Two big decisions came down the (metaphorical) pipe this week, with the National Energy Board’s Joint Review Panel approving the Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal in Vancouver yesterday, and the Supreme Court announcing the Bedford decision early today. Meanwhile, on the ground, activists organized on a variety of issues, with actions occuring on minimum wages and against indefinite migrant detention. Read on to find out how rabble.ca‘s bloggers covered these stories.
On Sunday, Federal Industry James Moore showed his blind (and willful?) ignorance to the facts of child poverty when he asked on a Vancouver talk show whether it is the government’s job to serve people their breakfast, earning him the dubious title of Conservative Scrooge for 2013. Leilani Farha offered Minister Moore a brief education on child poverty. The short version: yes, it is your responsibility!
As Farha noted on The Views Expressed, insufficient minimum wages across the country are the key factor in why so many full-time workers still live below the poverty line. John Bonnar looks at the situation in Ontario, where a campaign is currently underway to increase the minimum wage to $14. Collective actions took place across the province on December 14 to petition Premier Kathleen Wynne to break the current wage freeze. Meanwhile, on Behind the Numbers, Kaylie Tiessen discusses the economics of increasing minimum wage, arguing that it is actually good for business.
Also on December 14, a rally was held at a jail in Lindsay, Ontario to protest indefinite detention of migrant detainees. The rally was held in solidarity with the detainees inside the jail who have gone on hunger strike to protest their detention. No One Is Illegal covered the story, pointing out that 10,000 people are jailed by immigration enforcement each year. In jailing people indefinitely, Canada is contravening UN recommendations.
Discussions about Canada Post’s impending cuts continued this week, with postal workers delivering over 12,000 protest postcards to Transport Minister Lisa Raitt on Wednesday. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra very, ahem, eloquently argued that urban mail delivery cuts will be good for seniors. Because they need exercise! Mike Palecek says it straight on The Views Expressed: Canada Post is not on life support, it is being murdered.
In Vancouver, the National Energy Board announced yesterday that it has approved the Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal. Read Fred Wilson’s response that this is yet another example of how the public interest is determined by the market.
Last but not least, today Canada’s Supreme Court struck down our country’s prostitution laws in the historic Bedford decision, with Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin noting that “it is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for money.” Meghan Murphy wrote about the context for this decision on Feminist Current. See a summary of the coverage as the event unfolded over here and look for discussions of the decision’s implications from rabble’s writers over the next few days.
Image: John Bonnar
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