Labour Issues in the News
May 1, 2013 | No Comments
It’s May Day, so what better time to go over some labour issues that are currently making news? What’s the value of Peter Mansbridge? The Tories have made the decision that Crown Corporations need a new strategy when dealing with upcoming collective bargaining (contracts will be ending in 2015). The government will be taking a [...]
Vigilantes and Mistaken Identity
April 19, 2013 | No Comments
There’s an interesting case going on right now in Toronto. A man is on trial for assault because, among other things, he threw spice at the alleged victim. As much as the spice angle makes this attention-grabbing, the case itself is quite interesting, as it brings together issues of self-defense, vigilantism and the fallibility of [...]
The Military-Quebecois Complex
February 22, 2013 | 3 Comments
There’s a bit of a kerfuffle with the Parti Quebecois’s attempt to reform Bill 101, Quebec’s language laws. One of the most odious aspects of Bill 101 relates to education. The bill dictates who may or may not attend English language schools. If you attended an English language school in Canada as a child, you [...]
Free Labour
February 15, 2013 | 2 Comments
The Canadian Press is reporting that a Canadian mining company rejected many candidate applicants, including one with 30 years of experience, in favour of hiring 201 people from China. Unions are crying foul, naturally, but other than contravening xenophobic labour law, HD Mining did absolutely nothing wrong. Other than discriminating against people based on the [...]
Benedict steps down
February 11, 2013 | 3 Comments
So Pope Benedict XVI has resigned. For eight years, he led one of the largest and most troubled churches. He had the opportunity to do great things. He could have worked to reform an institution steeped in rape and misogyny. Instead, Joseph Ratzinger tweeted.
Quebec and Common Law Marriage
January 30, 2013 | No Comments
I had intended to write about the Supreme Court decision that upheld Quebec’s policy of not recognizing common law marriage, but then I read this column in National Post by Toronto lawyer Gerard Kennedy*: The case demonstrates the limitations of courts as appropriate venues to shape social policy. This Quebec legislative scheme did not arise by [...]
Ganging Up on Teachers
January 25, 2013 | 2 Comments
There’s an interesting development in the ongoing labour dispute between the teachers unions and the Ontario government. Not only do we have unions fighting the government, but we now have school boards picking fights with its teachers: On Friday, the Upper Canada District School Board, which serves a wide area south of Ottawa, intends to [...]
Will Religious Freedom take a Hair Cut?
November 16, 2012 | 6 Comments
I have never thought that essential freedoms can conflict. Certainly; they can appear to conflict, but when we strip away all the trappings and bluster, we will generally find one of two things, either the apparent conflict is a superficial conflict associated with the application of our fundamental freedoms, or we’re not actually talking about fundamental [...]
Wearing Shame
October 24, 2012 | 19 Comments
In the previous post about the increase in the rate of self-harm among inmates, I wrote that this is “a great shame that we all wear”, without elaborating. In the comments, Peter pushed back: Thanks for dropping in to give us a heads-up about the shame and responsibility we all bear for this, Jonathan. I can [...]
This is disturbing
October 23, 2012 | 4 Comments
Apparently, we are seeing a stark increase in the number of inmates who are self-harming: The federal correctional investigator says the number of prisoners harming themselves in federal penitentiaries has almost tripled in the last five years. The annual report from Howard Sapers says aboriginal offenders and women are most likely to abuse themselves by [...]