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On October 21, Filipino activists and diaspora were turned away from the Philippine Consulate in Vancouver as they tried to deliver a letter expressing dissatisfaction with the corruption that has caused widespread devastation after a typhoon hit areas of the country.  The consulate, nestled amidst the luxury hotels and convention centres on the downtown core’s waterfront, barred activists from entering the building and increased security presence at its doors upon seeing people gathering outside in preparation for the letter delivery. The letter is signed by Tama Na BC, a local chapter of a new coalition of concerned Filipinos formed in reaction to the recent corruption scandal.  The North Star spoke with Noa Sison of Bayan BC at the scene. He explained, “We're here because it's been a month since September 21 when hundreds of thousands of Filipinos flooded the streets. And we've only seen the Philippine government double down on their repression of the people's just resistance and double down on their corruption and lack of transparency.” The letter makes specific demands for transparency and accountability from state officials and contractors involved in publicly funded flood control projects.  “It contains eight demands, listing out how we can realize a corruption-free society in the Philippines. For example, making sure that the ICI investigation is transparent and also making sure that there's no more practice of ‘budget insertions’, which basically begets all these bloated pork barrel projects where people are able to pocket the money.” The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) was established September 15 through an executive order after the public expressed concerns about corruption. The pocketing of public funds designated for flood control infrastructure has caused at least 30 deaths, the destruction of whole communities, and the displacement of thousands in rural communities especially.  Though President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stated that the commission would operate independently and would not include politicians, critics are concerned about a lack of transparency on the part of the agency. All positions within the commission have been appointed directly by President Marcos Jr. Sison is concerned that the ICI has failed to implicate Marcos Jr. in the chaotic aftermath of the typhoon and is shifting blame to the protesters.  “We know he is actually the one who is responsible, because he is the one who approves and signs off on the national budget, which is full of all these infrastructure projects that are the source of kickbacks or corruption, where all these politicians are basically enriching themselves,” he told The North Star.  Sison says the September 21 protests show that “farmers, workers, professionals, youth, students, all united basically because they all understand that enough is enough.” He says they realized that, “it’s not about who is in [the presidential palace], but actually replacing this rotten system,” that has persistently funnelled public funds into politicians’ pockets, rather than just who occupies the presidential palace as its figurehead. The endemic corruption may be felt most acutely in agricultural communities during extreme weather events and disasters, but the issue is a pervasive year-round reality that keeps people in the countryside from having any kind of stability or security. “Filipino peasants actually live on very thin economic margins already. Some make as little as 350 [Philippine Pesos] a day which amounts to about nine Canadian dollars. When we think of the corruption, we can see what the main issues of the Filipino farmers are. Seven out of 10 Filipino farmers don't own their own land,” and since the floods, “there hasn't been any aid yet provided to them.” Sison explains that funds that could go to supplement the local rice production and subsidize the cost of fertilizer are instead squandered on infrastructure deals that provide kickbacks or foment corruption.  “Marcos Jr. is continuing this legacy of being dependent on imports of rice to basically supplement the local supply.” According to Sison, the corruption “is just a manifestation of deeper, more entrenched problems in the Philippines. We can see that with the landlessness of farmers, the stagnation of the minimum wage in the Philippines, and all these conditions that basically force Filipinos to migrate abroad.” Once immigrants from the Philippines make it to Canada, they’re faced with challenges that sometimes mirror the conditions back home, as well as some new ones.  Take, for instance, federal Bill C-12 which draws on elements of the controversial Bill C-2 to restrict established immigration processes and expand the government’s enforcement powers. The government touts these laws as strengthening border security, but they tend to make conditions for working-class immigrants more uncertain. According to Sison, Bill C-12 will place immigrants into more precarious conditions which will leave them with fewer options for employment and lower wages. He was infuriated by the fact that Filipinos forced away from their home country find themselves heavily exploited yet again “for the benefit of just the ruling elite” once they get to Canada. But Sison says that the shared experiences of overall wage stagnation amidst a rising cost of basic goods could also be a potentially unifying force for the workers of both countries. “Philippines, Canada, we can see basically a shared interest in the working class… and we can see a need for a change in the system that does uplift the working class.”

L’article Protesters barred from delivering letter at Philippine consulate est apparu en premier sur The North Star.

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A once-threatened fish has surged back while another one struggles — leaving fishermen, scientists and regulators divided over how to protect species, habitat and livelihoods

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By Jay Brudny   As the housing crisis continues to intensify, gentrification has become a simple fact of life in Canada, with working-class neighbourhoods being selected one after the other for […]

The post Gentrification: a powerful weapon for corporate profiteering in housing appeared first on People's Voice.

