OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday his government is looking at its options to respond to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s use of the notwithstanding clause.
He made the brief comment in French outside the House of Commons moments after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called for more action from the federal government.
“We’re seeing right now a clear attack on workers, on vulnerable workers and on workers’ rights.… There has to be a response,” Singh told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
“We’re open to any solution to be put on the table and to evaluate if it will work or not and if it will help workers’ rights.”
The union representing the 55,000 affected educational workers in Ontario says it still plans to hold a strike on Friday, despite the looming legislation that would impose fines on strikers.
The Liberals have been critical of the Ford government this week, with Trudeau previously describing the legislation as outright “wrong.”
Justice Minister David Lametti didn’t bite on a question earlier Wednesday about what options might be on the table.
“I’m not going to discuss options here,” he said before a Liberal caucus meeting, though there are “a number of different things one might do.”
Lametti said the pre-emptive use of the clause is “very serious” and “anti-democratic.”
“It guts Canadian democracy,” he said. “It means the Charter doesn’t exist.”
An NDP MP, Matthew Green, is calling on the House to hold an emergency debate on the issue.
In a letter to the House Speaker, Green said the proposed legislation to impose a new contract on education workers undercuts their rights and imposes “disproportionate punitive measures” on those who seek to take action.
Green said the use of the notwithstanding clause to bypass the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of a “disturbing trend” of provinces seeking to trample constitutional freedoms.
“This particular case could present a precedent for provincial governments across the country that might seek to use this to further undermine the collective agreement rights of workers,” he told reporters.
Green was also expected to table a motion Wednesday afternoon calling on MPs to unanimously condemn the move.
Trudeau and others have called on federal Conservatives to respond, but MPs on their way into a Conservative caucus meeting Wednesday morning declined to comment.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which is representing the workers, presented a counter-offer late Tuesday night in response to the imposed contract terms in the legislation, but has not yet provided details about the proposal.
Ontario’s education minister has suggested that there won’t be much movement at the bargaining table this week and insisted that any new offer from the union must include cancelling the strike.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2022.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
