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Growing vaccine mandates reveal split in Canadian labour movement – CTV News

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TORONTO —
The head of Canada’s largest private sector labour union has a blunt message for Unifor staff: Get vaccinated or find another job.

The union recently advised its 425 staff membersthat they will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence until they get vaccinated against COVID-19.

“And if they don’t get vaccinated within a reasonable period of time, well then that’s fine,” said Jerry Dias. “They can work for another organization. I’m not messing around with this.”

Dias also has a warning for Unifor members who are holding out against being vaccinated, saying they could end up losing their jobs if their employer adopts a vaccine mandate.

“If people are terminated because they make the decision that they’re not going to be vaccinated, then our lawyers are saying to us that they will stay terminated,” Dias said in an interview.

The growing number of vaccine mandates in the public and private sectors have exposed a fault line in Canada’s labour movement.

Canadian National Railway Co. and WestJet Airlines are among the latest large employers to announce their vaccination policies, following an Aug. 13 directive from Ottawa that requires all employees in federally regulated industries to be vaccinated.

Both railways and airlines are members of that group, which also includes banks, telecommunications companies and employees of Crown corporations.

Montreal-based CN will require all employees in Canada, contractors, consultants, agents, suppliers and anyone who accesses its Canadian properties to be vaccinated as of Nov. 1. It said requests for medical or religious exemptions will be considered on an individual basis.

Calgary-based WestJet’s mandate is effective Oct. 30. The airline said it will accommodate employees who are unable to be vaccinated but those who fail to attest their vaccination status by Sept. 24 or achieve full-vaccination status by Oct. 30 will face unpaid leave or termination.

Like Air Canada, WestJet is not providing COVID-19 testing as an alternative to vaccination.

Unifor’s executive committee voted unanimously to support vaccine mandates, and Ontario unions for elementary and secondary teachers have voiced their support for mandatory vaccinations in schools.

A pro-mandate position in the context of a pandemic is not surprising given the union’s duty to protect the health and safety of its members, says Alison Braley-Rattai, assistant professor of labour studies at Brock University.

“In a different context, however, that could change,” she wrote in an email.

“For example, if your employer wanted you to be vaccinated against some non-transmissible disease to reduce the risk of you being absent from work due to illness, a union would likely oppose such a policy.”

Whether employees should face job loss is also an open question given that we don’t know how things will look a year from now, she said.

“A union could readily argue that termination is an extreme response to a mandate that may end up being temporary, and that the worst thing one should face is a temporary unpaid leave.”

Unions opposed to vaccine mandates include the Toronto Police Association and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents public transit workers in Toronto and the York Region.

Police association president Jon Reid said it will “make every effort to protect all of our members and therefore, does not support this mandatory vaccination announcement or mandatory disclosure.”

ATU local 113 president Carlos Santos pushed back against the Toronto Transit Commission’s mandatory vaccination policy.

The union has urged members not to disclose any private medical information to the country’s largest transit authority.

“ATU Local 113 opposes this policy, and we will fight to defend your right to make your own personal health decisions and protect your private medical information,” Santos said in a letter to members on the union’s website.

Santos added that the union will oppose any discipline imposed on members.

However, Dias said the labour movement should be candid with people about whether unions can actually block terminations.

“I think there’s a lot of unions out there that frankly don’t have the political will to be honest,” he said, adding that the union isn’t obligated to take a case to arbitration.

“According to our lawyers, if they are fired for refusing to take a vaccine and they don’t have a bona fide medical reason to do so that an arbitrator will very likely side with the employer.”

While the Canadian Labour Congress supports vaccinations, it says the country’s unions are concerned that mandatory vaccinations will hand employers overreaching powers.

“Any decision to impose mandatory vaccination policies must be based on scientific evidence and be made by public health officials, not employers or unions,” it stated in a news release.

It said unions must be consulted in the development and implementation of any mandatory vaccination policies with exemptions and accommodations and privacy protections being essential.

The central labour body in Canada said it rejects threats of discipline or termination as an approach to increasing vaccination rates.

“Unions will defend workers’ interests and insist employers respect the terms and conditions of the collective agreement and human rights codes.”

Various national unions similarly support vaccines in general while seeking oversight for sweeping employer mandates.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees says governments and employers need to consult with unions before finalizing and implementing vaccine policies. It also says workers who cannot be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons must be accommodated under human rights legislation.

“As a union, we recognize our obligation to those members who are not vaccinated,” it stated, adding that alternate work arrangements, screening and testing before entering the workplace can be effective.

Public Service Alliance of Canada national president Chris Aylward said it supports the government’s goals but the verification of vaccination or medical status of members must respect their legal right to privacy.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) said it categorically reject terminations and discipline as leverage to increase vaccination rates.

