Words Have Power

Alberta Conservative House Leader Fired Single Mother After She Complained of Sexual Harassment

UCP house leader Jason Nixon is currently opposing legislation on workplace harassment

pressprogress.ca

A company owned by United Conservative Party house leader Jason Nixon was fined by British Columbia’s Human Rights Tribunal for firing a woman after she complained she was being sexually harassed at work.

First reported by the Edmonton Journal, the revelation is surfacing at the same time as Jason Kenney’s Conservatives are fighting new provincial legislation aimed at protecting women from workplace harassment.

According to a 2008 BC Human Rights Tribunal ruling, the UCP house leader fired a single mother of three after she confided to him that a co-worker in a position of  authority was “touching and propositioning her.”

Man who allegedly hit Barbara Kentner with trailer hitch charged with murder - APTN News

Kentner was struck by the trailer hitch in January. She died in July.

aptnnews.ca

Brayden Bushby, the man who is accused of throwing a trailer hitch from a car and hitting Barbara Kentner, has been charged with second-degree murder.

The charges against Bushby, 18, were upgraded Friday in a Thunder Bay courthouse from aggravated assault.

“I don’t know how to feel right now, it’s mixed emotions,” said Barbara Kentner’s sister Melissa. “I’m happy, I’m sad and leary of whats going to happen. There’s always a chance he could walk.”

Former refugee Ahmed Hussen takes over Canada's immigration ministry

Hussen came to Canada from war-torn Somalia when he was 16, and now takes over immigration and refugee file for Justin Trudeau.

www.metronews.ca

In 2004, Ahmed Hussen was proclaimed a “Person to Watch” in the country’s biggest city for his community work in Regent Park. He told the Star at the time: “I don’t think I could handle the life of a politician … I don’t want to be front and centre.”

Flash forward to Tuesday, and there was Hussen, front and slightly to the right, swearing an oath to serve the Queen in front of a cluster of clicking cameras as he officially joined the reshuffled Liberal cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The rookie MP for York-South Weston has leapt from the backbench of the party to become Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, a position made all the more noteworthy for Hussen’s own story. He came to this country as a refugee from war-torn Somalia, settling on his own in a foreign land as a 16-year-old in 1993.

Just hours after formally assuming his new post, Hussen — who has been a lawyer, human rights advocate and community activist — said the trajectory of his life would affect how he approaches the job, just like it would for anyone else.

“I am extremely proud of our country’s history as a place of asylum, a place that opens its doors and hearts to new immigrants and refugees, and I’m especially proud today to be the minister in charge of that file,” Hussen told reporters outside the House of Commons on Tuesday.

“The story of Canada is the story of immigration, and I’m especially proud and humbled that the prime minister would task me with this important role.”

'Our waters are sick': First Nations youth raise money for 'peaceful' protests against pipelines

'It's not a matter of whether Standing Rock will happen in Canada, it's a question of when'

www.cbc.ca

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to green-light Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline has prompted First Nations youth to launch a “water protector fund” to raise money for cross-country protests to stop pipeline construction.

The Assembly of First Nations’ Youth Council said Thursday the money will be used to help supply camps they expect to build along the pipeline’s route, similar to what was organized in Standing Rock, North Dakota, where thousands of protesters and members of various Native American tribes assembled on the Sioux reservation near the construction site of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Their protest was successful: the U.S. government halted construction on Sunday.

“It’s not a matter of whether Standing Rock will happen in Canada, it’s a question of when,” Will Landon, the co-chair of the youth council, said in an interview with CBC News. “We’re trying to make sure we have pre-emptive measures in place to get resources for when those camps do occur,” he said.

Landon said that the fund, which will be called Nibi-ogichidaakwe, Ojibwe for “water protector,” would only provide money for peaceful protests, water walks and public information sessions.

“There are some people out there that feel so oppressed and hurt and the only way they can express themselves is by lashing out … but we want to [stop construction] through peaceful prayer. [Violence] is not a big concern. We want to make sure that we’re maintaining that peaceful message.”

Fraser Institute denounces Mary Poppins as 'communist propaganda'

The Fraser Institute Senior Fellow points to "the celebration of the dancing chimney sweeps" as a reason to be suspicious.

www.pressprogress.ca

Could a spoonful of sugar help seize the means of production?

According to a new blog post published by the Fraser Institute, the timeless story of Mary Poppins is about a lot more than “merry-go-round horses” and “fantastical rooftop dancing.”

Believe it or not, but the right-wing think tank suggests the story, beloved by children around the world, is actually “propaganda” that pushes an evil “political ideology” – communism.

