Tag: oh Canada

Advocacy group for disabled loses provincial funding (Manitoba)

pom-seedss:

allthecanadianpolitics:

allthecanadianpolitics:

The Manitoba League for Persons with Disabilities, which was founded in 1974, says it may have to call it quits after the province denied its core funding for the year.

It’s a “devastating blow,” the league that advocates for Manitobans with disabilities said Thursday in an open letter to its members. The provincial non-profit organization promotes accessibility and inclusion for people of all abilities. Its executive council said it recently learned that the provincial government will not be providing core funding of $50,000 for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

“It’s extremely difficult for organizations to operate where there is a lack of core funding,” said disabilities advocate Carlos Sosa.

The league has been the voice of Manitobans with disabilities for more than 40 years, pushing for changes in attitudes toward people with disabilities, Sosa said. One of its biggest accomplishments is the creation of HandiTransit in Winnipeg, which has opened doors for thousands of people, he said.

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Your friendly reminder that Conservatives HATE disabled people.

Friendly reminder that Conservatives would rather disabled folks die and decrease the surplus population than be allowed to live with dignity.

If anyone believes the Scrooge line is an exaggeration, it is not. 

$50,000 is nothing to a provincial budget but it is a fatal blow to the organization. They want us gone, make no mistake.

Advocacy group for disabled loses provincial funding (Manitoba)

Ford cuts all provincial funding to Ontario College of Midwives

allthecanadianpolitics:

Doug Ford’s government has revoked current and future funding for the College of Midwives of Ontario, the regulatory body that oversees more than 900 midwives and has had government support for 25 years.

The halt in funding is retroactive to April 1, 2018, and includes almost $800,000 in operational grants for the College’s current budget year, which made up one-third of its budget. The government informed the College on Nov. 8, eight months into the fiscal year.

In a joint statement, the College’s president, Tiffany Haidon, and its registrar and CEO, Kelly Dobbin, wrote that the loss of funding will place a heavy financial burden on the profession in future years, even though a contingency plan is in place “to ensure that the impact of these changes on members is minimal.”

The statement said the changes will have no impact on the public. “We cannot cut our services and programs, as the College’s work is mandated by our governing legislation,” it said.

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Ford cuts all provincial funding to Ontario College of Midwives

onpoli:

Within the past two days, both the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Independent Police Review Director published reports containing evidence of systemic racism in policing in Toronto and Thunder Bay, and it’s already clear that neither the TPS, TBPS, or their municipal governments have any sense of accountability or desire to create change.

The TPS made a statement dismissing the issue, refusing to admit that their officers assault, shoot, and kill black people at disproportionate rates and instead saying that maybe some black people “feel” that this happens. The TBPS referred to evidence of their racism and callous disregard for Indigenous lives as a “barrier in policing.”

TPS Chief Mark Saunders told the CBC that “when it comes to racism as a whole, it exists everywhere.” Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro said that “it’s true we have our issues but it’s true that all communities have similar issues.” Mike McCormack, the president of the Toronto Police Association, said that we shouldn’t call out the TPS based on “sensationalized” data because every institution is biased and “we deal with it.” These aren’t acknowledgements of the problem, they’re attempts to deflect valid criticism.

None of these people are going to take responsiblity and actually do something unless we force them to. This means calling our city councillors, demanding that the recommendations from the OHRC and OIPRD are accepted, supporting political candidates who aren’t going to sit on their hands, and showing up at police board meetings – the next Toronto Police Services Board meeting is January 18.

Tories’ Bill 66 would undermine clean-water protections that followed Walkerton tragedy, victims and advocates warn

allthecanadianpolitics:

“Do not drink this water,” warned the signs taped to fountains and bathroom sinks in a small Ontario town.

For thousands of people in the rural community 150 kilometres northwest of Toronto, the water they once used to brush their teeth, bathe their children and prepare their meals had become a hostile enemy.

Jugs of clean water had to be delivered to a depot. Hospitals were overrun with new patients. Children were pulled out of school. Businesses closed.

The tainted-water scandal in Walkerton in the spring of 2000 devastated the community, with thousands falling ill and seven people dying. It was one of the worst health epidemics in the province’s history.

Nearly 19 years later, environmental advocates say Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government is posing one of the greatest risks both the environment and public health have faced in decades.

Last week, the government tabled a new piece of legislation, Bill 66, that, if passed, would allow commercial development to bypass several long-standing laws meant to protect the natural environment and the health of residents, including the Clean Water Act that was put in place following the Walkerton tragedy.

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Tories’ Bill 66 would undermine clean-water protections that followed Walkerton tragedy, victims and advocates warn

allthecanadianpolitics:

Canada has an Anti-Black Racism problem.

We need to acknowledge this and do something about it. These stats are obscene:

While Black people made up 8.8% of Toronto’s population in 2016, from 2013 to 2017 they comprised: 

 – 61.5 per cent of police use of force cases that resulted in civilian death 

 – 70 per cent of police shootings that resulted in civilian death

Link to tweet:

https://twitter.com/TorontoStar/status/1072167828587982848

–

More here:

Blacks ‘grossly overrepresented,’ more likely to be hurt or killed by Toronto police, racial profiling report finds

Source: thestar.com

Ontario government’s proposed changes reduces employers’ obligation to pay overtime, critics say

allthecanadianpolitics:

A new bill aimed at eliminating “burdensome regulation” will reduce employers’ obligations to pay workers overtime, resulting in “crazy schedules and less pay in the pocket” for employees, critics say.

Bill 66, an omnibus bill that aims to “stimulate business investment, create good jobs, and make Ontario more competitive” loosens regulations around overtime, including scrapping a provision that requires employers to seek approval approval from the Ministry of Labour to exceed a 48-hour work week.

Most significantly, says Deena Ladd of the Toronto-based Workers Action Centre, the bill will remove regulations around the practice called overtime averaging, which has significant implications for how much overtime workers receive.

“Overtime averaging means less money in people’s pockets,” Ladd said. “The only purpose of it is that it helps employers avoid paying overtime, which is absolutely then eroding your basic floor of rights

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Ontario government’s proposed changes reduces employers’ obligation to pay overtime, critics say

Unionized LCBO workers holding informational pickets against privatization

allthecanadianpolitics:

Unionized LCBO workers will be holding information pickets at numerous locations across the city today as they continue to advocate for keeping the Crown corporation public.

The pickets are part of the ‘Keep it Public’ campaign organized by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents about 8,000 LCBO workers.

According to OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas, the campaign is being held to raise awareness about the importance of keeping the LCBO public amid speculation that Premier Doug Ford could privatize some government functions.

“The whole notion of this is to try to keep the LCBO public. We are still worried about Doug Ford either selling it or chopping it up and just giving it away in pieces. The expansion of beer and wine in grocery stores is a concern as well,” Thomas told CP24 on Friday. “I must say we have been going around in different parts of the province and we have been very well received. The people who use the LCBO like it.”

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Unionized LCBO workers holding informational pickets against privatization

Lack of progress on climate change is putting Canadians’ health at risk, doctors say

allthecanadianpolitics:

A new report from one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals says Canada’s failure to cut greenhouse-gas emissions isn’t just killing the planet; it’s killing Canadians.

The report on the health impacts of climate change, published Wednesday in The Lancet, concludes that successfully tackling climate change would be the single biggest thing governments can do to improve human health this century.

Chronic exposure to air pollution from greenhouse-gas-emitting activities is contributing to the deaths of an estimated 7,142 Canadians a year, and 2.1 million people worldwide, the report said.

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Lack of progress on climate change is putting Canadians’ health at risk, doctors say