“Punitive policies are not conducive for a positive workplace and a healthy relationship with employees.”

Teamsters Canada questioned the urgency of the government’s push for a vaccine mandate given alternative ways to encourage vaccination.

“Canada already has one of the world’s best vaccination programmes, and other measures like provincial vaccine passport systems had promising potential.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2021.

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Alberta unveils new municipal election and political party rules |

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Alberta’s Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver has unveiled new municipal election and political party rules. The rules make sweeping changes, including regulations new municipal political parties in Edmonton and Calgary will have to follow ahead of next year’s municipal election. The government says these rules will make local elections more transparent. (Oct. 18, 2024)



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One Direction was the internet’s first boy band, and Liam Payne its grounding force

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Liam Payne’s voice is the first one heard in the culture-shifting boy band One Direction’s debut single: “What Makes You Beautiful” launches into a bouncy guitar riff, a cheeky and borderline gratuitous cowbell and then, Payne.

“You’re insecure, don’t know what for / You’re turning heads when you walk through the door,” he sings, in a few words assuring a cross-section of generations that he’s got your back, girl, and you should like yourself a little bit more.

Payne, who died Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at just 31, was also the last solo voice on the band’s final single, “History” — effectively opening and closing the monolithic run of one of the biggest boy bands of all time.

While the exact circumstances of his death remain unclear — Buenos Aires police said in a statement that Payne “had jumped from the balcony of his room,” although they didn’t offer details on how they established that or whether it was intentional — in life, Payne was a critical part of the internet’s first boy band, one that secured an indelible place in the hearts of millennial and Gen Z fans.

How One Direction became the internet’s first boy band

Before One Direction became One Direction, its members auditioned for the U.K.’s “The X Factor” separately. The judges decided to put five promising, but not yet excellent, boys into a group. They were Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Payne, who together finished third in the 2010 competition.

As Rolling Stone contributing editor Rob Sheffield points out, it was an “unprecedented” way for a boy band to get their start.

“They were sort of assigned to be together. And you don’t expect longevity out of that situation. Honestly, you don’t even expect one good pop record to come out of that situation,” he says. And yet, not only did it work, but One Direction essentially created “a new template for pop stardom, really.”

The show allowed Day 1 fans to follow their career before their official 2011 launch with “What Makes You Beautiful.” Nascent fans could use rising social media platforms like Twitter and Tumblr to find community, draw attention to the group and, in the earliest days, speak directly to the members.

“I honestly made a Twitter so that I could keep up with One Direction, and that’s how I made so many different friends,” says Gabrielle Kopera, 28, a fan from California who remembers the band hosting livestreams and chats. “Sometimes they would say something back and it was so much fun. I feel like that fan interaction doesn’t even happen anymore.”

That feeling of accessibility reinforced the group’s personality and relationship with fans, says Maura Johnston, a freelance music writer and Boston College adjunct instructor.

“The fact that they came up on this British TV show and they became this worldwide phenomenon, I don’t think that would have happened as acutely and as quickly and as immersive without social media, without Twitter or without people being able to mobilize around the globe,” she says.

One Direction and their fans

Millennial and Gen Z audiences practically grew up with One Direction, but the band was truly ubiquitous. That, Johnston says, is at least partially attributable to arriving in a very different media environment from today’s.

“It was a lot more focused,” she says of the early 2010s. “Algorithmic sorting of stuff hadn’t really taken hold. So, there was this broader, mass approach. … They were one of the last gasps of that mass phenomenon, that anyone of any age, even if they weren’t a fan, had to take notice to.”

But it takes more than omnipresence to cultivate a loyal fanbase. And there were myriad reasons why listeners were attracted to One Direction.

“They were five very different musical personalities, along with five very different personalities,” says Sheffield.

They broke the rules associated with traditional boy bands, too: “They co-wrote many of their songs. They didn’t do, you know, corny, choreographed steps on stage,” he said.

After the news of Payne’s death, Kopera says she “got so many messages from people I haven’t talked to in years reaching out because I think everyone kind of realized that it does feel like we just lost a family member.”

That sentiment was mirrored in the masses of fans who gathered Wednesday outside Buenos Aires’ Casa Sur Hotel, feeding a burgeoning makeshift memorial of flowers, candles and notes as police stood guard.

“I’ve always loved One Direction since I was little,” said Juana Relh, 18, outside Payne’s hotel. “To see that he died and that there will never be another reunion of the boys is unbelievable, it kills me.”

Liam Payne’s place in the band, and its legacy

Payne was a “brooding” older brother-type in One Direction, says Johnston. He also co-wrote many songs, especially in their later career — like the Fleetwood Mac-channeling “What A Feeling” and “Fireproof.”