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The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion at Canada’s busiest cargo port could be fast-tracked by the federal government. It’s a major stop for 3.5 million western sandpipers to eat and recharge while travelling the entire Pacific

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Controversial initiatives appear among an internal list compiled by federal officials in March, showing 17 ‘major projects,’ some of which have already been deemed in the ‘national interest’

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Doug Ford’s advertisements might have you think mines are up and running in the remote region, but that’s far from the truth

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Economist Ricardo Tranjan joins Desmond Cole to discuss how Ford and Carney’s housing policies heavily favours corporate landlords

The post Mark Carney and Doug Ford keep serving Big Landlords appeared first on The Breach.

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Katia Lo Innes explains how the right-wing uses attacks on Tim Hortons’ migrant workers to distract us from our real enemy — the corporate elite

The post Why Tim Hortons became ground zero for migrant-bashing appeared first on The Breach.

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As the province fast-tracks development, the Southern Interior tribal council has lessons to share on how to build for the future

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Alberta UCP has invoked the “notwithstanding clause” to override workers’ charter rights, ending the 51,000 strong teachers’ strike against cuts to public education. The Alberta Federation of Labour’s Common Front coalition, which represents over 350,000 Albertan workers, says it is beginning to make preparations for a general strike “if necessary”. The strike which started on October 6th has been a flashpoint in the Danielle Smith government’s drive to boost private interests in education, which teachers say is jeopardizing working conditions and students’ right to quality education.  “There is a group of people who think that if we would just shut down all funding for all private schools and give all that money to the public system, that that would solve the problems. And I look at it the opposite way,” said Smith earlier this month. In a frank display of the premier’s “opposite way,” the UCP on Tuesday passed the ‘Back to School Act’, legislating an end to the strike and imposing a contract which was overwhelmingly rejected by teachers back in September.  To accomplish this, the bill used the notwithstanding clause to suspend the workers’ charter rights; a move which the AFL president Gil McGowan has described as an “act of war” on workers. The notwithstanding clause lets federal or provincial governments override certain rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for up to five years. To ensure this historic bill would not be held up by democratic processes, no more than one hour was allotted for debate at each stage of its reading.  Unions under siege Much has been said in recent days about the UCP’s “unprecedented” behavior, but an overview of recent events in Canada indicate it might be better understood as a ‘tip of the spear’ than as a lone wolf. Since June 2024, the federal government has invoked Section 107, a provision of the Canadian Labour Code which grants the Labour Minister the power to enforce arbitration on strikes which “threaten industrial peace,” to legislate the defeat of 7 different strikes. The frequency of government intervention was demonstrated earlier this year when Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau admitted to negotiating in bad faith for nine months in the hope that the federal government would end the flight attendant strike. This hope, however, vanished when the workers defied the order. The federal government’s liberal use of section 107 in recent years has set a feverish pace for state intervention against workers; a pace which will likely be emboldened by the Canada Industrial Relations Board’s recent ruling on the provision’s constitutionality. But it isn't just the federal government which is enthusiastic to break strikes: provincial governments have taken initiative to get in on the action. A relevant case was the education support workers’ strike in 2022, which Ontario's Doug Ford government attempted to end with a bill invoking Section 33 of the charter, also known as the notwithstanding clause. While section 33 has been used in many ways historically, the precedent that it could be used to break a strike remains to be set. This is what the Ford government tried to do in 2022.  CUPE’s response was to continue their strike in defiance of the order, within days winning the demand that the Ford government rescind the bill which union leaders warned was a “Pandora’s box.”  Preparations for a general strike By the time of the bill’s announcement, the Alberta teachers’ strike had already seen several impressive demonstrations by the ATA, which represents public school teachers. On the 23rd over 30,000 teachers, parents, and students rallied in protest outside of the Alberta legislative building. With the bill’s passing on Tuesday morning, ATA president Jason Schilling stated that the union intends to “follow the law,” but to launch a legal challenge to the government’s use of Section 33. What exactly they plan to do if they lose this legal battle remains unclear.  With the ATA stepping to the legal sideline, students, workers, and unions are stressing the need to turn public support for the teachers into massive collective action. The Alberta Student-Walkout Association is expected to hold sit-ins and walkouts in protest of the legislation across at least 45 schools on Thursday.  Since the UCP’s announcement of the bill last week, the Common Front have been threatening an “unprecedented response” to the use of section 33.  Speaking today at a press conference, Gil McGowan declared the need to build a movement “so big and widely popular that we are all defended” with the stated goal of “toppling the government.”  He stated that all unions represented by the AFL and the Common Front will begin engaging their rank and file on the issue and gauging interest in strike action against the bill.  UFCW Local 401, representing 32,000 Albertan workers, has already publicized the results of a membership poll showing 69% of workers are ready for a general strike. McGowan stated that it would take time for the Common Front to prepare for such an action.

