Sept 13, 2016
National Newswatch – Dean Bennett
It’s official: Alberta puts $15 hour minimum wage in regulations for 2018
By 2018, it’s the law. $15.00 an hour is the going rate. There are three stages to the Alberta minimum wage increase. This October, it’s $12.20, October 2017 it’s $1.40 more. And in October 2018 it’s $15.00. The government estimates that 305,000 Albertans are presently earning less than $15 / hour, and two thirds of that number are women. “Of those figures, it estimates one in four are students, one-third are in retail, one quarter in food services, 40 per cent are heads of households, and five per cent are working single parents.” http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2016/09/13/its-official-alberta-puts-15-hour-minimum-wage-in-regulations-for-2018-2/#.V9fNv_nyuUk Related article: Globe and Mail (Editorial – Sept. 12, 2016) When it’s too costly even to be poor http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/when-its-too-costly-even-to-be-poor/article31838978/ Related article: The Guardian – Bill Moyers How America became a 1% society https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/12/how-america-became-a-1-society
Toronto Star – Tonda Maccharles
‘Go slow,’ says leader of task force on legalization of pot in Canada
Anne McLellan, a health and justice minister of a former Liberal government and chair of the Task Force on Legalization of Marijuana, is on record from those days as opposed to the legalization of marijuana but she thinks it is critical “to go slow.” Police in many parts of the country are still enforcing the laws in place. The Canadian Medical Association is offering support for the go-slow position as well and McLellan wants to look closely at what has happened in other jurisdictions. The legislation is promised for spring of 2017. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/09/12/go-slow-says-leader-of-task-force-on-legalization-of-pot-in-canada.html
CBC News – Neil Macdonald
A very short list of Canadian values: Few notions can accurately be described as universally held Canadian values, despite what politicians tell us
The Conservative leadership contest has spawned a return to the controversies around the immigration and refugees process of admission. First Kelly Leitch, then Tony Clement are looking to insert undefined Canadian values into the vetting of new comers to Canada. Here, Macdonald offers a commentary on what we appear to agree are Canadian values and some reference sources to help the issue. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/neil-macdonald-kellie-leitch-values-survey-1.3759075 Related article: National Post – Jason Fekete, Ottawa Citizen ‘Values’ test proposal makes Kellie Leitch a favourite for Conservative party leadership: poll http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/values-test-proposal-makes-kellie-leitch-a-favourite-for-conservative-party-leadership-poll Related article: Huffington Post (Canada) – Althia Raj Tony Clement Wants To Monitor All Canadian Charities For Terror Activity http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/09/12/tony-clement-charity-monitoring-terrorism_n_11985658.html Related article: Hill Times – Tim Naumetz Ambrose backs away from criticism of Leitch over screening for Canadian values http://www.hilltimes.com/2016/09/12/ambrose-backs-away-from-criticism-of-leitch-over-screening-for-canadian-values/80283
Globe and Mail – Colin Freeze
Government use of surveillance devices must be restricted: privacy experts
They are called “IMSI catchers,” “cell-site simulators” or “Stingrays” but they are designed to monitor electronic devices without the knowledge of the owner by gathering both targeted data and much of the “neighbourhood” data, effectively with a scope that is limited only by the imagination of the agents using the surveillance. The authors of a new report say: “IMSI catchers pose a particularly insidious threat to real-world anonymity.” The authors are part of digital-research labs at the Universities of Toronto and Ottawa respectively. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/government-use-of-surveillance-devices-should-be-publicly-debated-privacy-experts/article31844872/ Expert report: Tamir Israel & Christopher Parsons Gone Opaque? An Analysis of Hypothetical IMSI Catcher Overuse in Canada https://citizenlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/20160818-Report-Gone_Opaque.pdf (141 page downloadable pdf)