Conservatives Playing Games Before Labor Day, Union Says

Conservative Complaint Over Sponsorship At NDP Event 'Groundless,' Union Head Says

OTTAWA — The Conservative Party launched a "groundless, strategic assault" against the labour movement, the head of Canada’s largest private sector union said Sunday after the Tories accused the NDP of accepting improper sponsorships from trade unions.

Wayne Hanley, the national president of UFCW Canada, issued a press release Sunday evening after The Huffington Post Canada first reported that the Conservative Party had asked Elections Canada to investigate whether the NDP had broken the law by accepting money from unions to advertise at its national convention in Vancouver last June.

The allegations, Hanley said, are "a groundless, strategic assault on the labour movement, and on ordinary Canadians who are fed up with the vicious, partisan politics the Harper Conservatives are so proud of."

Hanley said the Tories are well aware that ads at fair market value are allowed and there was no election law breach.

"There is nothing amiss here,” he said. “UFCW Canada respected every rule and regulation in an open and completely transparent manner. It is cynical timing, so typical of the Conservatives, to launch this smear on working Canadians and their unions on the eve of the annual celebration of the achievements of the labour movement."

Hanley suggested the Tories were reacting to news that support for the NDP was rising following the public outpouring of sympathy after leader Jack Layton’s death from cancer on Aug. 22.

The Conservative Party released a letter to the media Sunday morning that its lawyer Arthur Hamilton had written to Marc Mayrand, the chief electoral officer of Canada on Aug. 31, 2011, requesting a review of what it suggested were inappropriate NDP sponsorships.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/09/04/conservatives-say-ndp-convention-union-spondorship-election-rules_n_948453.html

(31) Jack Layton

Ailing Layton came to crossroads Saturday

OTTAWA - Jack Layton knew what loomed Saturday when he spent almost four hours with his closest advisers on contingency plans in case his return to Parliament never happened.

Even as his strength ebbed, he mapped out scenarios for the leadership convention that might follow and for the challenges his successor would inevitably face.

"What he wanted from us was advice, plans on what would happen if he wasn't able to be back in the fall ... and what would happen if he were to pass away," said Anne McGrath, Layton's chief of staff.

It had been less than a month since a frail and hoarse NDP leader told a news conference he was stepping aside temporarily to fight a new cancer. He had already spent months fighting off prostate cancer, enduring the grind of the election trail.

Layton did not waste time after addressing a saddened and stunned nation, McGrath recalls.

"He said, 'OK, now that that's done, I'm going to pull my medical team together this week and challenge them to come up with a plan,'" she said Monday in an interview.

"So he knew it was tough, he knew it was an uphill battle, and it certainly was an uphill battle over the summer."

McGrath, who had worked closely with Layton since his successful 2002 leadership run, spoke to him daily. One of those calls came when he was receiving treatment at Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital.

"He started to talk and then he said, 'Oh, I have to go, the medical team is here now,'" she remembered. "Then I was back on the phone with him probably 15 minutes later."

There were good days and bad days. Through it all, the unwaveringly positive politician's spirits did not flag.

"The Jack Layton that people see in the public is very much the same Jack Layton as he is personally. He was upbeat, he encouraged me to keep going.

"One of the difficult things for me was that he would often apologize to me. He would sort of say, 'I'm so sorry that you have to go through this,' which is so unbelievable to me that he would do that."

McGrath would see Layton weekly, usually on Saturday, at the home he shared with wife and fellow New Democrat MP Olivia Chow.

Her mid-August visit wasn't encouraging. McGrath asked Layton what kind of day it was.

"And he said, '50-50.' So it was a rough day."

This last weekend was better. McGrath arrived at about 3 p.m. for a meeting that included Layton, his wife, and Brian Topp, the party president.

Layton sat in a living room chair wearing a zip-up fleece and sweat pants McGrath had retrieved from Stornoway, the official Ottawa residence where he and Olivia had spent so little time.

"He said he thought that the pain management was going well, he said he was feeling a little bit more comfortable."

There were worrying signs, though. "He didn't look great. He was very thin. He was in some pain at different times."

