Wibbly-Wobbly Ramblings

N.B. premier wrong to blame immigrants for housing crisis, advocates say | CBC News

Housing and immigration advocates are angry New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is blaming the housing crisis on immigrants and say his comme

CBC

Housing and immigration advocates are angry New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is blaming the housing crisis on immigrants and say his comments are dangerous. "OK, what is the root cause of our housing crisis? You know, record — record immigration," Higgs said to reporters Tuesday evening while commenting on the federal budget. "So what is this sustainable immigration level? How do we get to the point where we say, OK, this is what we can manage in our province, because everyone is feeling it," he went on to say. Aditya Rao is a board member of the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre, which provides services to migrant workers in New Brunswick facing poor working and housing conditions. "This is a really dangerous road to go down," Rao said of HIggs's analysis. Racists and xenophobes would be waiting for words like this, he said.

Alberta used to have the highest minimum wage in the country. Now it's the second lowest | CBC News

When Alberta hiked the province's minimum wage to $15 an hour in the fall of 2018, it was the highest rate in the country. But nearly six ye

CBC

When Alberta hiked the province's minimum wage to $15 an hour in the fall of 2018, it was the highest rate in the country. But nearly six years and a pandemic later, the minimum wage hasn't budged — even as Albertans face the highest inflation rate in Canada. Most provinces and territories are increasing their minimum wage this year, and those that aren't just raised theirs in 2023. That means one of Canada's wealthiest provinces is falling behind. Alberta now has the second-lowest minimum wage in the country. Saskatchewan remains at the bottom, at $14 an hour. Meaghon Reid, executive director of poverty reduction organization Vibrant Communities Calgary, said it's a far cry from Calgary's living wage, which sits at $23.70 and is calculated by the Alberta Living Wage Network.

Manitoba's minimum wage is now $15.30, but more support is needed, advocates say | CBC News

The increase makes Manitoba's lowest wage the third-highest among the provinces  — behind B.C. and Ontario, which pay minimum wage workers $

CBC

The first day of the month marked a boost in Manitoba's minimum wage, which reached $15.30 Sunday.  The increase makes Manitoba's lowest wage the third-highest among the provinces  — behind B.C. and Ontario, which pay minimum wage workers $16.75 and $16.55 an hour, respectively, according to the Retail Council of Canada. But despite the increase, some feel it's still not a livable wage in the province.  "We're glad to see that it has increased, we would have liked to have seen it increase so that it is a living wage because many families are struggling," said Louise Simbandumwe, a co-director of SEED Winnipeg, a non-profit organization established to address poverty.  The wage previously rose from $13.50 to $14.15 on April 1 to fight inflation, the province announced last fall. 

Canada’s Top CEOs Made Historic Earnings During the Pandemic

The 100 highest-paid CEOs had a big payday, earning $95,000 more than they made in 2019, making a whopping 191 times more than what the average worker makes.

www.complex.com

While most Canadians were hit hard by the pandemic over the last couple of years thanks to layoffs, reduced hours and dangerous working conditions, a new report has found that the nation’s top 100 CEOs had quite the payday. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) found that company leaders had their second-best year for earnings in the country’s history, raking in an average of $10.9 million dollars in 2020.

The CCPA released a report on Jan. 4 that found despite COVID-19, the 100 highest-paid CEOs earned $95,000 more than they made in 2019. To put that number into context, they made a whopping 191 times more than what the average worker makes. For workers who were paid $17 an hour or less, half of them either lost their jobs or working hours during the first few months of the pandemic, which in turn saw average wages go up.

“Before lunch hour on the first working day of 2022, January 4, Canada’s highest-paid CEOs will have already racked up the same amount of pay that will take the average worker the entire year to accrue,” the report says.