As has been mentioned previously in the media, Ottawa and Quebec had to deliberate for weeks before Quebec would accept $50 million to help with homelessness across the province. CTV mentions “negotiations had stalled because Quebec was resisting the conditions attached to the federal money” but not what they were. (CBC radio news suggests it was the requirement that Quebec pony up $50 million to match.)
Updates from December, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The Sanaaq centre, meant to be a library and community centre for western Ville‑Marie, has cost the city nearly $6 million in rent so far, although it won’t open till May next year. This is the arrangement Linda Gyulai has investigated previously, an unusual property arrangement called a usufruct.
Gyulai codas slyly that it was the Ville‑Marie borough council that approved the usufruct. As we know, the borough doesn’t have a fully elected council and the city mayor is ex cathedra also mayor of Ville‑Marie. Why this deal got approval remains to be told.
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Kate
The federal labour minister has forced postal workers back to work and opened a commission to look into why no settlement has been reached so far.
walkerp
Can the labour minister also force Canada Post to accept their offer?
H. John
As the article points out, the Minister did not end the strike, nor can he order anything. He asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to intervene, and to take that action.
As the article says:
“The board is an independent entity. It will reach its conclusions, I hope, quickly, and if it agrees with the observations that I’ve shared with you today, then [it] would order a resumption of activities of Canada Post that could happen as early as early next week.”
@walkerp could you clarify what you’re asking?
walkerp
Hi H. John, sorry I was being a bit vague and kneejerk. Here is my more specific question: can the Canada Industrial Relations Board also force Canada Post to accept the union’s demands?
H. John
@walkerp Sorry for being a bit thick.
The answer to “can the Canada Industrial Relations Board also force Canada Post to accept the union’s demands?” is that the Board does have the power to force both sides to accept a decision; but, not in this case. There is a difference between mediation where both sides must come to an agreement, and arbitration where the arbitrator makes the final call and binds both sides.
It’s difficult to be sure what will happen next because as Minister Steve MacKinnon explained at his Friday press conference, they are trying a creative solution called “Time Out” (his words). His 30 minute press conference is on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYZYB6I4p0M
The normal steps in a labour dispute are mediation, followed, if necessary, by binding arbitration, and then possibly back to work legislation (as governments have done to postal workers in 1987, 1997, 2011, and 2018).
This time the Minister is asking the Board to open the case, decide if they agree that negotiations are stalled, to order a return to work and extend the current contract to the end of May 2025. At the same time he has created a Commission with a very broad mandate:
“The commissioner will be tasked with examining the structural issues, preventing the resolution of the current labour dispute…. The inquiry will have a broad scope as it will examine the entire structure of Canada Post from both a customer and business model standpoint, considering the challenging business environment now facing Canada Post…”.
Once the report has been completed (by May) the two sides will then return to negotiating a new contract.
We’ll have a clearer understanding of the next steps once the Minister’s office publishes his request to the Board, and the exact mandate for the commission.
H. John
Hearings took place over the weekend, next step a decision from the Board:
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Kate
On the second anniversary of the death in traffic of seven‑year‑old Mariia Legenkovska, a march was held by the Pas une mort de plus group, pressing for safer streets around schools and the creation of a Protecteur en sécurité routière role to enforce the law.
Tim S.
Reading through the letter posted by Pas une mort de plus, it’s heartbreaking how many signatories are related/linked to a child hit by a vehicle.
I really like the idea of a CNESST-style agency to investigate collisions and, most importantly, mandated to impose solutions.
Kate
When I was about six, I saw one of my friends knocked down by a car on our street. When I was around 11, my sister got knocked down by a car on the Decarie service road, where we had the misfortune to be living at the time. I was doored once while cycling on Sherbrooke Street, banged myself up and tore the knees out of a new pair of pants. I feel fortunate not to have worse anecdotes about traffic. Many people do.
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Kate
There was a restaurant fire this week on Jarry, a few steps away from Caserne 37, but firefighters from other stations had to be called because the local guys didn’t have enough equipment handy. Firefighters’ protective clothing has to be cleaned properly because it catches a lot of toxins during a fire, and they haven’t been able to handle this in a timely way.
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Kate
Weekend notes from CityCrunch, La Presse, CultMTL.
Where not to drive on the weekend.
jeather 17:42 on 2024-12-13 Permalink
I remember one article suggesting that it was that they had to report on how they used it, and perhaps there were restrictions in that use they disliked.
Kate 19:37 on 2024-12-13 Permalink
“49 millions pour protéger le français, 1 million pour les sans-abri. Non?”
Ian 19:50 on 2024-12-13 Permalink
Since the CAQ’s only concern seems to be distracting the plebs with ethnonationalism while they line their pockets and those of their business associates, that tracks.