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Thursday June 18, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 18, 2020

Grocery chains play the Grinch in springtime

What was going through the minds of Canada’s big grocery chains when they decided, pretty much simultaneously, to end premium pandemic pay for front-line staff?

May 22, 2019

One thing for sure, it wasn’t positive PR or corporate image messaging. Loblaw, Empire Co. Ltd. (Sobeys) and Metro are all getting hammered for the decision. And they deserve the pounding. 

The three grocery giants had been paying their employees a premium for continuing to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping shelves stocked and people fed despite the personal risk. The so-called “hero pay” plans differed somewhat company to company, but they were all intended to convey the message to the public and staff that front-line grocery workers were heroes of the pandemic and deserved recognition.

Coronavirus cartoons

So what happened? Did the pandemic quietly end? Is the elevated risk gone?

Here is what Loblaw hair Galen Weston said about ending the $2 two dollars per hour premium: “As the economy slowly reopens and Canadians begin to return to work, we believe it is the right time to end the temporary pay premium we introduced at the beginning of the pandemic. Things have now stabilized in our supermarkets and drug stores. After extending the premium multiple times, we are confident our colleagues are operating safely and effectively in a new normal.”

Genevieve Gregoire, Metro’s communication manager, said: “We are no longer working under the crisis conditions that prevailed from March through May as grocers were amongst the only retailers open to the public. Demand is stabilizing as other business are reopening.”

Sobeys CEO Michael Medline put it this way: “As provinces execute their reopening plans and customer behaviour shifts, we felt that this was a natural time to end our Hero Pay program.”

Here’s the thing though. Ontario, for example, is still seeing new cases every day. Yes, the numbers are down, but we still saw 184 new cases between Tuesday and Wednesday morning. There are still new outbreaks at LTC facilities. The public and store staff are still advised or required to wear masks. 

Grocery execs and analysts will be quick to point out that most staff are second-income earners, or young people working part-time, as if that somehow means they shouldn’t be paid a living wage. They should and not just during a pandemic. 

We are not through this yet. Nearly everyone expects a second wave, which could bring consequences not unlike the first wave. Will grocery chains again decide their staff are heroes and pay them a premium? Will they again take out expensive TV ads thanking those heroes?

And what about the provincial government? It has been full of praise for front-line workers of all stripes. Wouldn’t you think it would reconsider its decision to kill a minimum-wage increase? Or is all Premier Doug Ford’s rhetoric, like that of the grocery store chains, really just a gimmick? (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday March 4, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 4, 2020

Ex-PM Joe Clark campaigns for Security Council seat in Africa, Persian Gulf

Former prime minister and foreign minister Joe Clark faces a tough slog during his travels to the Persian Gulf and Africa to campaign for Canada’s bid for the United Nations Security Council, analysts said Monday.

Joe Clark

Clark began a one-week trip Monday as “special envoy” to Algeria, Bahrain, Qatar and Egypt to campaign for Canada’s bid for a temporary two-year seat on the UN’s most powerful body.

If elected, the Trudeau government says Canada will continue to work to strengthen multilateralism, foster peace, address climate change, promote economic security and advance gender equality.

Bessma Momani, an expert in Middle East affairs at the University of Waterloo, says Clark may not get a very receptive audience to Canada’s push for women’s rights among some of the government representatives he will be meeting.

“The people certainly hold Canada in high regard, regardless of what the governments may think,” Momani said. “People are still queuing to immigrate here so clearly we are still doing something right.”

“Certainly our recent emphasis on human rights and women’s rights is probably not received that favourably in that part of the world, which tends to have more conservative values and are part of the global autocratic turn.”

February 8, 2020

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ethiopia and Senegal in February as part of his government’s campaign for the council seat. Several cabinet ministers have also been visiting countries across Africa in recent months.

The secret ballot at the UN General Assembly takes place in June for a two-year term starting next year.

Africa, with its 54 voting countries, is a key voting bloc in the tough fight that pits Canada against Norway and Ireland for two available seats. Both countries spend more per capita than Canada on foreign aid, which is seen by many analysts as an impediment to Canada’s chances to winning the competition.

December 10, 2003

Clark is an appropriate choice to campaign in the region, but he will have his work cut out for him, said Fen Hampson, a Carleton University expert who wrote a recent book on the foreign policy of the ex-prime minister Brian Mulroney. Clark served as Mulroney’s minister of external affairs.

