Thousands of pages of correspondence and briefing notes on the federal government’s anti-terror Bill C-51 are so secret the government won’t even disclose its reasons for censoring them.
Source: Terror documents so secret feds can’t tell you why they’re secret – National | Globalnews.ca
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail Tuesday, May. 13 2014
An overhaul of Canadian electoral law is one step closer to being in place for the 2015 campaign after the House of Commons passed Bill C-23 despite ongoing calls for changes.
The Conservative government’s divisive Fair Elections Act passed third reading in the House on Tuesday evening by a vote of 146 to 123. It will now be sent to the Senate, where a quick approval is expected. The government hopes to make it law by June.
Bill C-23 overhauls many of the rules for election campaigns in Canada. Chiefly, it will boost ID requirements on voting day and place limits on what Elections Canada can do publicly. It creates a registry for robocall rules, albeit one some fear will be toothless, and boosts penalties for certain offences while adding an extra day of advance voting.
Critics have warned its effect could disenfranchise some voters, reduce voter turnout and tilt the electoral playing field in favour of the Conservatives.
Facing widespread calls for change, the Conservatives last month were forced to back down on certain proposals and amend the bill. The government, however, voted down more than 200 opposition amendments – all but a few minor, technical ones – aimed at further reforms.
The man spearheading the effort, Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre, brushed aside ongoing calls for changes and said it’s time to push the bill to become law.
“Now we move forward to decision day, having had all these debates [and] considered modest but fair changes. It is time for people to decide. This bill will allow Elections Canada to focus on its core mandate of running elections fairly and efficiently,” Mr. Poilievre said in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
House Leader Peter Van Loan said the bill will be in place in time for the next election and it’s not expected to be delayed in the Senate.
“All indications are the bill does have a lot of support – not only among elected officials in the House, but also in the Senate,” Mr. Poilievre said.
The bill continues to have opponents. A long list of non-partisan experts called for changes, including some that weren’t made. In return, the Conservative government attacked the motives of some critics, such as Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand, before abruptly announcing amendments.
Mr. Poilievre offered no contrition Tuesday when asked if he had any regrets about the process. “I’m very happy with how it went about,” he said.
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has said the bill would “weaken our democracy and make voting harder across the country,” and NDP MPs continued to outline their problems with the bill in the waning hours of debate Tuesday.
The NDP had asked 19 specific Conservative MPs – those with an independent streak – to oppose the bill. They included Harold Albrecht, Jay Aspin, Maxime Bernier, Peter Braid, Michael Chong, Rob Clarke, Robert Goguen, Bal Gosal, Laurie Hawn, Bryan Hayes, Gerald Keddy, Ryan Leef, James Rajotte, Lawrence Toet, Brad Trost, Susan Truppe, Tim Uppal, David Wilks and Stephen Woodworth. In the end, none voted against it.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has pledged to repeal the bill if elected prime minister, a pledge he reiterated Tuesday.
“The changes that have been made aren’t good enough, and if we form government in 2015, we will establish a much fairer principle around elections and repeal C-23,” he said.
May 9, 2014 by PressProgress
Employers eliminated 30,900 full-time jobs last month and 25,600 Canadians left the labour force altogether, Statistics Canada job numbers released Friday show.
With an increase of just 2,000 part-time jobs for a net loss of 28,900 jobs, Erin Weir, an economist with United Steelworkers, puts the bad news in context.
“This large decline in employment coincided with an increase of 41,000 in Canada’s working-age population. The employment rate, the proportion of working-age Canadians who are employed or self-employed, fell to 61.5% – its lowest level since March 2010,” Weir said in a statement.
In other words, if the employment rate was back at its pre-recession peak (63.8%), Canada would have 665,000 more jobs today. “Damage of recession has not been repaired,” tweeted Jim Stanford, an economist with Unifor.
