OTTAWA, ON, July 10, 2012: Canada's premiers are being warned that the proposed Canada-EU trade deal will limit provincial and territorial powers, fundamentally reshaping the constitutional landscape. The warning comes in a new legal analysis urging full public disclosure of the deal's details before it is signed.
by Ish Theilheimer
TORONTO, ON, Straight Goods News, June 15, 2012: Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is threatening an election because opposition New Democrats and Conservatives have forced changes to his government's omnibus bill which block widespread privatization of government services.
The Premier's threats are in response to clause-by-clause committee negotiations over the budget bill (Bill 55). Public service unions, health care advocates and the NDP have been working furiously to amend or reject a little-known section of the bill — Schedule 28 — that could result in the sell-off of any government service. It contains provisions to make one Cabinet minister the "privatization czar" and enable him or her to act, without legislative debate, to sell off anything from health care to roads to the issuance of drivers' licences.
by Julie Dupuis, Straight Goods News staff
FRENCH RIVER, ON, March 20, 2012: Awareness about the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union is growing and opposition is mounting. There are currently 45 municipalities in the country that have passed — or are in the process of passing — resolutions on CETA, some seeking full exemptions from the agreement. In addition, six school boards and nationwide and province-wide municipal associations have passed similar resolutions. In total, about four million Canadian citizens are represented.
The overarching impact of CETA is to eliminate most tariffs between Canada and the EU, but as critics such as the Council of Canadians note, CETA "changes non-trade related government policies that affect business profits", potentially including labour, health, intellectual property, cultural, farming, public safety and environmental regulations.
by Julie Dupuis, Straight Goods News staff
Throughout Canada, citizens are asking for bans on bottled water, which is costly, environmentally damaging, and less regulated for safety and water quality than public water supplies.
March 10 will mark the second annual Bottled Water Free Day encouraging citizens to request bottled water bans within municipalities, schools, and workplaces.
Another initiative challenges municipalities to become Blue Communities. Two criteria are to promote publicly financed, owned, and operated water services and ban the sale of bottled water in public facilities and at municipal events.
"Canada has one of the best drinking water systems in the world," says the Council of Canadians, but according to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, "it's increasingly difficult to access […]. Public fountains aren't being maintained or installed in new buildings."