“African leaders with long memories will recall the important role Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney played in the Commonwealth in helping to bring an end to apartheid in South Africa and also stepping up to the plate in the Ethiopian famine crisis,” said Hampson. (CTV News) 

 

Tuesday October 16, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 16, 2018

Worried You Reek Like Weed? Prelam Has An ‘Odour Eliminator’ For You

The makers of Just’a Drop odour eliminators are stepping into the recreational cannabis market when it becomes legal October 17. Prelam Enterprises will launch the LUKY8 spray that day, which it claims will eliminate, and not just mask, the odour that comes with marijuana smoke.

June 22, 2018

“My goal was to give privacy to those people who will want to experiment because it’s legal all of a sudden,” said Prelam co-founder Luc Jalbert. “I figured there’s going to be millions of people trying it. There’ll be a lot of people buying it in the store because it’s legal, but they don’t want to advertise it, they don’t want their kids to know they had a puff.”

Jalbert said people who don’t traditionally use the substance may want to try it, including Baby Boomers. But as most people know, marijuana has a distinct smell that many may find too strong and obvious.

“Sometimes I’ll be in line at a bank or something and I can smell the cannabis on the guy behind me, it’s like, ‘wow, that’s a very distinct smell’,” Jalbert said. “My objective was to remove that taboo feeling that you could have a joint but you don’t have to advertise it.”

Jalbert said the LUKY8 is unlike other odour elimination sprays in the market because it “encapsulates the molecule [that creates the odour] and actually knocks it out.”

He used a formula aimed at the agricultural sector, he said. The product was researched, designed and manufactured in Moncton.

Users of the product just need to spray the air around them, their clothes or their furniture after consuming marijuana. Once sprayed, the LUKY8, which is safe for pets, will leave a light berry scent. (Source: Huddle Today) 

Thursday July 23, 2015

Thursday July 23, 2015Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 23, 2015

Randle Reef construction starting in spring

After years of delay, the harbour toxic blob will be encapsulated at a cost of almost $140M

The Hamilton company that will take on the first phase of the long awaited Randle Reef Remediation Project won’t be starting construction until the spring of 2016.

Environment Canada says it’s too late this year to begin work encapsulating the giant toxic blob in Hamilton Harbour. As well, it will take several months for steel to be made for the containment walls.

The $138.9-million project to deal with the worst coal tar contaminated site in Canada had been snarled for years in delays, technical studies, funding disputes, and legalities. Then in February 2014 a call for bidders was issued with expectations of construction beginning that summer.

But that was dashed when all the bids came in over budget and government officials had to go back to the drawing board. A second request for proposals was issued in the spring of 2015, with hopes of construction beginning this summer.

But now—with the awarding of the contract to McNally Construction of Hamilton taking until last week – actual construction has been put off again.

“I had a feeling this would happen,” said Lynda Lukasik, of Environment Hamilton. “It is par for the course. We have been waiting a long time.”

But she said she is pleased the project has reached a point that a contract has been awarded for the first of three phases.

Jonathan Gee, of Environment Canada, said one aspect of the project will move ahead in September. In a separate contract with a different construction company, work will begin on reconstructing a harbour wall along the shoreline.

The entire remediation project is slated for completion in 2022. “Two years to build the box, two years to fill the box, and three years to put a lid on the box,” said Gee. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Friday, July 19, 2013

Friday, July 19, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, July 19, 2013

Meet Pachi the Porcupine, Toronto’s Pan Am mascot

Pachi the Porcupine was greeted with plenty of applause at the CBC’s Broadcast Centre in Toronto on Wednesday.

And fittingly enough, that’s what the name of the official mascot for the 2015 Pan American Games represents when translated from Japanese.

“Pachi” is derived from a Japanese phrase meaning “clapping with joy,” and that’s exactly what enthusiastic kids and parents alike were doing when the multi-coloured mascot was unveiled at Kids’ CBC Days.

But the four Grade 8 students from Markham, Ont. — whose design was chosen after earning the most votes in an online nationwide poll, beating out more than 4,000 entries — were caught off-guard by this kind of reception.

“It’s unbelievable, because we were never expecting anything like this,” Jenny Lee, who along with Buttonville Public School classmates Fiona Hong, Paige Kunihiro and Michelle Ing, came up with the design as part of a school project, told the CBC’s Charlsie Agro.

But what may be equally surprising may be how the design — which includes 41 multi-coloured quills to represent all nations competing at the Games — began coming to fruition.

“[The name] came to me once when I was reading my manga book, which is a Japanese comic book. There was a Japanese phrase called ‘pachi pachi,’ and in English it translates to ‘clapping with joy,”‘ said Kunihiro. “We know that in the Pan Am Games there’s going to be a lot of cheering on our favourite athletes and superstars.” (Source: CBC Sports)