Top Stories
Toronto Star editorial: Ontario needs an increase in the minimum wage:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2013/05/25/ontario_needs_an_increase_in_the_minimum_wage_editorial.html
Provincial and federal lawyers are in court today to stifle a challenge that says the governments are violating the Charter by failing to implement policies that would reduce and eventually eliminate homelessness and substandard housing:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/05/26/landmark_homeless_charter_challenge_may_never_be_heard_if_government_wins_bid_to_quash_case.html
The Canadian Medical Association is on a cross-country tour to prescribe income to treat the health effects of high poverty rates:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/05/24/poverty-disease.html
Upcoming Events
This Thursday, May 29: Canadians for Tax Fairness and McGill Faculty of Law are hosting a Tax Justice Roundtable – livestreaming available!
http://www.taxfairness.ca/news/live-mcgill-university-tax-justice-roundtable
Around the Province
Toronto MP launches an “urban worker strategy”:
http://torontoist.com/2013/05/shining-a-light-on-precarious-urban-workers/
Across the Country
The CMA warns high poverty rates are leading to poor health in the Maritimes:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/03/29/pei-maritime-health-povery-cma.html
PSAC members continue to protest EI changes in Nova Scotia
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1131440-psac-protests-ei-changes
National
Stats Can’s numbers on EI claimant numbers show fewer people qualifying for benefits:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/05/23/ei-recipients-canada-more_n_3326753.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
Decoding Canada’s “skills crisis”:
http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/05/24/decoding_canadas_skills_crisis.html
Universal drug coverage pitched as insurance carriers say private drug benefit plans are “not sustainable”:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/story_print.html?id=8436033
“Expanding the CPP is the only way to secure the future for today’s young workers”:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/05/26/seize_the_day_on_the_cpp.html
More on corporate tax avoidance: “The race to the bottom of the tax pile.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/shareholders-and-the-dark-art-of-gaming-the-tax-system/article12143180/
The CLC says Harper’s government is keeping Canadians unemployed:
http://www.thebulletin.ca/cbulletin/content.jsp?ctid=1000161&cnid=1003436
Appointments to the new Social Security Tribunal, which will hold sway over EI, CPP and OAS appeals, “part of the new culture of accountability”:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservatives-load-up-social-security-tribunal-with-allies/article12160769/
International
A local council in the UK is using “voice risk analysis” software to try to detect fraud among benefits claimants:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jan/23/conservative-council-lie-detector-benefits
A new study shows poverty among US seniors is increasing:
http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2013/05/25/As-more-older-Americans-do-without-Washington-should-bolster-Social-Security-not-cut-it-back.html