Still, Layton's voice was actually stronger than at the news conference weeks earlier.

"He was awake and alert and talking, and challenging, actually," McGrath said.

"He was still very politically sharp. We were talking about the caucus retreats and the opening session of Parliament, and he was asking questions.

"I was presenting something to him, and he said to me, 'OK, talk me through what your thinking is on this.'"

Topp was clearly moved by the visit.

"I was struck at the enormous strength that Jack draws from his family, who were all around him and had been all summer," he said in an interview.

"And so Jack was exactly where he wanted to be in his beautiful, meticulously energy-retrofitted house, surrounded by the people he loved the most. And there's no question he was very ill indeed but he was still Jack Layton."

Before leaving just shy of 7 p.m., McGrath had a moment alone with her longtime political ally.

Parting was difficult, because she knew it might be the last time she saw Layton.

"I kissed him, I told him I loved him. I stroked his face, and then I left."

When McGrath's phone rang, she really wasn't prepared for the news.

"I was actually getting ready to go to bed and I got the call saying he's probably going to pass away in the next few hours.

"It's so funny to be so shocked, when you expect something, but you still are."

Layton was surrounded by family when he died in the early hours of Monday.

"He was at home, he was comfortable, it was peaceful," McGrath said.

"Any of us who've been through a cancer death, it's the way anyone would want it to be, with your family with you, and just a peaceful passing away."

http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/ailing-layton-came-to-crossroads-saturday?wa=wsignin1.0

Layton to lie in state on Parliament Hill

OTTAWA - Jack Layton's body will lie in state in the foyer outside the House of Commons where the NDP leader used to joust daily with reporters.

The lying-in-state will be open to the public Wednesday from 12:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

 
 

A state funeral is to be held Saturday afternoon at  

Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall.

State funerals are normally accorded only to current and former prime ministers and governors general, and current cabinet ministers.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper exercised his discretion to offer the honour for Layton.

Layton's wife, MP Olivia Chow, accepted the offer.

In the meantime, the NDP is inviting people to sign books of condolence for Layton at party constituency offices across the country beginning today.

The New Democrat leader died of cancer early Monday. He was 61.

The party says people can visit their local constituency offices and leave messages or share stories about how Layton touched their lives.

People can also go online at www.ndp.ca and click on: Express your Condolences.

Layton's family has asked that donations be made to The Broadbent Institute in lieu of flowers.

http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/layton-to-lie-in-state-on-parliament-hill

What will you remember most about Jack Layton?

[] His eternal optimism
[] His determination
[] His historic political win
[] His bad political judgment
[] His moustache
[] His love of family
[] His good political judgment

Open letter from Jack Layton to Canadians

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world.
http://www.blogto.com/news_flash/2011/08/open_letter_from_jack_layton_to_canadians/


Jack Layton steps down to battle cancer



Visit http://canuckpolitics.com/

Jack Layton Memorial At Vancouver Art Gallery: A Moving Tribute

Jack Layton was the leader of the New Democratic Party, Canada's Official Opposition party. He died on August 22, 2011 from cancer. He was 61. A public memorial was held on the same day, at the Vancouver Art Gallery / Robson Square. The crowd gathered to remember a likeable politician, as paradoxical as it sounds.

An explanation about the orange pop for those not familiar with Canadian politics. The NDP is Canada's left wing party, and as little as 10 years ago had little influence, with just over a dozen seats in parliament. Under Jack Layton's leadership, it steadily gained ground until the 2011 elections, when the NDP stunned the nation by winning 103 seats and becoming the Official Opposition party. That election was dubbed the "Orange Crush", with NDP's official color being orange. Jack Layton died three months after that historical achievement by his party.

Music: Kevin MacLeod

Please subscribe for more videos featuring the best city on earth - Vancouver, Canada, and watch movies from exotic travel destinations around the world!



Jack Layton paraphrases Tommy Douglas's tale about mice voting for cats, at a rally in Saskatoon.



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/youtube-jack-layton-and-the-cats-and-mice/article2003183/

Nardwuar vs. Jack Layton
Nardwuar polls NDP leader Jack Layton on the Hip Flip constituency.



