The opposition’s unproductive filibuster of the provincial 2013 budget increase in the PST has left many aspects of the budget undebated. One is its failure to provide for improvement in the Employment & Income Assistance Program (EIA – aka “welfare”) in the face of a well-documented pressing need. In contrast, the budget eliminates the Education Property Tax (EPT) for all seniors in 2015 – a measure which has very little basis and two and a half times the price tag.
by Josh Brandon
The ability of municipalities to regulate, permit or prohibit certain types of development activities within their boundaries is one of the most powerful tools of local government. Through proper planning, local governments can help encourage development that fosters healthy diverse and socially sustainable communities. Bill 7, THE PLANNING AMENDMENT AND CITY OF WINNIPEG CHARTER AMENDMENT ACT (AFFORDABLE HOUSING), will provide local governments, and particularly the City of Winnipeg, a further tool to ensure new residential developments meet the need of all citizens through inclusionary zoning.
By Jean-Guy Bourgeois and Keven Rebeck
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In Manitoba, messages about the importance of workplace health and safety are hard to miss. The SAFE Work campaigns run year-round by the Workers Compensation Board are trying to foster a culture of workplace health and safety in which it becomes socially unacceptable to put workers in harm’s way.
After several years of these campaigns, you could be forgiven for expecting that legislation to strengthen workplace health and safety protections would be noncontroversial. With 39 Manitoba workers killed on the job last year, and another 31,018 injured, you would expect broad political pressure for government to take stronger action to protect workers.
By Tyler Craig
Winnipeg is famous for its long and cold winters. It is a reasonable expectation for those who live in rental housing that part of their rent should cover heating expenses and their landlords would provide sufficient heat. In a misguided effort to save on costs, there are some landlords in Winnipeg who refuse to provide adequate heat. Last year, there were 300 heat related complaints to the City of Winnipeg. In January, CBC News reported about a caretaker couple who were terminated because they refused to comply with the landlord’s demand that the boiler in their apartment building be shut off. These are two examples of why the heating bylaw must have tougher enforcement.
By Susan Prentice
On September 19, Manitoba launched an on-line consultation on the province’s next multi-year plan for childcare. Since 2002, Manitoba has had two five-year plans, each of which made incremental changes. A major redesign of childcare is long overdue. In 1890, the province began building public education, moving past one-room schoolhouses to create a public school system. The same transformation needs to happen today for childcare.
They were kids when they started. Teenagers locked up in the youth detention centre, watching movies about American street gangs. Soon they realized that if they stood up for each other, and worked together, it was easier to survive. They said, “Hey, maybe we should form a gang, just like in the movies.” Soon they had a name and insignias. “What colour should our rags be?” That’s obvious, one said: “Indians wear red!”
Once they were a gang, they weren’t pushed around as much. They resisted. They had power. It felt good. Little else had felt good in their lives.
By Lynne Fernandez, Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues
There have been some rumblings from south of the boarder that people under 40 may not recognize and that may be only vaguely familiar with others: the sound of workers on the rise, of a groundswell of workers who have had enough of the new economic reality they are mired in.
Earlier this month fast-food workers in 60 US cities shut down McDonald’s and Burger King and also demonstrated at other stores such as Macy’s Inc., Sears and Dollar Tree. These workers, fed up with not being able to support their families or afford healthcare coverage, have learnt a lesson that workers knew only too well during the last century and before: if you want a fair deal at your workplace, you have to form a critical mass and speak with one powerful voice. The service sector in both the US and Canada is bereft of union coverage and these workers are now connecting the dots between lack of unionization and the low-wage, precarious job they have.
By Josh Brandon
Last week, Statistics Canada released data from the third and final instalment of its 2011 National Household Survey (NHS). The new data dealt with housing and income of Canadians. It is still unclear how compatible this new data is with the Census data this survey was intended to replace. However, what is apparent is that for many families finding an affordable, suitable home in good repair remains a far off goal.
September 13, 2013
Across North America, governments and business lobby groups are working hand-in-hand to restrict the rights of workers to organize unions and bargain collectively. Right to work legislation is taking hold even in previously labour-friendly states such as Michigan. That trend threatens to seep into Canada with a hostile federal government and several anti-union provincial parties or governments eager to follow the American experience.
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