Infrastructure neglect will cost billions – report

Average Canadian will pay $51,000 in reduced wages to cover the bill.

OTTAWA – The failure of governments to invest adequately in the roads, public transit and water systems that our economy needs in the coming decades will cost the average Canadian tens of thousands of dollars in lost income, according to a new report released today by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario.

The report shows that continued underinvestment in infrastructure over the next 50 years will slow economic growth, reduce profitability for businesses by up to 20% and, most damaging, cost the average Canadian now entering the workforce up to $51,000 in reduced wages over the course of their career. ...

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Posted: August 03, 2010

Canada abstains on historic water rights resolution at UN

by Council of Canadians

July 28, 2010: The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly agreed to a resolution declaring the human right to "safe and clean drinking water and sanitation." The resolution, presented by the Bolivian government, had 122 countries vote in its favour, while 41 countries - including Canada - abstained. ...

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Census decision is senseless

by Armine Yalnizyan

This open letter from the Senior Economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives to Tony Clement, Ministry of Industry and Minister Responsible for Statistics Canada, and Munir Sheikh, Chief Statistician, Statistics Canada, whose resignation helped spark the nationwide furor in response to the Harper government dropping the long-form Census: ...

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BC government leaning toward private schools

by Linda Solomon and Emily Barca, The Vancouver Observer

Last November, the speaker and "honourary chair" at the sold out annual gala for the Fraser Institute in Vancouver was Premier Gordon Campbell. Campbell's presence at the expensive event was remarked upon by those with the perception that efforts are being made to privatize the public education system in B.C. ...

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Activists, opposition force retreat on public asset sell-off in Ontario

TORONTO, July 12, 2010: The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) was one of many organizations that applauded Finance Minister Dwight Duncan's announcement that the province will scrap the planned partial sell off of valuable Crown assets such as the LCBO, Hydro One, Ontario Power Generation and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. ...

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Equal opportunity in the workplace is the latest Conservative target

July 23, 2010

OTTAWA - First the Harper Conservatives cancelled the mandatory long-form census. Now they're going after the federal Employment Equity Act that depends on this data. Jason Kenney, Citizenship Minister, announced that the government will be reviewing employment equity policies and practices in the federal public service. ...

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Powell River, BC, says "Keep water public!"

Powell River, BC, July 21, 2010: Local Water Watch Coalition members here sponsored a meeting where residents strongly voiced their desire to keep it public and their dissatisfaction with the City's rush and the complete lack of public consultation. Coalition membership currently includes CUPE Local 798, the Council of Canadians, three ratepayers groups - Townsite, Cranberry, and Wildwood - and the Sierra Club (Malaspina Group). ...

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Austerity measures unfairly target low income earners

by Patty Rout, First Vice-President/Treasurer, OPSEU

Absent in all the noise accompanying this week's "consultation" with labour leaders over the government's plan to freeze wages, was any acknowledgement by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan that the real victims of his austerity campaign will be low income earners in the broader public sector. ...

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