Flu shots delayed; Sunday shopping ban lifted in Nova Scotia; Criticism over foreign worker program growing in B.C.; Police chief wants pay suspended for officers accused of serious wrongdoings; Public-sector theft, fraud totals $140M; Population will have to quintuple to support retiree population: study; Literacy, youth employment targeted in federal cuts; One of Canada’s largest EAP providers grows larger
Flu shots delayed
Ottawa — A delay in the production of the flu vaccine means flu shots right across Canada won’t be ready until November. Flu season generally runs between September and April, but the peak illness period doesn’t typically begin until late December. The vaccine is usually available in Canada in October, but production of the vaccine this year has been delayed across the globe.
Sunday shopping ban lifted in Nova Scotia
Halifax — Nova Scotians can get groceries on Sunday again, after a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge said regulations targeting large food stores were discriminatory. In response, Premier Rodney MacDonald said he wouldn’t appeal the decision, clearing the way for retail stores of all types to open on Sundays year round. In Prince Edward Island, where Sunday shopping is allowed only in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Premier Pat Binns said he’s also considering changing the legislation.
Criticism over foreign worker program growing in B.C.
Vancouver — The Foreign Worker Program is being abused by Canadian employers and should be reviewed, said three British Columbia MPs, Libby Davies, Bill Siksay and Peter Julian. Pointing to allegations that 40 skilled trades people brought in the country to work on Vancouver’s new rapid transit line were paid less than standard wages, the MPs said foreign workers are being exploited for cheap labour. The program has drawn criticism in B.C. especially, with unionized ironworkers walking off the job last month to protest plans by construction company Bilfinger Berger to bring in 345 foreign ironworkers for its Golden Ears Bridge project. Adding their voice to the criticism is the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, which said foreign workers have been used to replace union workers at a Kelowna nursing home.
Police chief wants pay suspended for officers accused of serious wrongdoings
Toronto — Toronto police chief Bill Blair wants more power to suspend the pay of officers accused of serious wrongdoing. Ontario’s Police Services Act protects all officers accused of an offence from losing pay during their suspension unless they have been convicted in court. Eight Toronto officers, suspended over charges such as theft, extortion, perjury and assault, have been collecting annual salaries of $63,000 for several years as their cases continue to be delayed.
Public-sector theft, fraud totals $140M
Ottawa — Fraud, theft and other losses — from forged cheques, exaggerated overtime claims and stolen taxi vouchers — accounted for a loss of nearly $140 million from the federal public service in the fiscal year 2005-2006, according to the Public Accounts of Canada.
Population will have to quintuple to support retiree population: study
Toronto — Increasing immigration alone will not shore up the workforce needed to support a growing population of retirees, according study by the C.D. Howe Institute. If Canada wants to keep its share of retirees at 20 per cent of the working age population, the country would have to take in 2.6 million immigrants a year by 2020 and seven million a year by 2050, when Canada’s total population would be 165.4 million, states the study No Elixir of Youth: Immigration Cannot Keep Canada Young. Canada’s population currently sits at about 32.6 million. Raising the retirement age to 70 over the next 20 years would keep the retiree population at 20 per cent until about 2025, at which point it will rise to 35 per cent by 2050.
Literacy, youth employment targeted in federal cuts
Ottawa — As part of its $1 billion spending cuts, the federal government has targeted a number of Human Resources and Social Development Canada programs, including $55.4 million or half of the funding for Youth Employment Strategy, a program that placed 50,000 youths in subsidized jobs this past summer, and $17.7 million for adult literacy programs. Also eliminated was $3 million in funding for Canadian Policy Research Networks, an Ottawa-based research group,. As result of the cuts, the Canadian Labour Business Centre has closed its doors.
One of Canada’s largest EAP providers grows larger
Toronto —WarrenShepell, a Toronto-based employee assistance program provider, has acquired Markham, Ont.,-based FGIworld. The new entity, called Shepell-fgi, has a combined client base of more than 4,500 organizations and serves seven million employees and family members across Canada and around the world.
Ottawa — A delay in the production of the flu vaccine means flu shots right across Canada won’t be ready until November. Flu season generally runs between September and April, but the peak illness period doesn’t typically begin until late December. The vaccine is usually available in Canada in October, but production of the vaccine this year has been delayed across the globe.
Sunday shopping ban lifted in Nova Scotia
Halifax — Nova Scotians can get groceries on Sunday again, after a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge said regulations targeting large food stores were discriminatory. In response, Premier Rodney MacDonald said he wouldn’t appeal the decision, clearing the way for retail stores of all types to open on Sundays year round. In Prince Edward Island, where Sunday shopping is allowed only in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Premier Pat Binns said he’s also considering changing the legislation.
Criticism over foreign worker program growing in B.C.
Vancouver — The Foreign Worker Program is being abused by Canadian employers and should be reviewed, said three British Columbia MPs, Libby Davies, Bill Siksay and Peter Julian. Pointing to allegations that 40 skilled trades people brought in the country to work on Vancouver’s new rapid transit line were paid less than standard wages, the MPs said foreign workers are being exploited for cheap labour. The program has drawn criticism in B.C. especially, with unionized ironworkers walking off the job last month to protest plans by construction company Bilfinger Berger to bring in 345 foreign ironworkers for its Golden Ears Bridge project. Adding their voice to the criticism is the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, which said foreign workers have been used to replace union workers at a Kelowna nursing home.
Police chief wants pay suspended for officers accused of serious wrongdoings
Toronto — Toronto police chief Bill Blair wants more power to suspend the pay of officers accused of serious wrongdoing. Ontario’s Police Services Act protects all officers accused of an offence from losing pay during their suspension unless they have been convicted in court. Eight Toronto officers, suspended over charges such as theft, extortion, perjury and assault, have been collecting annual salaries of $63,000 for several years as their cases continue to be delayed.
Public-sector theft, fraud totals $140M
Ottawa — Fraud, theft and other losses — from forged cheques, exaggerated overtime claims and stolen taxi vouchers — accounted for a loss of nearly $140 million from the federal public service in the fiscal year 2005-2006, according to the Public Accounts of Canada.
Population will have to quintuple to support retiree population: study
Toronto — Increasing immigration alone will not shore up the workforce needed to support a growing population of retirees, according study by the C.D. Howe Institute. If Canada wants to keep its share of retirees at 20 per cent of the working age population, the country would have to take in 2.6 million immigrants a year by 2020 and seven million a year by 2050, when Canada’s total population would be 165.4 million, states the study No Elixir of Youth: Immigration Cannot Keep Canada Young. Canada’s population currently sits at about 32.6 million. Raising the retirement age to 70 over the next 20 years would keep the retiree population at 20 per cent until about 2025, at which point it will rise to 35 per cent by 2050.
Literacy, youth employment targeted in federal cuts
Ottawa — As part of its $1 billion spending cuts, the federal government has targeted a number of Human Resources and Social Development Canada programs, including $55.4 million or half of the funding for Youth Employment Strategy, a program that placed 50,000 youths in subsidized jobs this past summer, and $17.7 million for adult literacy programs. Also eliminated was $3 million in funding for Canadian Policy Research Networks, an Ottawa-based research group,. As result of the cuts, the Canadian Labour Business Centre has closed its doors.
One of Canada’s largest EAP providers grows larger
Toronto —WarrenShepell, a Toronto-based employee assistance program provider, has acquired Markham, Ont.,-based FGIworld. The new entity, called Shepell-fgi, has a combined client base of more than 4,500 organizations and serves seven million employees and family members across Canada and around the world.
