Category Archives: News

In the News

COALITION SENDS OPEN LETTER TO HARPER CALLING FOR EI FIX

Toronto – Last Thursday, the Good Jobs for All Coalition sent an open letter to Prime Minister Harper demanding the Federal government reform Employment Insurance so laid off workers are not left out in the cold.

The release of Fridays “StatsCan Labour Force Survey September 2010” report reveals Toronto’s unemployment rate hovers at 10.1%.

Continue reading COALITION SENDS OPEN LETTER TO HARPER CALLING FOR EI FIX →

Press Releases

GOOD JOBS COALITION CALLS ON PARTIES TO FIX EI AND SUPPORT BILL C-308

For Immediate Release Wednesday Sep. 23

The Good Jobs for All Coalition is calling on MPs to support the passage of the private members’ bill, C-308, which aims to expand and improve Canada’s EI program.  Bill C-308 comes to a final House of Commons vote on Wednesday.

Key provisions in Bill C-308 include: reducing the minimum EI qualifying hours to 360 in all regions of Canada; increasing the number of benefit weeks in all regions; and increasing the weekly benefit rate to 60% of previous earnings.

Continue reading GOOD JOBS COALITION CALLS ON PARTIES TO FIX EI AND SUPPORT BILL C-308 →

In the News

Mayor May Not

by John Michael McGrath  It had to happen: Toronto mayoral candidates suffer from debate overload

Last night, the inevitable finally occurred. With approximately one squillion debates scheduled for this municipal election, some of the candidates were late attending one debate (at the University of Toronto’s downtown campus) because they hadn’t yet left a previous debate (at Lawrence and Dufferin). This tragedy might have been avoided if all of the candidates could agree to some kind of multilateral disarmament on this front, but that seems unlikely.

The second debate (live-tweeted by the Globe and Mail‘s tireless Kelly Grant, who was forced to sit on the floor for part of it) was actually kind of novel: rather than the usual shoutfest where Rob Ford talks about the gravy train and everyone else tries to come up with new ways to call Ford on his talking points, the candidates sat down for one-on-one questions from John Tory, without whom no Toronto political event is complete.

There were also statements from the audience, which led to some interesting moments, such as these from the Globe live blog:

“This is a conversation among friends,” Rocco A says. Someone shouts, “You’re not my friend!”

Tough crowd.

What would you do for affordable housing? [Sarah Thomson] blames prob on poor planning, wants more mixed income and portable rent subsidies. Sarah calls TCHC “the worst landlord in the city.”

Audience member calls her on it. “That’s not true!”

But really, less and less is being gleaned about the candidates through the endless rounds of debate. In fact, the candidates appear to be increasingly worn out by them. George Smitherman raised the issue last week during the debate at Pinewoods, and his campaign manager tweeted that they get hell when they object to the schedule.

It’s tempting to mention that there will be a ton of arguments waiting for them in the mayor’s office, too, but that would just be mean.

In the News

A community that moves together stays well together.

The Malvern Community Coalition hosted Malvern in Motion, its 6th annual neighbourhood festival, Sept. 11. The event focused on health and wellness by encouraging good eating habits and active living.

Marie Clarke Walker, the local residence organizer, said the goal of the festival is to engage young people in the community and to teach them the importance of being involved.

“There is both a youth component and a workshop component so that we can engage youth and they can engage us – frankly, it should be about them engaging us more than us engaging them,” Walker said. “This is their community, their future – most of us that are involved are on our way out. So the building is for the next generation and the generation after that.”

Despite a lower turnout than last year — 200 compared to nearly 800 last year, according to Malvern in Motion chair Venesse Lewis — the grounds outside the Malvern Community Recreation Centre boomed with music, dance, and laughter. The smaller crowd also meant more room for kids to run and ride their bikes.

Parents and children lined up for free food, including roasted corn, catered Caribbean food and cake, while youth volunteers handed out soft drinks and freshly made popcorn.

Members of the city’s police, fire, and EMS departments also made appearances, and were greeted by grinning, giggling kids wanting to get a look inside their vehicles.

Agencies including Taibu Community Health Centre and Action for Neighbourhood Change staffed booths promoting strong and healthy individuals and communities.

Labour coalition Good Jobs for All held a workshop to educate people about the importance of public services in building strong communities and of making them accessible to everyone.

“If we let our public services – our schools, our hospitals, our community centres, our libraries, our roads – collapse, it will take more than one or two or three generations to get them back,” Walker said. “If we don’t have those things, you’re looking at user fees most people won’t be able to afford, so they won’t be able to have those services that we currently enjoy.”

At the community meeting, the public was encouraged to not only get actively involved in the October municipal election by voting but also by getting to know the issues facing the city.