RSS

After 28 years of waiting, postal workers won in court yesterday. The supreme court of Canada ruled in their favor in a pay equity case. It could mean up to 250 million dollars in damages awarded to about six-thousand current and former workers.

A case like this might not be seen again for a while. In 2009 conservatives passed a measure that forces workers to deal with pay equity disputes through collective bargaining agreements. It was meant to keep pay equity disputes out of the courts.

The original case was brought forth by the Public Service Alliance of Canada. They said that female postal workers were making less than their male counterparts and accused Canada Post of discrimination.

The 1983 case was settled in the worker’s favor in 2005 but then overturned by the Federal Court in 2008. It was brought to the supreme court last year.

Canada Post said that it will abide by the ruling.

A case like this might not be seen again for a while. In 2009 conservatives passed a measure that forces workers to deal with pay equity disputes through collective bargaining agreements. It was meant to keep pay equity disputes out of the courts.

Read by: Kevin Gascoigne

Stories by: Lindsey Briscoe, Shaun Malley, Brandon Judd, Cynthia Othieno and Sabrina Daniel

Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi

The amendments proposed on Tuesday by Quebec’s justice minister will be supported by federal Liberals. Jean-Marc Fournier, Quebec’s justice minister, brought up three changes regarding young offenders in parts of the C-10 bill.

Fournier’s amendments will be among the fifty that Liberal MP Irwin Cotler will propose during the justice committee’s review of the legislation. Unlike the current federal justice minister, Cotler said he’s in regular contact with Fournier and is listening to the Quebec government’s concerns.

On November first, Fournier testified before the committee and urged the government to reconsider its approach. Ontario and Quebec are some of the provinces that have protested the potential cost of the bill.

The bill proposes the incarceration of more offenders for longer stretches of time. This would dramatically increase provincial jail costs.

Quebec would also like to focus on rehabilitation for young offenders instead of jail time. This approach has proven successful for the province in the past.

The Agence Metropolitaine de Transport unveiled an ambitious 16.8 billion dollar plan to improve public transit. They want transit ridership to increase 33 per cent by 2020. This is part of the city of Montreal's ongoing plan to get more cars off the road.

10 billion dollars of the new plan will go towards developing new services. Studies are underway to expand the metro east, south, and north.

There are also talks to build a new train on the Champlain Bridge. But don't worry West Islanders, you won't be completely left out. More trains are planned to be added from downtown to Sait Anne de Bellevue.

The AMT also said they will need more revenue to fund these projects. That could mean toll roads or increased gas taxes.