Judge tosses suits against 3 lawmakers over posts after Chiefs Super Bowl Rally shooting

MONTREAL – The federal government’s directive to end the countrywide rail shutdown in August marked an “unprecedented” move, says Canada’s labour tribunal, signalling a stauncher approach to disputes that rarely see direct intervention from cabinet.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon’s instruction that the Canada Industrial Relations Board halt work stoppages and begin binding arbitration amounted to an order, the quasi-judicial body said in a new document explaining its earlier ruling.

“These ministerial directions are unprecedented in that … the minister has effectively directed the board to end the strikes and/or lockouts and to impose final and binding interest arbitration to settle the terms of the collective agreements,” wrote chairwoman Ginette Brazeau in a unanimous decision released Tuesday.

However, the tribunal also said the labour minister was simply using his “discretionary powers” under the Canada Labour Code, and that the board had no leeway to refuse the directive.

Union members and labour advocates have criticized the move, saying it undermined workers’ negotiating leverage and bargaining rights.

MacKinnon has said he supports collective bargaining but that the directive was needed to limit the fallout of a work stoppage that halted freight and commuter traffic across the country.

On Aug. 22, Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out some 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers in anticipation of potential job action.

The shutdowns ranged from one to four days and capped off a two-week operational wind-down from coast to coast, marking the first time in decades the country’s two major railways were stopped at the same time.

Following the minister’s directive, the tribunal ruled on Aug. 24 that freight trains must start rolling again and imposed binding arbitration on all parties involved, in spite of a challenge from the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference.

The union has launched a court challenge to the board’s decision.

In his order, MacKinnon drew on Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. The provision allows the labour minister to “direct the board to do such things as the minister deems necessary … to maintain or secure industrial peace” — such as ending a work stoppage via binding arbitration.

The tribunal said Tuesday the provision has been used “sparingly” over the past two decades. Its records indicate only 10 other examples since 1984.

The decision carried an undertone of skepticism while also stating that the board had no authority to challenge or change the minister’s directive.

“One can certainly question whether it was Parliament’s intent, when it modified Section 107 of the Code in 1984, that a ministerial direction would be used to end a work stoppage and order workers back to work,” the members wrote.

“The assessment of whether the minister appropriately exercised that discretion and made that determination within the applicable legal constraints falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the (Federal Court).”

The board also pointed to a pair of task forces from 1968 and 1995 that rejected the idea of handing authority to cabinet or the labour minister to intervene in public interest disputes.

Instead, the experts recommended creating an “external and standalone body” to advise the minister on the best way to step in, including when to resort to back-to-work legislation — a more democratic forum than a sole cabinet member or executive body — the tribunal said Tuesday.

The unprecedented part of Mackinnon’s directive stems from its concrete instructions and lack of wiggle room for the tribunal.

“In the present matters, the minister was explicit in his direction to the board to order the resumption of operations and the return to work of employees. He further directed the board to extend the terms of the existing collective agreements, thereby foreclosing the period for a work stoppage while also providing for the imposition of binding interest arbitration to settle the terms of the new collective agreements,” the tribunal wrote.

“There was no ambiguity in this.”

The government may have learned its lesson after a looser directive from then-labour minister Seamus O’Regan during a strike by WestJet mechanics in June resulted in a ruling for binding arbitration — but failed to halt the job action.

The tribunal said in that case that the government never technically barred a strike, allowing workers to maintain the work stoppage that grounded flights until a deal was reached at the bargaining table.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia doesn’t provide effective cybersecurity for its digital health networks, and as a result is exposed to unnecessary risk, says a new report by the province’s auditor general.

Kim Adair’s report published Tuesday found a lack of accountability and collaboration between the three government entities that oversee the system: the health department, the cybersecurity and digital solutions department, and Nova Scotia’s health authority.

The situation is problematic because of the province’s growing reliance on digital networks to store people’s personal and sensitive health information, the report says.

Citing attacks in other provinces, like Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario, she said, “We’ve seen several health-care organizations fall victim to serious cyberattacks that have compromised sensitive information, disrupted patient care and disabled networks.”

Nova Scotia’s “lack of IT governance gives minimal accountability for cybersecurity during a time of rapid expansion” of the province’s digital health network, Adair said.

The report says key governance structures established to manage and monitor the network, along with cybersecurity efforts, were abandoned by 2022.