Fraser Institute Senior Fellow Jonathan Fortier warns parents to be vigilant and not be distracted by Mary Poppins’ “magic” or “song and dance,” because something sinister is creeping beneath the surface:

“Some may remember the film for its magic, fantasy, song and dance. But I was struck by the film’s latent socialist ideas and its implied attack on bankers and investment.”

Human rights tribunal to hear complaint against Mississauga for racially-insensitive team names

In Ontario, he says, there are seven teams with racially insensitive names or logos, and five of them are in Mississauga.

globalnews.ca|Staff

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario is set to hear a case today of a man who alleges indigenous names and symbols used by some Mississauga, Ont., hockey teams demonstrate institutional racism.

Brad Gallant has brought his complaint against the City of Mississauga, and says it should not provide funding to teams with racially insensitive names and logos, like the Mississauga Chiefs or Lorne Park Ojibwa.

He also says the city should remove banners featuring the teams’ names and logos from municipal buildings.

In Ontario, he says, there are seven teams with racially insensitive names or logos, and five of them are in Mississauga.

In his complaint, Gallant says “the institutional racism at the City of Mississauga is responsible” for allowing the names to remain.

Gallant is a member of the Qualipu Mi’kmaq First Nation, and in his complaint he says his two daughters are both goalies.

“My kids can surf the Internet and see the culture mocked continuously on sports websites,” he wrote in his complaint to the tribunal. “My children’s peers can see that harassment, abuse and bullying is not tolerated against any group, so long as they arrived in North America after the 15th century.”

This isn’t the first time this issue has come up in Ontario.

Just last month, a judge quashed an activist’s bid to prevent the Cleveland Indians from using its team name and “Chief Wahoo” logo when playing in Toronto.

Indigenous leaders lose faith in Quebec justice system after Crown presses few charges in abuse scandal

The Crown has faced mounting criticism from Indigenous leaders for choosing not to charge officers in Val-d'Or

www.cbc.ca

A wide-ranging investigation into allegations of police abuse of Indigenous Quebecers produced only enough evidence to two charge officers, Crown prosecutors said Friday in Val-d'Or, Que.

In what they described as an “exceptional” measure, four Crown prosecutors publicly explained why so few criminal charges were laid, despite having been given 38 files by Montreal police, who conducted the investigation.

‘Betrayed, humiliated’ Val-d'Or women speak out after no charges against police accused of abuse

Of the 38 cases, one was kicked back to police for further investigation. In many of the remaining cases, there was insufficient evidence of criminal wrongdoing or victims were unable definitively identify a suspect, the prosecutors said.

The Crown did say the investigation produced enough evidence to pursue charges against two retired police officers in Schefferville, Que.

Both Alain Juneau, of the Sûreté du Québec, and Jean-Luc Volant, of Schefferville’s Indigenous police force, have been charged for sex-related crimes.

Juneau is accused in connection with events alleged to have occurred in the 1990s, Volant with events alleged to have occurred in the 1980s.

• Public funding [in Canada] currently accounts for less than 49 percent of university and college operating funds, down from 77 percent just 20 years ago? [x]
• In the past 25 years, average tuition fees in Canada have increased by more than 137 percent? [x]
• Today, students on average graduate with over $28,000 of education-related debt after an undergraduate degree and the amount owed to the Canada Student Loan Program is over $19 billion and is increasing by nearly $1 million per day. [x]
• In the 2016 federal budget, Trudeau failed to deliver on his explicit election commitment to invest $50 million per year in the Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP), a federal initiative that provides support to Indigenous and Inuit students pursuing post-secondary education. [x]
• By fall 2012, average tuition fees for international undergraduate students were $18,641—more than three times the already high fees paid by Canadian citizens. [x]

Migrant workers say they're Canada's "modern-day slaves"

Tens of thousands of migrant farm workers toil in fields across Canada without the possibility of applying for permanent residency, health care coverage or basic labour rights

nowtoronto.com

The Harvesting Freedom Caravan arrived outside the Ontario Food Terminal on the Queensway Sunday morning, September 25, to mark the 50th year of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program – and to call for permanent immigration status and better working conditions for temporary foreign agricultural workers. The caravan had headed out from Leamington September 4 on three-week trip to Ottawa to demand support for workers. Demonstrators carried large signs in the shapes of vegetables. On the yellow bell pepper were the words “You’re eating injustice.”

Tens of thousands of migrant farm workers from the Caribbean, Mexico, Guatemala, The Philippines and Thailand toil in fields across Canada without the possibility of applying for permanent residency, health care or basic labour rights. In Ontario, for example, there is no minimum wage for farm workers. Many are tied into contracts with single employers and can be sent home without cause. NOW spoke with two former migrant farm workers at the rally.