L’article Alberta teachers return to work after yet another government intervention est apparu en premier sur The North Star.

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Canadian reporting rules currently ignore a huge chunk of corporations’ greenhouse gas output — the arm’s-length emissions known as Scope 3

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Premier Danielle Smith is pushing for pipelines that divide the nation — and Albertans give a $95-million apology to a coal company

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Outdoor recreation groups worry recognition of Indigenous Rights could limit their access to nature — and so does the resource industry

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The Ford government has been picking away at the provincial law that enshrines the public's power to know and influence decisions that affect the environment. Here's what's left of it

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From building the North Coast transmission line to reducing electrification costs for industry, the B.C. government is planning big changes to energy policy with Bill 31. Experts have big questions

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Oct 27, 2025 | by Barry Weisleder On Sunday, October 26 defenders of the right of a people to resist occupation by any means necessary gathered outside Toronto’s Union Station.   They protested Ottawa’s complicity with Donald Trump’s fraudulent ‘peace plan’…

Read More Palestine rally on October 26 in Toronto

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On Thursday, Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack introduced Bill 60, the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster” Act. The bill contains sweeping reforms that remove tenants' legal protections. The Tories’ claim this legislation, like their other housing bills, is intended to build more homes by cutting red tape.  “Delays and backlogs at the LTB [Landlord and Tenant Board] are hurting both tenants and landlords,” said the Tories in their technical briefing. “It is important for the government to take action to stop bad actors and improve speed, fairness, and accessibility at the LTB to help resolve disputes faster with the goal of eliminating the backlog.”  Effectively, Queen’s Park intends to clear the LTB’s backlog by streamlining away any tools tenants had to defend themselves or seek accountability at an LTB hearing. The bill effectively nullifies Section 82 of the Residential Tenancies Act, which allows tenants to raise issues of poor maintenance, harassment, and illegal rent collection at a hearing where the landlord makes claims against the tenant for non-payment.  The government is seeking to impose measures including but not limited to: In the middle of a national housing crisis, Ontario’s landlords, with strong representation in the provincial government, are being given an opportunity to charge greater rents.  By abolishing security of tenure, landlords now will be given free rein to remove a tenant at the end of a lease and charge higher rent on the same unit.  According to a report released in January of this year by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, almost 640,000 Ontarian households, or 12.1% of all Ontario households were considered in core housing need, meaning that housing is unaffordable, inadequate, or unsuitable, with no other local options available.

L’article Ontario PCs Seek Abolition of Tenant Protections est apparu en premier sur The North Star.

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Alberta teachers, 51,000 strong, have been on strike across the province since October 6. On Monday, the provincial government is expected to table legislation to order them back to work.  Some 740,000 students in all public, Catholic, and francophone schools are affected. The issues are salary and the consequences of the UCP Government’s underfunding of public education: workload, class sizes, school resources, and the need for more teachers.  Jason Schilling, President of the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) commented that back-to-work legislation would be “undemocratic and deeply disrespectful to teachers, to students and to the collective bargaining process itself.” The latest mediated offer included a 12% increase over four years and 3,000 more teachers. But teacher’s salaries have fallen drastically with inflation, and the new teachers would be soaked up by the Government’s promised 250 new schools and a 33,000 increase in student numbers every year.  Teachers soundly rejected the latest offer, with 89.5% voting no at the end of September. Talks resumed October 14, but no change is expected in the employer’s position.  The employer school boards bargain jointly through a board representing all 65 boards. The employers have their purse strings held tight by the Government. ATA members voted 95% to strike in June. The government did no meaningful bargaining all summer.  If the government’s goal was to turn the public against the teachers, it failed. On October 4, two days before the strike was set to begin, massive pro-teacher rallies took place in the province. Crowds were estimated to be as high as 18,000 in Edmonton and 5,000 in Calgary.  One online poll by Angus Reid pegs support for the teachers at almost 60%, with only 21% backing the UCP.  After the strike started, the government announced 30-dollar-per-day payments to parents of students 12 and under students. It has also announced computer-based home learning programs, which include American content.  The UCP has been cutting public school funding since taking power in 2019. Alberta’s per-student funding in public schools has plummeted to the lowest in Canada, while its public funding for private schools has risen to the highest in the country.  It seems that the UCP’s goal is to weaken all aspects of public education so that parents will look elsewhere to private schooling options or even home schooling. Premier Danielle Smith said in 2018 that a way must be found to “break” the public school system’s “monopoly” on education.  At their last party convention, the UCP resolved to break up the Alberta Teachers Association by moving its regulatory and discipline function to another body and making ATA membership optional.  Update on teachers strike

L’article Alberta teachers strike province-wide under threat of back-to-work legislation est apparu en premier sur The North Star.

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