Does the response to the Payette scandal signal a change in the treatment of bullying and harassment victims?
The scandal at Rideau Hall appears to have brought #MeToo back to life in Ottawa. It’s toppled its biggest figure yet, the governor general. It also may have brought about a change in the way whistleblowers on abuse and harassment are treated. It’s about time. The workplace is littered with the broken careers and shattered lives […]
Pandemic exposing critical gaps in health workforce planning
Health workers in Canada experience endemic levels of burnout directly related to understaffing and work overload. Leaves of absence from work for mental health and stress related issues are 1.5 times higher among health workers than the rest of the population. Increasingly, health workers are significantly reducing their hours worked, just to cope, or leaving […]
Creating one million jobs requires co-operation
In its Speech from the Throne last September, the federal government committed to making “the largest investment in Canadian history in training for workers.” That investment will be crucial to achieving its ambitious goal of creating more than one million jobs to restore employment to pre-pandemic levels. Achieving that goal will require co-operation between governments, […]
Canada cannot afford a knowledge recession
As countries around the world continue to grapple with new dangers presented by COVID-19, Canada must also work to stave off a danger of a different kind: a knowledge recession. Last year ended with more hope than we have had in a while. With vaccines starting to roll out, it was possible to imagine a […]
Bring back core funding for women’s groups, say MPs as new report warns sector at risk of ‘financial devastation’
Canada should return core funding to women’s groups, say MPs after a report warns the sector faces “financial devastation,” with organizations struggling to stay in operation under the weight of the pandemic’s gendered impact. The report, released Tuesday, said a survey of women-serving agencies and equity-seeking organizations shows more than half of the sector has […]
Polarization in Canada, real or not?
OAKVILLE, ONT.—When it comes to politics, we Canadians are becoming increasingly polarized. Or are we? After all, maybe all the gloomy warnings we’re hearing these days about how our society is becoming divided along stark ideological lines is nothing but media hype or exaggeration. So, always eager to get to the bottom of things, I […]
Aerospace sector looks to government for help as pandemic grounds once high-flying industry
The Canadian aerospace sector and parliamentarians are calling on the government to help the once-mighty industry ahead of the Nov. 30 fiscal update, as the pandemic has slashed revenues, jeopardized jobs, and has cast a dark shadow on the medium- and long-term prospects for a return to some kind of normalcy. But even before the […]
After Bastarache report, dismantling the RCMP sounds like a public service
OTTAWA—Last week, the Final Report on the Implementation of the Merlo Davidson Settlement Agreement was released by former Supreme Court justice Michel Bastarache, and its contents were appalling. “One of the key findings of this report is that the culture of the RCMP is toxic and tolerates misogynistic and homophobic attitudes amongst its leaders and […]
Mexico calls on Canada to maintain new measures protecting migrant workers
The continuation and evolution of measures brought in to improve safety for Mexican workers in Canada after three deaths and multiple COVID-19 outbreaks is the top priority for this week’s talks between the two countries, says a Mexican diplomat in Canada. Held every year in person, this year’s week-long virtual binational Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program […]
Connecting work to education should be priority beyond pandemic
COVID-19 has disrupted labour markets unlike anything since the Great Depression. Young people have been especially hard hit by the economic slowdown, with school closures and a transition to remote learning. Youth were also among the hardest hit when employers reduced operations. One of the biggest disruptions has been a transition to remote work. Remote […]