Student displays Confederate flag, noose hung on black teacher's door at Nova Scotia school

Noose hung on African-Nova Scotian teacher's door, Confederate flag displayed

www.cbc.ca

A school board on Nova Scotia’s South Shore is dealing with a series of racially charged incidents involving the display of a Confederate flag by a student and a noose hung on an African-Nova Scotian teacher’s door.

The incidents caused some school board officials to suggest calling the RCMP, but the superintendent argued there was no basis for criminal charges.

Using freedom of information laws, CBC News obtained emails from the South Shore Regional School Board concerning the incidents, which began in the fall of 2015.

Multiple sources, including the emails, confirmed the Confederate flag was displayed on a student’s vehicle in the school parking lot beginning before Christmas.

The flag incidents occurred repeatedly over a period of months. The noose was hung on the teacher’s door some time before late February.

Young and popular deputy leader of Ontario’s NDP open to federal leadership bid, he says

'If there was a grassroots movement then I would seriously consider it,' Jagmeet Singh told the National Post

news.nationalpost.com

The young and popular deputy leader of Ontario’s NDP says he’s open to running for the leadership of the federal party.

“If there was a grassroots movement then I would seriously consider it,” Jagmeet Singh told the National Post. “I haven’t committed to anything, nor have I closed the door to anything.”

The 37-year-old was elected to the provincial legislature in 2011 for his Brampton, Ont. riding, Bramalea-Gore-Malton, after narrowly losing a bid for a federal seat that year to Conservative Bal Gosal.

A former criminal defence lawyer, Singh became the first turbaned Sikh MPP in the province.

In 2013, he made Toronto Life’s “50 Most Influential” and “Toronto’s Best Dressed” lists. He was also named one of Queen’s Park Briefing’s 75 most powerful people in the province. He’s fluent in French, along with Punjabi and Indian Urdu.

Many in Ottawa are abuzz at the prospect. Singh has the “royal jelly,” said Robin MacLachlan, a vice president at Summa Strategies and a longtime NDP organizer. Singh has become something of a political celebrity in Toronto, who is sometimes “almost mobbed” at events, MacLachlan said.

Canada Keeps Locking Up Migrant Teenagers Who Haven't Committed Any Crimes

Dozens of young migrants were housed in Canadian jails, sometimes for more than a month at a time, while they faced deportation.

news.vice.com

Every year, hundreds of migrants and failed refugee claimants in Canada are left to languish in jails as opposed to the holding centers designed to house migrants — even though they haven’t committed any crime. And new figures obtained by VICE News show that dozens of teens have also been in the same situation.

According to documents obtained by VICE News under an access to information request, 28 migrant teens detained by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) were held in Canadian jails from 2010 to 2015. In addition, a 16-year-old detained for a week at the Toronto youth jail in 2013 appears to hold both Canadian and American citizenship.

One 17-year-old Korean male who was kept at the juvenile detention facility in Brampton, Ontario for 45 days in 2011 because CBSA determined he wouldn’t appear for his next immigration proceeding. That same year, a 15-year-old Eritrean male was held at another youth jail in northern Ontario for 42 days for the same reason.

Like adult migrants held in jail, these migrant teens, aged 14 to 17, rub shoulders with criminal offenders, sometimes for more than a month even though they haven’t been charged with any crime.

NDP MP's gender equity proposal debated in House

"We have to learn from other countries and we have to do what they do in order to push our parties, to nudge them forward to run more women candidates," he said.

www.ctvnews.ca

MPs kicked off a debate Tuesday on a proposal to encourage federal parties to run equal numbers of men and women.

If adopted, New Democrat MP Kennedy Stewart’s private member’s bill, C-237, would penalize political parties that don’t come close to gender parity on their candidate slates. The bill will get an hour of debate this week, with another hour to follow likely in the fall.

Women hold only 26 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons – the best-ever result, but still far from a number that reflects the percentage of Canadians who are female. According to the International Parliamentary Union, Canada ranks 61st in the world in terms of female MPs.

Stewart’s proposal would see the parties lose a percentage of their election refunds. Federal parties are eligible to get half of their campaign expenses refunded; his bill would see them lose a portion of that if they didn’t achieve 45-per-cent female slates.

Private member’s bills are less likely to become law because they don’t have the automatic support of a governing party the way government bills do. But Stewart says MPs from each party support his bill, including Liberal MP Pam Damoff, vice-Chair of the status of women committee, Conservative Senator Nancy Ruth and several of his New Democrat colleagues.