The auditor said her office hired Toronto-based independent experts from Packetlabs to run cybersecurity tests between April 2021 and June 2023, which revealed a “pervasive tolerance” for accepting risk and a failure to manage ongoing risks. More specifically, the report found that external health sector contract holders — such as pharmacies and doctors’ offices — weren’t required to include cybersecurity training before accessing the network.

The report also said testing showed most proposed technology projects that added to or changed the data flow or architecture of the digital health system didn’t fully comply with a mandatory three-phase review process put in place by a government panel. As well, the report said the review board allowed projects to connect to the network without meeting cybersecurity standards.

To strengthen the system, the 42-page report makes 20 recommendations, including the creation of an information technology governance framework to manage the digital health system, the completion of all outstanding cybersecurity assessments and regular mandatory cyber awareness training for all health network users.

Adair said her office would follow up on the progress of the digital health network a year from now. So far, she said, response from the government agencies involved has been positive.

In an emailed statement, a provincial spokesperson said the departments of health and of cybersecurity and digital solutions, along with Nova Scotia’s health authority said changes in the system are already underway.

“We are making investments and reducing risk as much as possible, while we modernize our digital health infrastructure. We have already begun work on many of the auditor general’s recommendations and will continue to work on the rest,” spokesperson Rachel Boomer said in an email.

The province said it will not disclose details of the changes underway to prevent further cyber threats from bad actors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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HALIFAX – The estimated population of North Atlantic right whales increased in 2023, but marine scientists say human behaviour still poses a significant threat to the critically endangered species.

The new data released Tuesday by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium estimates the population of right whales in 2023 was 372, up from the prior year’s estimate of 356. This year’s figures includes 12 calves born in 2023.

But the new data should not be taken as a turning point for the endangered species, Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium in Boston, said in a recent interview. Although the rise in whale numbers is good news, there’s been a “sobering” increase in deaths and injuries caused by marine vessels and equipment in 2024.

“Both the whales and humans are using the ocean, and so there will be a conflict,” Hamilton said.

So far this year, scientists have detected five deaths of right whales, one of whom was killed after being entangled in rope for more than one year. Three other whales died after they were struck by vessels. The body of the fifth whale could not be retrieved, leaving scientists without information on how it died.

Hamilton said entanglement with fishing gear is a leading cause of death for right whales, adding that 85 per cent of the population will become entangled at some point in their lives. Entanglements are not always lethal, and whales can usually break free from ropes or drag them while they swim, he said.

Nonetheless, he said, rope entanglements for right whales lead to “gruesome and very painful” deaths.

“In some cases it’s actually a sort of blood poisoning or septicemia that kills them. Either that or they get thinner and thinner because they’re not able to feed, maybe not at all or not as efficiently,” Hamilton said.

“If you saw a dog that was bound up and the collar was cutting into their body for a year, it would be horrifying. It’s a real challenge that right whales are kind of out of sight.”

Vessel strikes, meanwhile, are less common but are almost always lethal. A release from environment advocacy group Oceana said North Atlantic right whales — who are already difficult to spot because they’re dark in colour — usually swim at a speed of approximately 9.5 kilometres per hour near the water’s surface, too slowly to get out of the way of vessels travelling at faster speeds.

The report also reports four calves that are presumed to have died this year.

Heather Pettis, a research scientist at the New England Aquarium, said calves are presumed to have died when a mother whale who has been previously spotted with a calf is sighted again without her calf, or when a mother is killed.

“The calves really are dependent on their mothers for the first year of life,” Pettis said.

Hamilton and Pettis said it’s not clear what to expect for 2024’s population estimate. Pettis said the number of deaths could always be higher than what’s recorded.

To get population levels back up, Pettis and Hamilton stressed the need for better species management.That involves the Canadian and American governments working together to develop policy and regulation protecting the species and halting use of dangerous equipment in areas where right whales are known to be.

“They need protection throughout their range,” Pettis said, stressing that whales need to be able to move in the ocean without running into boats or ropes.

Kim Elmslie, campaign director at Oceana Canada, called for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, federal Fisheries Department and Transport Canada to increase protections for the species.

“To ensure whales and fisheries can coexist in Canada, the government must implement ropeless fishing gear in high-risk areas,” Elmslie said in a news release. “Additionally, all vessel slowdowns must be mandatory and be applied throughout the range where right whales are found to reduce ship strikes.”

North Atlantic right whales travel to Atlantic Canadian waters largely to feed. They used to migrate more to the Bay of Fundy to feed on plankton but have gradually migrated to feeding grounds in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as ocean temperatures change.

The species migrates between the coast of Florida to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.