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Lok-Hin Yuen

National defence union fights government plan to outsource security jobs | iPolitics - 1 views

  • online campaign urging the government to reconsider outsourcing 91 national security jobs, a transfer current employees say would put the country’s safety at risk.
  • plan to outsource dozens of jobs at Communications Security Establishment Canada, the low-key federal agency responsible for monitoring foreign signals and military intelligence
  • potential consequences of allocating the low-level jobs to Plenary Group, a private company that is also working on the construction of the department’s new multimillion-dollar headquarters
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  • Allowing a private organization into national security . . . is going to make the country – and other countries Canada does business with – vulnerable
  • Simpson said government jobs will not be lost in the transition and that about 20 new public-service positions will be created to manage the department’s relationship with private contractors.
  • Simpson said he could not comment how effective the union tactic was
Kiruban Mahadeva

Canada 2011 Budget: Flaherty Budget Speech (Text) - Bloomberg - 1 views

  • The global economy is still fragile. The U.S. and our other trading partners are facing challenges. Compared to other countries, Canada's economy is performing very well-but our continued recovery is by no means assured. Many threats remain.
  • Securing our recovery from the global recession The Next Phase of Canada's Economic Action Plan is critically important
  • Now is not the time for instability. It would make it harder for Canadian businesses to plan and to expand. It would drive investment away to other countries. It would jeopardize the gains we have made.
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  • We will keep taxes low. We will undertake additional targeted investments to support jobs and growth
  • massive tax increases
  • We will not give in to Opposition demands to impose
  • This reckless policy would lead to continuing deficits and higher taxes on all Canadians. It would stall our recovery, kill hundreds of thousands of jobs and set families back.
  • Sustained growth comes from the private sector. We will help businesses to create jobs. We will not raise taxes on growth.
  • Since July 2009, the Canadian economy has created more than 480,000 new jobs-more than were lost during the recession
  • we remain concerned about the number of Canadians looking for work
  • We need to keep protecting and creating jobs now
  • Keeping taxes low A key part of that foundation is low taxes.
  • Our government has delivered tax relief for all Canadians
  • Our tax cuts are also helping employers to invest, grow and create jobs.
  • Our commitment to low taxes is supported by a strong consensus: that protecting Canada's tax advantage is key to securing our recovery.
  • Canadian industries Even so, in the current global economic climate, many businesses remain hesitant to invest and to hire.
  • Our government will take further action to encourage them to expand and create jobs.
  • The Hiring Credit for Small Business will provide a one-year EI break for some 525,000 Canadian small businesses
  • Expanding international trade Beyond this, we will promote new export opportunities for all Canadian businesses
  • We need to keep expanding our access to foreign markets, to create new jobs here at home.
  • We will provide greater financial security for Canadians, and practical help to make ends meet.
ngodup yaklha

Greece readies for asset fire sale - 0 views

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    Mass privatizations have emerged as one of the main conditions for the next instalment of Greece's €110-billion bailout package, received a year ago, when the country hit the debt wall and was unable to fund itself. If the privatizations proceed, the EU might also agree to some other goodies, such as trimming the interest rates on Greece's bailout loans, or extending their maturities. Greece's first privatization effort was launched in the early 1990s under Stefanos Manos, who was minister of economy and finance at the time. Before he lost his job in 1993, the telecom industry deregulation was well under way and public-private partnerships were put in place. Later, banking was deregulated to some degree. But then the political will to keep going evaporated and the deregulation and privatization processes pretty much stopped.
Joey Keum

UPDATE 2-Canada unveils plan for jobs, balanced budget | Reuters - 0 views

  • Aims to balance budget by 2014 without raising taxes
  • OTTAWA, June 3 (Reuters) - Canada's Conservative government will focus on jobs and growth while eliminating the federal budget deficit, it said on Friday as it unveiled a plan for the four-year mandate it won in last month's election.
  • "We will get back to work on the things that matter most to Canadians: good jobs, security for our families and a prosperous future," Johnston said on behalf of the government.
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  • "Jobs and growth will remain our government's top priority," Johnston said.
  • "In order to accelerate the return to a balanced budget and to eliminate the deficit one year earlier, over the next year we will undertake a strategic and operating review of government spending," he said.
  • "Our government's plan will put us on a strong footing to resume paying down the federal debt, further reduce taxes on families and continue investing in priorities."
Joey Keum

Canadian HR Reporter - Article - February job growth weaker than expected - 1 views

