Nova Scotians speak up

Nova Scotia Liberals hand over decision-making in education to private interests | KEVIN CORKILL*

The Nova Scotia Liberal government is using Bill 72, the Education Reform Act, to legalize turning education over to private interests and by doing so destroying existing arrangements including the right of teachers and education workers, organized into unions, to negotiate their wages and conditions of work.

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Negotiations at the post office and the destruction of the principle of universality

Workers fight to get Canada Post to recognize their rights | LOUIS LANG* 

Negotiations are taking place between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. The contract of the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC) expired on December 31, 2017, and the contract of the Urban Operations group expires on January 31.

Snow squalls, snow fences and the privatization of highways: ‘It is time to draw a line in the snow’

An awesome lake effect snow squall (snowsquall) drops heavy snow over Sudbury on February 27, 2014. Lake effect squalls from Georgian Bay are noted for their persistence and linear banding, producing blinding visibility on Highway 400.

The following reflection was written on February 28, 2014 but for some reasons was not published at the time. I am posting it now in the midst of the extreme cold weather front that is gripping Canada and the United States.

The view from Blantyre

By TONY SEED

WHEN extreme weather event strikes, the reporting of the media proceeds from the premise of the insurance companies: it is a supernatural “act of God,” a natural disaster divorced from the social conditions made by man. It has become a genre and given a name – disaster journalism. It was all so “unexpected.” Hurricane Katrina? Just blew in suddenly from the Gulf. That ice storm in Atlanta? The weather suddenly shifted upstate in the morning. That tsunami in the Indian Ocean? No-one at the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had the phone number of the Sri Lanka president and hence the island received no warning. Thousands of people, mainly poor fishers, along the eastern and southern coastline were engulfed by the deep blue sea, as if an act of Buddha. Due to the large number of victims, that far-off disaster did make the evening news. These were not “accidents”; natural disasters became crimes.

Largest water privatizer in the world: Private partner for Edmonton transit also violating international law in Palestine

The French monopoly Veolia is the largest water privatizer in the world. Veolia is one of the P3 partners that Edmonton City Council contracted in November 2015 to build the private part of the Millwoods extension to Edmonton’s LRT Line. In addition to the need to oppose all P3 contracts on principle, it should also be noted that Veolia itself should be opposed on the grounds that it is guilty of numerous criminal activities against the Palestinian people. In fact, it has been described as the one monopoly that benefits most from the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

UN COP21 Climate Conference in Paris: Trudeau government rides climate change road to riches

While in Paris during the COP21 UN Conference on Climate Change, Prime Minister Trudeau joined with multi-billionaire Bill Gates and the war presidents François Hollande of France and Barack Obama of the U.S. to launch “Mission Innovation” and its private sector partner the “Breakthrough Energy Coalition.”[1] The initiative is not a movie spinoff but rather a public-private partnership (P3) for privileged private interests to become even richer using public funds in the booming climate change sector.

Changing of the guard: Canada’s new government takes office

At 10:30 am on November 4, surrounded by a lot of hoopla, Justin Trudeau was sworn in as Canada’s 23rd prime minister. Prior to that, Stephen Harper tendered his formal resignation to the Governor General in a private meeting.

The cabinet is comprised of 31 members including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who is also Minister for Youth and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. It is comprised of 15 women and 16 men. The average age is 52, with ages ranging from 30 to 69.

Nova Scotia finance minister delivers pre-budget speech

Where public interest feels the pain, private interest is sure to gain

By KEVIN CORKILL

Diana Whalen, Minister of Finance for the Liberal McNeil government of Nova Scotia, delivered a pre-budget speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Halifax on March 25, 2015. She began with some truths: fewer working age people live in Nova Scotia; and, in her words, “The status quo is really not working for us.”

Fair enough, but who is the “us” for which the status quo is not working? Her government is attacking the claims of public sector workers on the value they produce. Her government is privatizing public services resulting in social wealth being diverted away from the public and into the pockets of private interests.