CANUCKS BANTER: Canucks Drop 3-2 Decision To Penguins

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CANUCKS BANTER     By Andrew Chernoff    November 5, 2015

Vancouver Continues To Struggle At Rogers Place

Despite losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Vancouver Canucks will leave for their 14-day road trip with a share of 1rst-place in the Pacific Division.

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They just may not return in first place or with a share of first place.

The Canucks made it close at the end of the game on Wednesday night, but alas, their home win streak coming to an end at 2-games.

The Canucks had their chances early but could not score that timely goal to stymie the Penguins and create a momentum change that could have benefited them much earlier than their effort, mighty as it was, late in the game. At that point, the clock became their opponent, not Pittsburgh, and the Canucks ran out of time.

Canucks begin the seven road game stretch on November 7 against Buffalo, ending on November 18 against Winnipeg.  In between they play New Jersey, Columbus, Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal.

The trip will indicate what their mettle is and how well forged they are as a competitive team and whether they are excelling at a high level of expectation or not.

I believe the Canucks could face a tougher trip then they might expect. My prediction? Canucks return home with a record of 3-2-2 from the road trip.

Question marks for me are still the Canucks inability to score timely goals, along with their power play.

Even though the youngsters are playing well, there may be times on the trip that their inexperience may make winning difficult with key mistakes at the worst of times. That, along with other variables are out of the Canucks control, as long as the coaching staff prepare them for each and every game.

h         From: Yahoo Sports Canada

Backup goaltending is still something I still have to see more of to be more confident with.

The biggest plus for me is that Vancouver has played well on the road so far this season.

The veteran core of the Canucks have to be out in front in the leadership role. If the veterans are able to stay motivated game in and game out, and keep their competitive spirit on the high side, Vancouver should have a successful road trip.

CANUCKS JOTTINGS

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Statistics for Canucks Banter provided with thanks by the NHL, Vancouver Canucks and SportingCharts.

Debt ceiling lifted, and the same day, debt jumps $339B

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By Pete Kasperowicz  November 3, 2015  Washington Examiner

The U.S. national debt jumped $339 billion on Monday, the same day President Obama signed into law legislation suspending the debt ceiling.

That legislation allowed the government to borrow as much as it wants above the $18.1 trillion debt ceiling that had been in place.

The website that reports the exact tally of the debt said the U.S. government owed $18.153 trillion last Friday, and said that number surged to $18.492 on Monday.

The increase reflects an increasingly common pattern that can be seen in the total U.S. debt level when the debt ceiling is reached.

At the end of 2012, for example, the government hit the debt ceiling, and the Treasury Department was forced to use “extraordinary measures” to keep the government afloat until the ceiling could be increased again. Those measures included decisions to delay issuances of certain debt instruments.

When the ceiling was finally lifted a little more than a month later, the debt jumped $40 billion in a day as the pressure to stay under the ceiling eased, and after nine days, the U.S. was $100 billion deeper in debt.

In February 2013, the debt ceiling was suspended until mid-May. Extraordinary measures were again used through mid October, and the official debt burden hovered in place for more than six months. When the debt ceiling was suspended again in October, the debt exploded by $300 billion the next day.

This time around, the national debt has been frozen at its ceiling of about $18.1 trillion since late January, longer than nine months. The Bipartisan Policy Center estimated that the government had somewhere around $370 billion worth of extraordinary measures to use this time around.

Strategic Directions day 2: Strengthening our plan | 2015 CUPE National Convention

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November 4, 2015

Connecting with members, building a more inclusive union, creating safe and healthy workplaces, and fighting privatization were front and centre in discussions about Strategic Directions on Wednesday morning.

Delegates resumed debate on CUPE’s blueprint for the next two years with discussions about the importance of health and safety activism.

CUPE 1623 vice-president Sharon Richer described the urgent need for action for health care workers, who face on-the-job assaults.

“Violence is not a part of our job. We all have a right to a safe, violence-free workplace,” said Richer.

Strategic Directions proposes that 2016 be a year focused on health and safety. CUPE 2669 member and national health and safety committee co-chair Dolores Douglas said the plan will re-energize CUPE and is a great way to connect with members, especially precarious workers.

Fighting privatization was another focus, with delegates calling for solidarity across sectors and targeted resources for locals under attack.

Barb Biley, CUPE 6179 and Hospital Employees’ Union member, told delegates how important it was to be able to quickly mobilize workers across sectors to fight contracting out at a seniors’ home. Building members’ capacity to fight back, and involving all workers in a region, is essential to keep winning these battles, she said.

Kirk Mercer of CUPE 951 and Randy Fennell of CUPE 728 both pointed to apprenticeships in the skilled trades as another way to defend public services against contracting out. They called for support to maintain and expand apprenticeship programs across the country.

Delegates discussed the need to keep building CUPE’s member-to-member organizing through the Fairness program, as well as the need to engage and connect with young and precarious members – building a truly inclusive and diverse union.

Source: Strategic Directions day two: Strengthening our plan | Canadian Union of Public Employees

Health and safety forum discusses strategies for dealing with psychological injury | 2015 CUPE National Convention

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November 4, 2015

Yesterday evening, at the health and safety forum, CUPE members heard two experts, exchanged ideas and received tools and advice for a better understanding of the causes of stress, its effects on our health, and ways to prevent it.

Julie Kaisla, from the Canadian Mental Health Association’s British Colombia Division talked about the different psychological wounds caused by excessively heavy workloads, as well as some general strategies for reducing the effects of stress.

The participants also heard Cassie Loveless, Paramedic/Emergency Medical Dispatcher at BC Ambulance Service. Ms. Loveless told members about her personal experience with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the ways that she deals with this “silent” illness. She explained various strategies to prevent the escalation of psychological injury.

CUPE health and safety advisors described the tools and resources available to members to help them understand and prevent psychological injury. A new violence prevention kit produced by the CUPE Health and Safety Service was also launched at the forum. In addition to useful information on the prevention of violence and harassment in the workplace, the kit contains tools such as a form letter to the employer for reporting violent incidents, an information sheet on working alone, a bargaining guide on domestic violence in the workplace, and various other documents.

In accordance with the mandate conferred by delegates to the 2013 CUPE National Convention, the Union Development Department, in conjunction with the Health and Safety Service, created a new series of courses on health and safety, which was launched at the forum.

The forum ended with a Q & A session with a moderator and a round table on the prevention of stress in the workplace.

Source: Health and safety forum discusses strategies for dealing with psychological injury | Canadian Union of Public Employees

Yussuff calls on CUPE members to hold Liberals to account | Canadian Union of Public Employees

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The next four years present an opportunity to build the Canada we want, Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff told CUPE Convention delegates.

“The work you did and our movement did across the country was absolutely stellar,” he said. “We had to defeat the Stephen Harper government and it was such a pleasure to watch his sorry ass walk off that stage.”

While the outcome of the election may not have been ideal, it did end a decade of rule by a prime minister who used racism and xenophobia as an election tool, who attacked unions and who moved human rights backward a decade.

In the next four years, we must hold Justin Trudeau to his promises to repeal Bill C-377, to begin an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and to restore card-check certification. We must convince Trudeau to repeal, not revise Bill C-51, he said, adding that we must prioritize electoral reform so everyone’s voice counts and we don’t end up with huge majority governments representing a minority of Canadians.

He closed by calling on CUPE members to leave Convention united and stronger.

“The enemies of this organization are not in this room,” he said. “When you leave, leave as 600,000-plus united, and tell the employers: You attack one of us, you attack all of us.”

Source: Yussuff calls on CUPE members to hold Liberals to account | Canadian Union of Public Employees