Search results for “site/human rights”

  • The Union of BC Municipalities Convention: a potpourri of policy

    For people who follow local policy issues the annual meeting of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) is always chock-a-block with material. Last week’s meeting in Vancouver, which saw hundreds of mayors and councilors along with most of the Cabinet, much of the BC opposition and dozens of groups selling…

  • Legal Aid Denied: A 20th Anniversary retrospective

    Legal Aid Denied: Women and the Cuts to Legal Services in BC was written in 2004 shortly after the election of a neo-conservative Liberal government in BC. The report outlined the nature of the changes this government quickly introduced to the provision of Legal Aid in BC including slashing funding…

  • The meaning of the third of November to the Negro

    Photo credit: Lorie Shall, Flickr Creative Commons I started writing this column on September 18 as my social media feed filled with posts about National Black Voter Day, marking 50 days until the U.S. presidential election on November 3. Launched this year by the National Urban League, Black Entertainment Television…

  • CETA’s Harmful Constraints on Ontario

    Trade deal with Europe threatens many costly ill-effects The governments of Canada and the European Union (EU) are in the final stages of negotiating a sweeping agreement that would impose unprecedented constraints on federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments’ capacity to put public interests ahead of corporate interests. The agreement…

  • Response to the Recession

    Rescue the economy, protect people, and plan for the future Many items in the Canadian federal government’s economic stimulus package depend on how individual decisions are made on the market, and how (or if) people will choose to spend the latest tax cuts or take advantage of the home renovation…

  • Urgent action required to realize promise of the Speech from the Throne

    “We must not let the legacy of the pandemic be one of rolling back the clock on women’s participation in the workforce, nor one of backtracking on the social and political gains women and allies have fought so hard to secure.” (Speech from the Throne, September 23, 2020) This call…

  • September 2004: Drug Trafficking In Afghanistan

    U.S. sets up and supports the world’s No.1 “narco” state The close link between U.S. military and covert intervention and drug trafficking continues in Afghanistan today. When it invaded and occupied the country in October 2001, Washington replaced the ruling Taliban with President Hamid Karzai and the Northern Alliance, a…

  • A win for BC workers: single-step union certification

    The BC government recently introduced legislation that allows a majority of workers in a workplace to organize a union a little more easily, making it harder for employers to intimidate and interfere in organizing drives. That’s good news both for working people and for the quality of our democracy. Single-step…

  • Beware Private Water Speculators

    Planned Ontario mega-quarry threatens crucial water supply Hedge fund manager and billionaire Seth Klarman reportedly has a cautious approach to risk-assessment when investing for the Baupost Group of hedge funds. The New York Times (May 13, 2007) quoted Boston-based Klarman: “At Baupost, we are big fans of fear, and in…

  • Fast Facts: It is time for a ban on cosmetic pesticides

     Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh has announced legislation on cosmetic pesticides that will finally bring Manitoba into step with the majority of other provinces in Canada. This is a significant positive step for the health of Manitoba families. Eliminating the use of toxic chemicals for lawn care…

  • Fast Facts: Lessons of the Canada Post lockout

    Recent events tell us a lot about some of the challenges facing working people in Canada today. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) began rotating strike action on June 2nd, after over seven months of negotiations with Canada Post Corporation (CPC) for a new contract covering some 48 000…

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    Access to information in BC is about to improve. Except there’s just this one little catch.

    There was a fair amount of good news about Freedom of Information rules and a little bit of bad news last month. But the bad news was serious and you really have to wonder why the government would bother with it when the rest of the news was good. First…