The Council of Canadians has issued a news release citing the recently announced proposed amendments to the Agreement of Internal Trade (AIT) as a massive sell-out of democracy and complete capitulation by Canadian Provincial Premiers to their corporate masters.
Last week, Federation of Labour Presidents from across Canada met in Quebec City and issued a news release denouncing the actions of Canadian Premiers for similar reasons.
Other groups and organizations have raised concerns about the anti-democratic and secretive behaviour of the Canadian Premiers, see:
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
Canadian Union of Public Employees
The Progressive Economics Forum
4 comments:
Hi Larry
Good stuff here. I wasn't quite sure what to think about changes to the AIT.
What are your thoughts about easier certification for professions? That is what Doer was talking about. Is this aspect something labour groups will be fighting?
Hi Tyson,
Thank you for participating in this blog. I'm not sure what you mean by "easier certification for professions?"
Personally, I support the establishment of Canadian Standards of Certification for various occupations and professions - that would be recognized in all jurisdictions. They've had "Red Seal" certification in some of the Journeyed Trades for many years, and it has been extremely successful.
What needs to be determined is the appropriate level of education, training, and experience to be required and then universal application of that standard. Not gravitating to the lowest common demoninator.
And, we don't need some punitive agreement that allows provinces to sue each other for up to $5 million because they are incapable of figuring it out and getting their act together.
Who pays the cost of these penalties? The taxpayers, that's who.
The answer is mutual recognition agreements between the parties, and adherence to national standards.
What did we elect these politicians to do in the first place? Did we elect them to fight each other in court? Did we elect them to abandon their collective democratic responsibility to regulate and legislate in the public interest? Did we elect them to cut secret deals, behind closed doors with the business elite? Did we elect them to bring in legislation that attacks and strips away the charter rights of the citizens?
Since when did you start worrying about the taxpayer, Larry?
If you did, you're public sector unions wouldn't be crying about wage parity with higher cost jurisdictions.
You choose the argument that fits within your warped sense of values.
thanks for clearing that up larry...the whole provinces suing other provinces thing is kind of ridiculous...i mean, what other countries have that sort of system?
and yeah, i definitely share your fear that if we standardize the accreditation process for numerous trades, the lowest common denominator will be the accepted standard...especially since it would devalue the labor that working people are selling...something i'm sure the capitalists would be interested in
keep fighting the good fight
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