A few weeks ago, I joined an online group organized by wives of rotational workers here in the province. It changed my perspective.
Not that I had any particular perspective to change on rotational work or rotational workers per se. My partner works rotationally. He recently returned to our St. John's house after isolation and testing. The last time we saw him was in August.
Since COVID-19 first sent many workers to their couches and kitchen tables at home, there’s been talk about what our post-pandemic workplaces could look like — or whether we’d need workplaces at all.
I have to admit, I’m not too concerned with whether we ditch the water cooler. I’d rather talk about how we’re continuing to short-change vital workers while Canada’s wealthiest CEOs are earning record incomes. Surely our dreams of post-pandemic work should address this widening gap?
Since the pandemic was declared in March, there has been an increased emphasis on front-line workers and the role they play in contributing to the safety and well-being of our communities.
Historically, many front-line workers have been underpaid for the critical work they perform.
The case for passing Bill C-15, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, was crystallized last week with Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole’s ignominious remarks sanitizing the residential schools.
O’Toole suggested the intent of the schools was “educational” and snidely advised using the record of Liberal governments as a means to “silence” debate. While the comments betray O’Toole’s whitewashing of Canadian history, he was right about one thing: discrimination, dispossession and denial of Indigenous rights is a proud bipartisan tradition in Canada.
On the first day of 2021, the Province of Ontario quietly used the holiday season to appoint former premier Mike Harris to the Order of Ontario. This is a feeble attempt to cast Harris as a benevolent Ontarian, whitewash his disastrous neoliberal policies, and sweep under the rug his role as Chair of the Board for Chartwell Retirement Residences—one of the most poorly managed for-profit long-term care corporations in Canada.
For many cultures, the dawn of the new year is marked not only with celebration, but also the opportunity for personal reflection and growth.
But as the year progresses, our initial drive for self-betterment can falter.
The good news is our tendency to give up can be circumvented. There are various ways we can strengthen our commitment to our new year’s goals.
For the first time in history, the majority of the world’s ten most valuable companies are from the same sector of the economy. All are household names: Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Facebook.
Established as disruptive enterprises in the early days of the internet, these tech titans have come to dominate big business. Today, Facebook is the largest social network worldwide with over 2.7 billion monthly active users. Amazon represents more than 50 percent of the e-commerce market in the United States. Google handles over 90 percent of all search queries globally. And Apple recently surpassed Saudi Aramco to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company with a market valuation of more than $2 trillion.
Earlier this month, a motion to put a moratorium on rent increases in Yukon until July 1, 2021 was voted down, unanimously rejected by both the Liberal government and the Official Opposition.
The proposed freeze, which was tabled by Kate White of the NDP and was touted as a form of protection for renters facing potential financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic, would have been in keeping with those in British Columbia and Ontario.
The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading through federal prisons. As of December 27, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has reported 952 positive cases and two deaths among federal prisoners. The outbreaks show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
Prisoners and advocates have called for action to combat the spread and keep prisoners and surrounding communities safe, including demands for decarceration and the placement of prisoners as a priority group for receiving COVID-19 vaccines. But prisoners are not only experiencing the pandemic as incarcerated people, they are also essential workers facing many of the same health and safety issues as vulnerable workers outside of prisons.
For many kids who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, Star Trek was a big part of our childhoods. The series is filled with strange new worlds, futurist politics, and advanced technology that is almost indistinguishable from magic. Yet even as a child I knew the show was a work of science fiction. Warp speed, transporters and phasers were all gadgets I could comprehend, but in my rational mind I knew they would never exist within my lifetime.
Unfortunately, recent announcements by Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan—a self-professed fan of science fiction—demonstrate that the government has yet to arrive at the same conclusion I did as a kid watching Star Trek.