ORANGE CRUSH:
http://www.ekospolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/full_report_april_25_2011.pdf

http://www.counterweights.ca/2011/04/canadian-federal-election-2011-orange-crush-the-plot-thickens-or-not/

http://www.counterweights.ca/2005/11/orange_order/

http://www.ndp.ca/

(30) Quebec sovereigntists endure harsh weekend

Quebec's sovereignty movement is weathering a tumultuous weekend, with infighting in Parti Québécois ranks over a new separatist party and the performance of leader Pauline Marois.

The new sovereigntist group, called Un Nouveau Mouvement pour le Québec, held a daylong colloquium in Montreal on Sunday, at which participants accused the PQ of failing the push for an independent Quebec by being unable to capture the votes of all Quebec separatists.

"We need to have an independent government that decides, legislator by legislator, what's in the best interest of Quebec," said psychologist Jean-Marc Labrèche, a Montreal candidate for the Parti indépendantiste, which started up in 2007 in reaction to the PQ's fall to third-party status in that year's election.

Three ex-PQ politicians — Pierre Curzi, Lisette Lapointe and Jean-Martin Aussant — attended Sunday's sessions, while MNA Louise Beaudoin couldn't make it. All four broke with the party in June over its support of legislation to block lawsuits against a sweetheart deal between Quebecor Inc. and Quebec City. The pact would give Quebecor tax-free control of the city's proposed $400-million hockey arena for 30 years.

Their decision to partake in the conference did not sit well with PQ faithful, several of whom, including former Opposition leader Jacques-Yvan Morin, penned an open letter condemning the trio and saying a new party would further divide the sovereignty movement, which already splits its votes between the PQ, Québec Solidaire, the Action démocratique du Québec and the wee Parti indépendantiste.

Beaudoin said she thought about the criticism and has enormous respect for Morin, but ultimately decided that if the Parti Québécois crumbles, "it's because it's no longer strong enough."

Sunday's conference also saw some people defend the PQ, which has been the standard-bearer for the province's sovereignty movement since the 1960s.

Pierre Dubuc, co-founder of a left-wing PQ faction called SPQ Libre that was expelled from the party last year, said he too worries about the sovereignty movement splintering, and he recommended separatists hold a general assembly to try to smooth over some of their differences. "It's important to regroup our forces," he said.

Marois criticized

But even amid the calls for reconciliation, a new flare-up plagued Opposition Leader Marois, who as recently as April received 93 per cent support in a confidence vote from party members — only to see her fortunes plummet when Beaudoin, Curzi and Lapointe quit the caucus in June, followed by Aussant and Benoît Charette.

In an interview with La Presse published Saturday, president of the PQ youth wing Christine Normandin said "work needs to be done" for youth members to keep their confidence in Marois. She added that she is not among the members of the party who have assured their unconditional support for its leader.

Later in the day, she issued a statement retracting her comments, saying she and the youth wing "totally support" Marois.

All the skirmishing was seized on by former PQ cabinet minister François Legault, who's heading up his own, right-wing political movement and told a youth conference in Montreal on Saturday that the infighting shows the debate over independence should be put on the back burner.

Legault said the Quebec independence movement just isn't as popular as it once was.

Legault's movement, called the Coalition for Quebec's Future, promises to focus on economic and social reforms and shelve the debate over sovereignty for at least a decade.

With files from The Canadian Press

http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/quebec-sovereigntists-endure-harsh-weekend-1?wa=wsignin1.0

(29) Living out Loud

http://www.cbc.ca/livingoutloud/
http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/program/living_out_loud


Past Episodes
http://www.cbc.ca/livingoutloud/episode/

(28) Police Messed Up with Robert Pickton

This rant is part of a radio broadcast of Hilarious Outrage, which airs weekly on RadioSatan666.com. Hail The Prince of Darkness!

I tear a new asshole out of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for royally messing up the investigation of Robert Pickton. An internal review released a 400 page report, detailing how mistakes and negligence with the VPD and RCMP delayed the arrest and conviction of Robert Pickton.