Instead, Canada’s employment rate of 61.5% is now only 0.2 points above July 2009, the trough of the recession. “Employment rate has been steadily eroding since late 2012. Cda’s recovery has no engine, no momentum – thanks, austerity,” added Stanford.
Meanwhile, Douglas Porter, chief economist with the Bank of Montreal, told the Canadian Press that “there’s no question this was a bit of a disappointment. It continues a trend we’ve seen over the last six months of down then up, and up then down. So we’re seeing a see-saw action in Canadian employment.”
Here’s what that looks like, courtesy of Unifor:
By Peter O’Neil, Vancouver Sun May 12, 2014
OTTAWA — The Harper government must ensure there is “free, prior and informed consent” from First Nations before giving the go-ahead to major resource projects – including two proposed pipeline megaprojects to the B.C. coast, the United Nations said Monday.
A report by James Anaya, the UN’s outgoing Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, said there is a “crisis” in Canada and that the level of mistrust has perhaps worsened since the last visit by a UN representative just over a decade ago.
Anaya put the two oil sands pipeline megaprojects – Enbridge’s to Kitimat and Kinder Morgan Canada’s to Burnaby – at the top of a long list of economic initiatives that have drawn bitter complaints from aboriginal leaders Anaya met during a fact-finding mission last year.
Anaya, an American indigenous rights scholar and nominee for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, said the government doesn’t have a coherent plan to meet its Supreme Court of Canada-mandated obligations to consult and accommodate First Nations before major projects proceed.
“There appears to be a lack of a consistent framework or policy for the implementation of this duty to consult, which is contributing to an atmosphere of contentiousness and mistrust that is conducive neither to beneficial economic development nor social peace,” Anaya wrote.
One of his recommendations calls on the federal government to set a clear policy on consultation and accommodation.
“In accordance with the Canadian constitution and relevant international human rights standards, as a general rule resource extraction should not occur on lands subject to aboriginal claims without adequate consultations with, and the free, prior and informed consent of, the indigenous peoples concerned,” stated Anaya in his report that was released in Geneva Monday.
In a Vancouver Sun interview Monday Anaya said “free, prior and informed consent,” a term used in the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, doesn’t mean there should be an Aboriginal veto on resource projects.
But he said said the commitment in the declaration, which Canada endorsed 2010, does require governments to engage in genuine consultation to ensure Aboriginal rights are protected, and to consider killing projects when accommodation can’t be reached.
The report also lists the Site C hydroelectric dam project on the Peace River, gas drilling and pipeline construction in northeastern B.C. on Treaty 8 nations’ traditional territory, and the attempts by Taseko Mines and Fortune Minerals to build mines on unceded traditional First Nations territory in B.C.
The report criticized the federal environmental review panels, saying the panelists are perceived by First Nations as having “little understanding of aboriginal rights jurisprudence or concepts.”
Anaya had a number of other tough criticisms:
– He called on the Harper to reverse his position and call for a “comprehensive, nation-wide inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal woman and girls, organized in consultation with indigenous peoples.”
– He sharply criticized the federal government over its handing of land claims across Canada and especially in B.C., where many First Nations are deeply in debt and utterly frustrated over federal negotiating tactics.
But Anaya also found some positive developments, including the agreement late last year to establish a B.C. First Nations Health Authority. He called that a potential model for other jurisdictions.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt cited in a statement Monday the report’s complimentary references to Canada’s track record in protecting Aboriginal peoples’ rights.
“The report published by the Special Rapporteur today acknowledges that, while many challenges remain, many positive steps have been taken by the Government of Canada to improve the overall well-being and prosperity of Aboriginal people in Canada.
He also said resource projects should be seen in a positive light.
Hundreds of federal programs and world renowned research facilities have been shut down or had their funding reduced by the federal government. This list was compiled by the Canadian Association of University Teachers and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. If you are a federal government scientist or researcher and your program, project, or research facility has been affected by the cuts we would like to hear from you, please comment below or send us an email at fifth@cbc.ca
Andrew Phillip Chernoff 