  • Net employment gains in the month were a modest 15,100, below market forecasts of a 21,000 increase, said a Statistics Canada report.
  • he report disappointed hopes that hiring momentum in the previous two months would persist. Net job gains were 69,200 in January and 30,400 in December.
  • Canada has recovered jobs lost during the recession faster than the United States but the February data bucked that trend.
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  • The labour market is not going to create any further inflationary pressure, either coming from wage (gains) or the general strength in the labor markets," said Sebastien Lavoie, assistant chief economist at Laurentian Bank Securities.
  • In further signs of slowing, Canada's labour report said the economy shed 24,000 full-time positions in February, partially offset by the addition of 39,000 part-time jobs. The number of self-employed workers rose, while the number working in the private sector edged lower.
  • The February jobless rate was unchanged at 7.8 per cent, versus the 7.7 per cent forecasts by analysts in a Reuters poll.
  • The average hourly wage of permanent employees — which is closely watched by the Bank of Canada for inflation pressures — rose 2.5 per cent from February 2010, up from 2.3 per cent year-on-year rate in both January and December.
  • "It probably lowers the probability of any near term tightening by the Bank of Canada and as a result (will) probably weigh on the Canadian dollar," said Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada.
Alejandro Enamorado

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% | Society | Vanity Fair - 0 views

  • In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent.
  • While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall. For men with only high-school degrees, the decline has been precipitous—12 percent in the last quarter-century alone.
  • The justification they came up with was called “marginal-productivity theory.” In a nutshell, this theory associated higher incomes with higher productivity and a greater contribution to society.
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  • The most obvious example involves tax policy. Lowering tax rates on capital gains, which is how the rich receive a large portion of their income, has given the wealthiest Americans close to a free ride.
  • Imagine what the world might look like if the rules were designed instead to encourage competition among countries for workers. Governments would compete in providing economic security, low taxes on ordinary wage earners, good education, and a clean environment—things workers care about.
Lok-Hin Yuen

CTV News | With temporary workers, flexibility's the name of the game - 1 views

  • Weak business confidence coming out of the global credit crisis is playing a major part in keeping jobless rates at painful levels – U.S. unemployment is nine per cent while Canada is stuck above 7.5 per cent in large part because companies are wary of hiring long-term.
  • Canada’s employment-services industry is mostly temporary staffing along with permanent placements and contract staffing, according to Statscan. Revenue has climbed steadily in the past decade, and employment in the sector has jumped six per cent in the past year alone, to 158,000 people.
  • But as the industry grows around the world – staffing firms are expanding in Europe and in emerging markets such as India and China – there’s an intensifying debate over the merits of an increasingly fluid work force. Proponents say it helps both employers and workers be nimble in globally competitive markets; opponents argue it’s part of a shift toward precarious, lower-pay work.
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  • Temporary workers tend to earn less than permanent staff, they get little or no benefits and many can be fired without notice
  • The earnings gap between a permanent and a contract worker is about 13 per cent, while between a permanent and casual worker the gap is about 34 per cent
  • Labour is typically a company’s most expensive cost, and a contingent labour force helps reduce costs
  • What staffing agencies dub “flexible” work, unions call “precarious.”
  • With the recession and the resulting slackness, employers are in a position where they can offer no security, no benefits, unreliable hours and lousy pay – and still have people apply. And that will persist until either the labour market picks up or we put some restrictions in place on how precarious employment works
  • Lower pay leads to weaker consumer spending, restricts workers’ ability to get a mortgage and makes it more difficult to save for the future.
  • $8.7-billionRevenue from temp industry in Canada in 2009 (up from $1-billion in 1993).158,000Number of Canadians employed in temp services in the past year, up six per cent from year earlier.13%Estimated earnings gap between a permanent worker and a temporary contract worker.
Chris Li

Will export restrictions on energy echo those on food? - The Globe and Mail - 2 views

  • Instead of soaring food and energy prices encouraging food and energy producers to export more, they may export less and divert more of their output to domestic markets. The reason is simple: to keep domestic prices from matching soaring world prices.
  • But when it is food and energy prices, the political pressures become immense. They are so immense you can toss your economics textbook out the window.
  • Instead, no less than 29 food-exporting countries responded by banning food exports and kept their crop production for a hungry domestic market.
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  • And food-importing countries that secured supplies, quickly started to hoard them in anticipation that more food exporters would decide to keep their crops at home.
  • “to maintain social stability and promote economic development”.
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