Cops not believed as killing continued: report

(27) Gruesome Pickton details revealed

PORT HARDY - There are growing calls for a public inquiry into the Robert Pickton serial murders, as new details emerge.

Most of the publication bans have been lifted, and we are hearing now the evidence that the jury at his murder trial did not.

The release of these new and shocking details is prompting strong reactions from the families of the women Pickton murdered.

Yesterday charges against Pickton related to the murders 20 other women were stayed, and information about the crimes and the police investigation are coming to light.

The new details include the story of a bloody knife fight between Pickton and an alleged would-be victim on his farm.

The struggle sent both Pickton and a prostitute to the same hospital back in 1997.

Doctors removed the handcuff on her wrist, using a key found in Pickton's pocket.

At the time charges against Pickton were dropped.

Other gruesome details reveal DNA of the murdered women was found in processed meat on his farm.

Marnie Frey was murdered by Pickton.

In Port Hardy today, her parents and daughter say they're the public is finally hearing the details.

They're still calling for a public inquiry into how police who were aware of Pickton in the mid '90's -- but couldn't arrest him until 2002.

(26) Sex Workers: To Protect or Punish?

If you live in Canada I urge you to write your elected officials and urge them to fight against this.
=====================================================================================================

In the wake of a serial prostitute killer, Canada cracks down on the trade, putting women at greater risk.

Countries of the world, take note -- this is an example of poor legislative timing: Canada has passed measures that arguably put sex workers in greater danger, just as anger mounts over the mishandling of the investigation into a serial prostitute killer. Adding to the current tension, a verdict is expected this month in a complaint challenging sections of the criminal code on the grounds that it violates prostitutes' constitutional right to "liberty and security."

The legality of prostitution is always controversial, even in a country like Canada where it is technically legal, and where everyone is purported to be so darn nice. (I say "technically legal," because the criminal code places restrictions on the sale of sex that effectively make it illegal in most practical scenarios.) However, given the recent focus on the case of Robert Pickton, a pig farmer who preyed on prostitutes in Vancouver, the debate has perhaps never been so intensely emotionally fraught. Add to that the fact that, according to a recent report out of the Vancouver Police Department, Pickton was allowed to continue his killing spree for years in part because -- to the surprise of exactly zero sex workers -- police discredited crucial tips from local prostitutes. Now they're reallygoing to appreciate that law enforcement crackdown.

As The Toronto Star's Antonia Zerbisias puts it, the federal regulations broadly aimed at fighting organized crime were "enacted in the dead of summer without Parliamentary debate" and "give government the powers to wiretap, deny bail, and move in on people without the usual safeguards such as warrants." The upshot is that "a trio of prostitutes partying together with their 'dates' are tantamount to The Sopranos, and deserve the same treatment as gun runners or drug gangs," she writes. "Instead of a maximum two-year term, sex workers could now face 'at least five years' in prison, have all their assets seized and their children taken away." In the face of such penalties, advocates say sex workers will turn to the streets, which aren't as safe and take away their ability to fully screen clients.

As for the complaint currently sitting before the Ontario Supreme Court, the aim is to repeal the laws that effectively make prostitution illegal: the ban on public solicitation, living off the proceeds of sex for pay and running a "bawdy house" (broadly defined as "a place that is kept or occupied, or resorted to by one or more persons, for the purpose of prostitution or the practice of acts of indecency"). The plaintiffs' argument isn't just in defense of their right to make money by having sex, but also their right to do so without having to put their lives at risk. As Kate Harding summarized last November:

The fear of losing their assets and homes for illegally living on money earned by providing a legal service is one part of it, but the more important part is that changing the laws could save lives. Unable to work openly, in groups or to hire security, sex workers believe they are more at risk of robbery, assault, rape and murder under the current criminal code than they would be if prostitution were fully decriminalized.

It's easy to express outrage over the Pickton murders, and the fact that police exhibited a bias against local prostitutes that hurt the investigation and allowed a serial killer to continue his spree -- but the real question, the only one that really matters now, is what's going to be done to best protect sex workers and prevent this from happening again.

• Tracy Clark-Flory is a staff writer at Salon. Follow @tracyclarkflory on Twitter. More: Tracy Clark-Flory