Trouble Is Everywhere

In this case, the Conservative attack on pay equity – the idea that men and women should be paid equally for work of equal value – provides the most telling example. Bill C-10 would end the right of federal civil servants to take pay equity complaints to the federal human rights commission. Instead, such issues would have to be dealt with as part of the normal bargaining process between union and management.

And in determining whether wage rates for men and women were fair, any arbitrator would have to take "market forces" into account.

The problem with this is twofold. First, as a federal task force wrote five years ago, collective bargaining involves tradeoffs. But a woman's constitutionally protected right to be paid fairly is hardly something that should be traded away for an extra coffee break.

Equally important is the reference to market forces. Toronto lawyer Mary Cornish points out that pay equity was designed specifically to rectify a failure in the market that permitted systemic wage discrimination against women. To turn around and subordinate equity to this same market is to negate the entire exercise.

Dear Green Party friend,

The financial crisis has created a political stampede to stimulate the economy, and as usual the Conservative government is using a crisis as a cover. It is planning to dismantle Canada's environmental protection legislation. Transport Minister John Baird said recently that the plan to speed up infrastructure spending is being held up by 100-year-old rules. This is the same man who gave us a climate change plan designed to accomplish nothing other than media hits.

He was referring to the Navigable Waters Protection Act, a law that has enabled the federal government to protect lakes and rivers for a century. It, along with the Environmental Assessment Act and the Environmental Protection Act, gives the federal government both the right and the responsibility to preserve Canada's natural heritage. Last Thursday, environmental groups released evidence that the government plans to gut the Environmental Assessment Act.

These environmental laws were written so that the environmental implications of projects are considered before construction begins. They are of fundamental importance to protecting our wildlife, our air, and our water.

Too many times in the past we have ignored the environment in our rush to go faster only to learn, once it was too late, that the environment was at risk.

The Green Party advocates stimulating the green economy to create jobs and secure our children's future, but we cannot let the financial crisis cloud our judgment. We must see it as an opportunity to make the right kinds of decisions, to preserve our environmental protections, and to invest in the green economy.

The budget will come on January 27th, and all the attention will be focused on the billions being spent and the huge deficit. We can't let the Conservative government use the budget and the crisis to cover up the dismantling of Canada's environmental protection legislation.

Please join us in raising the alarm. Voice your concern!

1. Contact the Hon. Jim Prentice, Minister of Environment, to let him know we are watching.
2. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper.
3. Make a donation to help us in our fight against these changes.

zingerella

In your capacity as the leader of the party that forms Canada's government, you and the people with whom you work directly have access to all manner of experts, in all different areas. I must wonder why you disdain their work and insist that your government will look to "ordinary Canadians" to understand problems that Canadians face. To ignore the body of research and study into criminology and how societies can better reduce crime and deal with people who commit crime is akin to ignoring the expertise of one of your speech-writers and instead asking your veterinarian to write your speeches for you. Your vet may have some good ideas, but chances are he or she doesn't have the expertise needed to craft an effective speech. It's like asking me how best to make sure all Canadians have access to clean drinking water: sure, like any ordinary Canadian, I have opinions, but you'd really be better off entrusting water purification to an expert in water filtration systems (or whatever appropriate expert exists).

Mr. Harper, as an ordinary Canadian, I already have access, all on my own, to the expertise of other ordinary Canadians. You are the prime minister. You work in the government. You have access to all of my tax dollars and those of my fellow ordinary Canadians, and you can use those dollars to pay experts—people who have spent their lives learning about something specific—to advise you, for the greater good of all Canadians.

You are invited to join the Conservative Party’s Text community! By joining our text community, you will receive up to the minute campaign news on your cell phone.*

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The election is on and Canadians face a clear choice.

A choice between strong leadership that’s on the side of ordinary Canadians or weak leadership that’s totally out-of-touch.

A choice between focused spending and lower taxes or wild spending and higher taxes; a choice between tough-on-crime or soft-on-crime; a choice between a strong Canada that stands up for its values and interests or a weak Canada that refuses to stand up and be counted; a choice between Stephen Harper and Stéphane Dion.