“He was this grounding force in the band,” Johnston says.

In an Instagram tribute, Tomlinson called Payne “the most vital part of One Direction.”

“His experience from a young age, his perfect pitch, his stage presence, his gift for writing. The list goes on. Thank you for shaping us Liam,” he wrote.

“I always remember that he was the responsible and the sensible one of the group, and I feel like he wore his heart on his sleeve,” Kopera says.

Payne had recently been vocal about struggling with alcoholism, posting a YouTube video in July 2023 where he said he had been sober for six months after receiving treatment. Buenos Aires police said they found clonazepam — a central nervous system depressant — and other over-the-counter drugs in Payne’s hotel room, along with a whiskey bottle in the courtyard where he was found.

“Looking at what happened to Liam, it just makes you feel even more sad, that it just feels like he needed help,” Kopera says. “And it’s so scary to think about how the entertainment industry can just, like, eat up artists.”

After One Direction disbanded in 2016, Payne’s solo career — a single R&B-pop album in 2019, “LP1,” and a number of singles here and there — never took off the same way as some of his bandmates. He was “the least successful,” Sheffield says. “It’s safe to say that on the terms that he was going for, he didn’t really find what he wanted to do.”

“It’s hard, transitioning from being a boy bander to be a pop star,” Johnston says.

At Payne’s solo shows, Sheffield explains, “He would show a little montage of One Direction performing, which is the kind of thing you don’t do when you’re starting out as a solo artist. But fans took that in the spirit it was offered, which is a very generous statement that he’s like, ‘Yep, you’re here because of this history that we share, and I’m here because of that same history.’”

Despite Payne’s struggles and the tragedy of his death, Kopera is confident “his legacy is going to always point back to One Direction.”

For fans, the same is true.

“When I look back on One Direction, I’m like, that was my girlhood. One Direction was the soundtrack to growing up, and I’m so thankful for it,” she says. “They really were just a group of normal boys.”

____

AP journalist Brooke Lefferts contributed to this report.



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Fledgling Northern Soccer League expected to announce first player signings soon

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The Northern Super League will likely start rolling out player signing announcements next week but its full schedule isn’t expected until early next year, according to co-founder Diana Matheson.

The former Canadian international said the fledgling six-team women’s pro league, which is scheduled to kick off in April, is having to wait on others for the full schedule although an update on the start and end of the season plus transfer window information is expected soon.

“The reality is we share venues with other teams. We’re either second, third or fourth tenant in some places,” Matheson explained.

The new league has to wait for the CFL to sort out its schedule and broadcast information, so the full NSL schedule likely won’t come out until late January or early February.

“It’s a starting point. We’ll get better,” said Matheson,

In some cases, as in the PWHL, teams may also play several games outside their primary venue, which adds to the complexity.

Matheson said teams have already started signing players, with news to follow.

“Player announcements will just keep coming until February-March,” she said. “We operate, as you know, in a global market. All the players out there are under contract right now so there’ll probably be some incredible Canadian stories signed early that you’ll start to learn about.

“And then the reality is the clubs actually get more leverage over players and agents the closer we get to the season so there’ll be some patience of clubs to sign players too, to sign the strongest possible rosters across the league from Day 1, the kickoff in April. And then we’re in market and we’re competing against the rest of the world.”

Matheson said there will be no requirement in the new league to play a certain number of young players, at least in its early stages. The 20- to 25-woman team rosters will be limited to seven internationals.

Matheson is headed to Spain next to help with the Canadian women’s team.

Sixth-ranked Canada will be coached by committee for the Oct. 25 friendly with No. 3 Spain in Almendralejo, Spain. With coach Bev Priestman suspended for a year in the wake of the Olympic drone-spying scandal, the coaching will be handled by returning assistant coaches Andy Spence, Jen Herst and Neil Wood.

Katie Collar, head coach of Whitecap FC Girls Elite, will serve as interim technical assistant and Maryse Bard-Martel as interim performance analyst.

The 40-year-old Matheson, who won 206 caps for Canada in a senior career that stretched from 2003 to 2020, is serving in an interim team support role, “providing leadership and serving as a resource for both staff and players.”

Matheson said it is likely a “one-off … as someone who has lived the program on the players’ side.”

But she said it was “an honour” to be part of the Canadian setup — and also a chance to answer any questions from players about the new league.

The NSL league will kick off with teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal. Ottawa and Halifax.

Matheson hopes veteran midfielder Desiree Scott, who is returning at the end of the NWSL season, can play a role with the new Canadian women’s league — hopefully when her native Winnipeg joins the circuit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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