Breakthrough in B.C. port dispute as new tentative deal is reached

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and the BC Maritime Employers Association say the new tentative deal was reached with the assistance of the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Details of the deal haven't been released, but both sides say in a joint statement issued Sunday night that they are recommending their members to ratify it.

The dispute, which saw workers walk off the job at more than 30 port terminals and other sites for 13 days at the beginning of July, entered a new phase late Friday night when members of the union rejected a previous potential agreement with employers.

Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan announced Saturday he was directing the industrial relations board to determine if a negotiated end to the dispute was still possible, and if not, to impose an agreement or final binding arbitration.

Pressure had been mounting for federal intervention if a deal failed to eventuate.

#BritishColumbia #strike

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇦🇺⚽️Canada eliminated from Women's World Cup after loss to Australia

Canada, the 2020 Olympic champion, leaves the FIFA Women's World Cup early after loosing 4-0 to Australia.

#Australia

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Canadian families to pay almost $17,000 this year on public healthcare insurance

🔹A new study by the Fraser Institute has found that the average Canadian family of four will pay almost $17,000 this year for public healthcare insurance.

The study, released on Thursday, calculated the cost of healthcare for families based on their income and tax rates.

🔹The study found that a family of two parents and two children with an average income of $169,296 will pay $16,950 for public health care insurance in 2023.

A couple without children will pay $16,162, while a single person will pay $5,622. A single parent with one child will pay $6,294.

🔹The study also compared the cost of healthcare with other expenses and income over time. It found that since 1997, the cost of public health care insurance for the average Canadian family has increased by 223%, much faster than the cost of clothing (53%), food (100%), shelter (125%), and income (131%).

#healthcare

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇳🇪Canada 'strongly condemns' Niger military coup as others threaten sanctions, cut aid

Canada is speaking out against a coup d'état in Niger, but hasn't joined other nations in threatening to sanction the West African country.

Last Wednesday, a faction of Niger's military claimed to have overthrown the country's president Mohamed Bazoum after detaining him in his palace. In a tweet Friday evening, Global Affairs Canada wrote that Ottawa "strongly condemns the attempted coup" in Niger and calls for Bazoum's release.

The Economic Community of West African States, a group of 15 countries known as ECOWAS, has threatened to sanction leaders of the military junta and send in troops if Bazoum isn't restored to power within a week.

Britain and the European Union have pulled aid from the country, while Washington has mulled following suit. The Liberal government in Ottawa has given no indication it is thinking of cutting back on development and humanitarian dollars for Niger, which has amounted to roughly $60 million per year.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Trudeau appears at news conference with bandage after bumping head

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared at a news conference Monday with a bandage in the middle of his forehead.

A spokesperson for Trudeau says he bumped his head while he was playing with his kids over the weekend.

Let's take a moment to appreciate the media for covering this breaking news.

#Trudeau

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Yukon's wildfire season 'escalated dramatically' over last week, with 80 new starts

The Yukon's wildfire season has taken a turn for the worse in recent days, according to emergency officials, with 80 new fires sparked in the last week.

And with more lightning expected in the coming days, officials are bracing for still more — while preparing for the possibility that there's no available firefighting help from outside the territory.

More than half of those new fires — 42 — are in the Dawson fire district, and 20 are in the Old Crow district.

No Yukon communities are currently at risk, officials said.

#Yukon #wildfires

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇺🇸 Trudeau defends military spending after criticism from Alaska Sen. Sullivan

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his country's military spending after Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan criticized the nation for not "pulling its weight."

🔹NATO allies are expected to direct 2% of their GDP to defense, and Canada spent 1.29% in 2022. Sullivan has been a vocal critic of Canada's military budget and called the country out during a Wednesday confirmation hearing for President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which Canada and the U.S. share.

Sullivan referred to a Wall Street Journal editorial that called Canada's defense commitment "feeble" and suggested Trudeau should have sat at a "junior table" at the NATO summit this month.

"Americans get frustrated when our allies don't pull their weight," Sullivan said. "With regard to NATO, Canada's not even close to pulling its weight."

🔹Trudeau defended Canada's military spending record and outlined its engagement with NORAD and NATO in response to reporters' questions Thursday about Sullivan's comments.

"We've invested massively in NORAD modernization just earlier this year. We're continuing to step up in our NATO commitments," Trudeau said.

Though Canada has the sixth-largest defense budget in NATO, the parliamentary budget office estimated the country would have to spend between $13 billion and $18 billion in Canadian dollars per year for five years to reach the target.

#Trudeau #US #NATO

🍁 Maple Chronicles

PM Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau are separating

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau are separating after 18 years of marriage.

In a brief statement issued by the prime minister, he said that after "many meaningful and difficult conversations" the pair have "made the decision to separate."

#Trudeau

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Trudeau issued a statement on IG

#Trudeau

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Meta to remove Canadian news in coming weeks

Meta is following through with its promise to end all availability of news on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, following the Trudeau government’s passing of the Online News Act.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🦠Canadian court invalidates Covid lockdowns due to illegal implementation

An Albertan court ruled on Tuesday that lockdown orders enacted in response to Covid were invalid.

The ruling in Ingram v. Alberta will likely force prosecutors to withdraw charges against individuals, churches, and other organizations in several other standing cases.

▪️Justice Barbara Romaine ruled in favor of the applicants because the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) delegated her decisions to the cabinet, which she was not authorized to do under Canadian law. The CMOH herself testified at trial that she provided only advice and recommendations to politicians but did not make the decisions herself.

Justice Romaine did conclude that although they violated the rights in section 2 of the Canadian Charter, lockdowns would not have violated the Charter if they had been implemented legally.

