COVID-19: Don’t make university students choose between education and legal rights: St. Francis Xavier University, in Antigonish, N.S. — known colloquially as StFXU — recently announced its students would have to sign COVID-19 liability waivers. StFXU is offering most of its courses in person this fall.

Under StFXU’s proposed waiver, students won’t be allowed to return to campus or participate in any activities — including online activities — unless they first sign it.

By doing so, students would have no legal recourse against StFXU if they contracted COVID-19 due to the university’s negligence or wrongdoing.

COVID-19: Don’t make university students choose between education and legal rights: St. Francis Xavier University, in Antigonish, N.S. — known colloquially as StFXU — recently announced its students would have to sign COVID-19 liability waivers. StFXU is offering most of its courses in person this fall.Under StFXU’s proposed waiver, students won’t be allowed to return to campus or participate in any activities — including online activities — unless they first sign it.By doing so, students would have no legal recourse against StFXU if they contracted COVID-19 due to the university’s negligence or wrongdoing.Read More

Will The Coal Mine Poison Lethbridge Water?:

According to Yale University, “in humans, chronic exposure to high selenium concentrations can cause nausea, fatigue, skin lesions, and neurological disorders. In other animals, high levels of the element have been shown to cause liver damage, paralysis, and even death. In the waterways it leeches into, it bioaccumulates in fish and plants, meaning the concentration keeps becoming more toxic to its host. It will kill the fish and deplete the resources altogether. Larger animals like cattle have become infected and gotten sick so it’s very important to monitor any water supply where animals or birds will have access to.

Will The Coal Mine Poison Lethbridge Water?: According to Yale University, “in humans, chronic exposure to high selenium concentrations can cause nausea, fatigue, skin lesions, and neurological disorders. In other animals, high levels of the element have been shown to cause liver damage, paralysis, and even death. In the waterways it leeches into, it bioaccumulates in fish and plants, meaning the concentration keeps becoming more toxic to its host. It will kill the fish and deplete the resources altogether. Larger animals like cattle have become infected and gotten sick so it’s very important to monitor any water supply where animals or birds will have access to.Read More

What Kenney Had to Kill to Embrace Coal | The Tyee: The result could be the stripping away of mountain tops across more than a million and half hectares of terrain — about half the size of Vancouver Island.

Gone, as of last May, is the province’s 1976 Coal Policy, which protected the headwaters of rivers that secure drinking water for Canadians across the prairies.

What Kenney Had to Kill to Embrace Coal | The Tyee: The result could be the stripping away of mountain tops across more than a million and half hectares of terrain — about half the size of Vancouver Island.Gone, as of last May, is the province’s 1976 Coal Policy, which protected the headwaters of rivers that secure drinking water for Canadians across the prairies.Read More

Solidarity after the Pandemic: Basic Income or Basic Services?: If internet searches are any indication, a national basic income is gaining attention. Some say the $2,000 a month Canada Emergency Response Benefit has opened the door to this idea, and a well-timed new parliamentary budget report adds hard numbers to the debate.

Indeed, the CERB has helped many and fostered self-sufficiency through hardships, but the pandemic has also revealed the necessity of strong social safety nets. The question of what comes next has a high level of urgency.

Solidarity after the Pandemic: Basic Income or Basic Services?: If internet searches are any indication, a national basic income is gaining attention. Some say the $2,000 a month Canada Emergency Response Benefit has opened the door to this idea, and a well-timed new parliamentary budget report adds hard numbers to the debate.Indeed, the CERB has helped many and fostered self-sufficiency through hardships, but the pandemic has also revealed the necessity of strong social safety nets. The question of what comes next has a high level of urgency.Read More

Politicians Are Using EI To Rob Workers, Not Help Them:

Robbing Workers for Fun and Profit

Employers and employees continue to pay into EI, but due to the major restrictions on eligibility, the EI fund has pulled in massive surpluses for decades. From 1989 to 1999 alone, worker and employer contributions to EI’s account generated a surplus in today’s dollars of more than 67 billion. For perspective, Canada’s student loans are worth about $28 billion, and the recent CERB program cost an estimated $71 billion.

The EI surplus intended for the unemployed has been raided by Liberal and Conservative governments alike. Prime Minister Paul Martin used the fund’s surpluses to pay off the deficit, meaning banks and bond-holders received worker-generated funds intended to support the unemployed. In 2010, the Stephen Harper government folded a $57 billion balance into the government’s general revenues. Harper also continued, as Martin did, to use EI funds to balance the budget.

Politicians Are Using EI To Rob Workers, Not Help Them: Robbing Workers for Fun and ProfitEmployers and employees continue to pay into EI, but due to the major restrictions on eligibility, the EI fund has pulled in massive surpluses for decades. From 1989 to 1999 alone, worker and employer contributions to EI’s account generated a surplus in today’s dollars of more than 67 billion. For perspective, Canada’s student loans are worth about $28 billion, and the recent CERB program cost an estimated $71 billion. The EI surplus intended for the unemployed has been raided by Liberal and Conservative governments alike. Prime Minister Paul Martin used the fund’s surpluses to pay off the deficit, meaning banks and bond-holders received worker-generated funds intended to support the unemployed. In 2010, the Stephen Harper government folded a $57 billion balance into the government’s general revenues. Harper also continued, as Martin did, to use EI funds to balance the budget.Read More