Search results for: “site/human rights”

  • Canada’s Shredded Social Saftey Net

    Our employment insurance system far below OECD average Between October 2008 and May 2009, 363,000 Canadians were thrown out of work – and the OECD projects unemployment in this country to rise to 9.8% in 2010. In this global recession, the weakness of Canada’s Employment Insurance (EI) system has become…

  • March 2006: Clearing the Air on a Major Trade Dispute

    Nine seldom heard facts about our softwood lumber exports The prolonged dispute over the tariffs illicitly imposed on Canada’s softwood lumber exports by the United States has been distorted by a failure to examine the facts. Here are nine facts that are rarely, if ever, mentioned by politicians or the…

  • Beware of sales pitch for unnecessary CT scans

    I sometimes wonder if former prime minister Brian Mulroney still feels any pain. Back in 2005, Mulroney received full-blown chest surgery after having undergone a “preventive” health screen. His surgery and subsequent re-hospitalization for complications came after what the media called a “routine CT lung scan.” What Mulroney probably wasn’t…

  • What Happens When the Bed Bugs Do Bite?

    The Social Impacts of a Bed Bug Infestation on Winnipeg’s Inner-City Residents Download 1.11 MB31 pages Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are making an international comeback, to the point where a global “bed bug pandemic” is being predicted.The City of Winnipeg has not been exempted from this scourge, with one local…

  • Health Canada’s drug safety procedures lacking, says study

    CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL REPORT OTTAWA—Health Canada’s drug safety procedures leave a lot to be desired, says a new study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Drug Safety and Health Canada: Going, Going… Gone? by Dr. Joel Lexchin says Health Canada’s priorities are skewed in…

  • How green are BC’s climate policies?

    One of the most striking contradictions in BC’s climate action plan is the oil and gas industry. Greg Amos in The Hook, quotes our “green” premier out on the campaign trail in the northeast: “Let me tell you what’s happened in the energy industry in British Columbia in the last…

  • A whole lotta waste goin’ on

    Last week, research I completed for the CCPA was released suggesting that in the last five years alone the forest industry in this province has managed to leave 17.5 million cubic metres of usable wood behind at logging operations. Loaded onto logging trucks, you could fill a cross-Canada convoy just…

  • Day of Mourning for killed and injured workers

    It’s worth remembering that April 28th is the day of mourning for workers who were injured or who have lost their lives as a result of work-related incidents or occupational diseases. Last year 143 BC workers lost their lives.  That’s up from 121 people in 2009 at the height of…

  • The time is now for a legislated poverty reduction plan

    200 community organizations & leaders to BC political parties CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL REPORT On February 5, the CCPA’s BC Office joined with 200 other organizations from across the province as signatories to an open letter calling for a legislated poverty reduction plan. Together these groups launched a…

  • Canadian Military Spending 2010-11

    Download 326.96 KB 11 pages This study examines Canada’s military spending and finds it is higher now than at any time since the end of the Second World War, thanks to twelve years of budget increases. The study argues that Canada could make a much greater contribution to global security…

  • Self-employed workers deserve social benefits

    In Canada, about 2.5 million people (approximately 15 per cent of the labour force) are classified as “self-employed.” Nova Scotia has about 31,000 (12 per cent.) Trend lines show the proportion of such workers has risen steadily in the past three decades, with some spikes in bad economic times. It’s…

  • Women pay the price of legal aid cuts

    “After being denied Legal Aid in 2002, I represented myself twice in court. My ex-partner’s lawyer was brutal towards me. I had practiced going to court and representing myself, but this did not matter because I cannot argue with a lawyer. I am not a lawyer. I am just a…