/9/Images/logo.png

U.S. Steel’s destructive agenda is tacitly condoned by Harper government

By Marty Warren, Ontario Director of the United Steelworkers

For the second time in three years, 1,000 families in Nanticoke and surrounding communities face an uncertain future, targeted again by a deliberate attack on working-class living standards achieved over generations of struggle in Canada.

U.S. Steel’s lockout of employees at the Lake Erie Works steel mill — now in its 17th week — reflects the impunity foreign multinationals enjoy to slash Canadian jobs and drive down wages, benefits and working conditions.

U.S. Steel, in particular, has ample reason to believe it has the tacit consent of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government to run roughshod over Canadian working families.

In 2007, the Harper Conservatives approved U.S. Steel’s takeover of Canadian steelmaker Stelco. The deal included legally binding commitments from U.S. Steel to maintain production levels and a 3,100-strong workforce at former Stelco operations.

Time after time, the Harper Conservatives have demonstrated they stand with giant multinationals that abuse their dominant economic power.

U.S. Steel broke those legally binding commitments, with devastating results for working families and pensioners whose combined losses ran into tens of millions of dollars.

“(Their) working lives, retirement and income security have been seriously and adversely affected,” a Federal Court judge stated in 2011 after legal proceedings were launched against U.S. Steel.

The legal action was brought against U.S. Steel under terms of the Investment Canada Act, which dictates foreign takeovers must provide a “net benefit” to Canadians.

The government’s case against U.S. Steel included expert analysis that concluded the company knew full well the implications of its legal commitments. Even in the midst of the recession, fulfilling those promises “would not have threatened the financial viability” of the company, the analysis concluded.

However, rather than enforce the law and hold U.S. Steel accountable, the Harper government struck a secret deal that abruptly ended the court case. Promises of jobs and healthy production levels were abandoned. Workers, pensioners and communities devastated by U.S. Steel’s behaviour were denied their day in court.

With a nudge and a wink from our federal government, U.S. Steel was free to continue its onslaught against Canadian employees and pensioners.

U.S. Steel has now followed the same transparent, destructive pattern in three successive rounds of contract negotiations with former Stelco employees — twice at Lake Erie Works and once at Hamilton’s Hilton Works.

In each case, U.S. Steel has betrayed even the pretense of attempting to negotiate a fair deal for Canadian employees. The agenda has been to abuse the full force of its corporate power and resources to impose its will — under threat of arbitrary, lengthy shutdowns.

In each instance the workers refused to be provoked into a strike. To their credit, they proposed to keep operating their plants while pursuing a settlement through good-faith negotiations aided by government mediation.

U.S. Steel’s agenda dictated otherwise. It locked out Lake Erie Works employees for eight months in 2009-2010, then imposed an 11-month lockout in Hamilton in 2010-2011.

In April of this year, with carte blanche from the federal and Ontario governments to do as it pleases, U.S. Steel locked out Lake Erie Works employees for a second time. Four months later, the community’s largest employer remains shut down.

The locked-out employees, members of United Steelworkers Local 8782, remain committed to negotiating a fair collective agreement and are eager to get back to work.

They have received tremendous support within and outside their community, from like-minded Canadians who understand the need to resist a relentless and orchestrated assault on our middle class.

The workers, their families and supporters will continue to fight the good fight. However, it is beyond shameful that they don’t have their government on their side.

Time after time, the Harper Conservatives have demonstrated they stand with giant multinationals that abuse their dominant economic power to drive down our working and living standards and eliminate good jobs. It is part and parcel of the Conservatives’ low-wage economic strategy for our country.

Earlier this year, without meaningful public debate or consultation, the Harper government decided to arbitrarily amend the Investment Canada Act, folding the changes into its latest omnibus budget bill.

The Conservatives’ changes weaken the Act. They allow for more foreign takeovers to be rubber-stamped. Secret deals will remain the norm. Neither the government nor multinational corporations will be required to consult with, or be accountable to, the Canadian families and communities directly affected by foreign takeovers.

It has never been clearer that only a change in government can reverse this disgraceful trend.

ACTION ALERT: Protect B.C.’s water from corporate freeloaders

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Please take a moment to sign and share this important petition!

Imagine a place where companies can take as much water as they want. They don’t need to ask permission from government or the community. And they don’t have to pay any fees for the water they use. Sound unbelievable?

Well, it’s not – at least not in British Columbia.

B.C. doesn’t require companies to apply for permits when they withdraw groundwater, nor to report how much water they are taking. This allows industries, such as bottled water and fracking, to use groundwater at no cost.

Nestlé alone withdraws 265 million litres of groundwater a year from Hope, B.C.

Tell the B.C. government that enough is enough. You want action now! Sign the petition here.

Guardian Charlottetown: Prorogation proves pivotal to prime minister

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Harper delays Parliament’s return to redirect attention to economy

https://i0.wp.com/www.theguardian.pe.ca/images/logo/204_GuardianFlag2013.jpg     Published on August 21, 2013

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has thrived by following the abridged axiom: “if it gets too hot in the House, prorogue Parliament.” It has worked well in previous cases of threatened coalitions and heated questioning in the House of Commons. No one should be surprised the PM has chosen the same course this week.

Why not delay facing his critics by another four to five weeks while he fine tunes a new economic plan to distract Canadians from the Senate scandals and get their attention back on jobs and the economy, a trump card he has played so well the past two elections. Whether it work this time remains to be determined.

While making his annual trek through Canada’s north this week, Mr. Harper confirmed he intends to prorogue what has been a disastrous session of Parliament for his Conservative government, a session largely derailed by the scandal over Senate expenses.

It’s a guarantee that Mr. Harper will still face a barrage of questions about those expenses. But the new session will also give him an opportunity to lay out a fresh legislative agenda, concentrating on economic issues which he hopes will steer the Conservatives to victory in the fall of 2015.

The optics are obvious and they are all wrong for the PM. His decision fools no one. Proroguing also kills a number of pieces of legislation. Is it simply irony or part of the overall strategy that Senate reform legislation is just one of the bills that will die on the order paper? The bill would set nine-year term limits for senators and create a mechanism for elections to the upper chamber.

But this stalling tactic to delay a return to fiery Commons question periods is the smart, political move. Who knows what other contentious issue, either nationally or internationally, might arise by late October that could push the Senate scandal off the front pages. It makes little sense to meet NDP, Liberal and Green MPs any earlier than necessary. The PM is a master at the game of playing politics.

The prime minister has used prorogation very effectively in his career. In December 2008, it saved his government from a looming defeat at the hands of a dubious Liberal, NDP and Parti Quebecois coalition, an alliance desperate for power. He prorogued again the following year, halting heated House of Commons committee hearings into the treatment of Afghan detainees.

So Canadians will see a new throne speech in October that will finish off some old business of course, but more importantly set out a new direction for the country towards the end of this decade.

Mr. Harper has already tested the central theme of the next election, attacking other party leaders who have “vacuous minds” and featuring out of control, hire and spend agendas. But he can also expect repeated question about his own good judgment concerning an ill-advised decision to appoint 18 senators, many with dubious credentials, in December 2008 with his government facing defeat and his own future in doubt. That class of 2008 included Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau and Michael Duffy.

So, while NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair thunders a barrage of criticism this week about a desperate government worn out by ethical scandals and mismanagement, and Deputy Liberal leader Ralph Goodale suggests that Mr. Harper is trying to avoid answering questions about his former chief of staff’s $90,000 cheque to Sen. Duffy, the prime minister is nonchalantly posing for photo ops with polar bears, far from the madding crowd.