#Alberta

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Poilievre denounces equity and environmental ideologies

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre told a voter last week that woke DEI and ESG ideologies are garbage.

Poilievre was asked his thoughts on the two ideologies by a voter at a meet and greet, to which he responded, “it’s all garbage.”

▪️Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or DEI include race-based and gender-based hiring practices and quotas, as well as the promotion of Critical Race Theory and gender ideology.

▪️Environmental, social and governance or ESG focus on company's social and environmental impact.

#Poilievre

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🏘 New housing minister says immigration can help address affordability, supply

Sean Fraser, Canada’s new housing and infrastructure minister, says closing the door to newcomers is not the solution to the country’s housing woes, and has instead endorsed building more homes to accommodate higher immigration flows.

Fraser previously served as immigration minister and was appointed housing minister as part of a Liberal government cabinet shuffle.

He comes into the role at a time when strong population growth through immigration is adding pressure to housing demand at a time when the country is struggling with an affordability crisis.

“The answer is, at least in part, to continue to build more stock,” Fraser told reporters after being sworn in. “But I would urge caution to anyone who believes the answer to our housing challenges is to close the door on newcomers.”

Instead, the minister said immigration would be part of the solution to the housing challenge.

“When I talked to developers, in my capacity as a minister of immigration before today, one of the chief obstacles to completing the projects that they want to get done is having access to the labour force to build the houses that they need,” he said.

#housing

🍁 Maple Chronicles

👑 Statue of the late Queen Elizabeth II is set to be erected in front of the Ontario Legislative Building

🔹A statue of the late Queen Elizabeth II is set to be erected in front of the Ontario Legislative Building in Queen’s Park, Toronto.

The Bronze statue will be sculpted by an Ontario artist and is expected to cost taxpayers $1.5 million. The project was initially proposed by the Royal Canadian Heritage Trust and began under former Ontario Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne almost a decade ago.

Initially, the plan was to have the statue unveiled in 2017 in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary however work on the site has only begun in the last couple of weeks.

🔹New Democrat MPP Sol Mamkwa is taking a stance against the decision however citing that the money could be better spent on uncovering the unmarked graves of Indigenous children at residential school sites or at least paying tribute to the tragedy. “Where is the monument to that?” asked Mamakwa.

Just two opposing sides discussing two ways to waste tax money.

#Ontario

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🚙 Freeland boasts of not owning vehicle while failing to mention taxpayer-funded chauffeur service

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland boasted about not owning a car while responding to questions about the impact of rising fuel costs on Canadians but neglected to mention that she has a chauffeur service provided by the taxpayer.

Freeland made the comments while speaking with reporters in Charlottetown, P.E.I. on Friday while being pressed about the high cost of fuel prices due largely in part to the Trudeau government’s green policies.

“I am right now an MP for downtown Toronto, and a fact that still shocks my dad is that I don’t actually own a car,” said Freeland. “I’m like 300 metres from the nearest subway; I walk, I take the subway; my kids walk and ride their bikes and take the subway – it’s actually healthier for our family.”

Freeland is ennoscriptd to a taxpayer-funded car and driver service as are all cabinet ministers and public records show that she uses the service quite frequently, even while in downtown Toronto.

#Freeland #Trudeau

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Pierre Poilievre posted this video on X, with the caption:

"Freeland’s message to Prince Edward Islanders worried about 61c/litre carbon tax: move to Toronto and get a bike!!!"

#Poilievre #Freeland

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Alberta announces six-month pause on renewable energy projects, citing rural concerns

Alberta's government is pausing all approvals of large renewable energy projects in response to what it says are rural and environmental concerns.

In a statement Thursday, the government said the Alberta Utilities Commission is to institute a six-month moratorium on approving all wind and solar power projects greater than one megawatt over issues of development on agricultural land, effect on scenery, reclamation security and system reliability.

Over the next six months, the commission is to undertake an inquiry that will include reviewing the use of agricultural and public land for wind and solar projects, land reclamation, and the role of municipal governments in land selection for project development and review.

#Alberta

🍁 Maple Chronicles

B.C. company fined $755K after discharging ammonia into Fraser River

A cold storage company from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been fined $755,000 after pleading guilty to discharging contaminated ammonia into the Fraser River.

Authorities were called to Arctic Pearl Ice and Cold Storage Ltd.'s Richmond warehouse in November 2017 after a garbage collector became sick from ammonia fumes, Environment and Climate Change Canada said in a news release.

The incident led authorities to a high-pressure storage tank full of contaminated ammonia, which was overflowing into a storm drain that leads into the river.

Arctic Pearl Ice and Cold Storage Ltd. also pleaded guilty to two counts under the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act. Officials said the tank containing the ammonia wasn't built to the required specifications for moving dangerous materials, and that the employee who drove the tank across Richmond in a truck lacked the necessary training certificate to do so.

No one involved in the incident had any of the "required training in the handling, transportation and storage of ammonia," according to the release.

#BritishColumbia

🍁 Maple Chronicles

How do Canadians view the military? Most see it as ‘old and antiquated,’ poll finds

🔹More than half of Canadians (56 per cent) see the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) as “old and antiquated,” according to a recent Ipsos poll.

Ipsos CEO Darrell Bricker says most respondents to its poll, conducted in June, said there is a way to shift this perspective: put more money into the armed forces.

75% of those polled by Ipsos said Canada should increase defence spending to ensure Canada can protect its own territory and sovereignty.

🔹Ipsos also found that a larger number of young people, 36 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds, say Canada should leave defence up to the United States, compared with 12 per cent of those 55 and older.

The majority of that younger cohort (66 per cent) would rather see money being spent on other domestic issues, whereas 41 per cent of those 55 and older felt that way.

🍁 Maple Chronicles