Canada has a responsibility to stand up for international law, human rights, and the dignity of all people. That means recognizing Palestinian statehood, supporting a two-way arms embargo, ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid, and ending trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

Workers in Canada expect their government to show leadership rooted in justice, accountability, and peace.

Read the full letter below:

Dear Prime Minister Carney,

Re: Gaza

On behalf of the Canadian Labour Congress and the more than three million workers we represent, I want to commend you for your recent joint statement with the leaders of France and the United Kingdom calling for a complete stop to military operations in Gaza and the immediate facilitation of humanitarian aid. In a moment of immense human suffering and growing global instability, it is good to see Canada recommit itself to the principles of international law, human dignity, and peace.

Words matter, and your statement was an important signal. But words must be followed by concrete action.

We urge your government to build on this moment by taking the following steps:

• Recognize Palestinian statehood: Canada has long supported a two-state solution, and recognition of Palestinian statehood is a necessary step toward making that vision a reality.
• Support a two-way arms embargo: The violence and suffering will not end if weapons continue to flow into the region. Canada must support an immediate two-way arms embargo to stop fueling the conflict. We urge the government to work with trade unions representing workers in the impacted arms and technology industries to develop a just transition plan to secure their livelihoods.
• Continue funding UN agencies, including UNRWA: Humanitarian agencies need immediate, unrestricted access to Gaza. Canada should encourage allies to renew and increase support to UNRWA and other UN bodies to deliver life-saving aid to civilians who are facing starvation, displacement, and disease.
• Impose targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for violations of international law and human rights. Canada must apply a consistent and principled approach to accountability, no matter the actor.
• Cancel the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) and prohibit all trade with illegal Israeli settlements. The CLC has long called for a ban on goods produced in Israeli settlements and for mandatory labeling to distinguish such goods from those made within Israel’s internationally recognized borders.

Beyond these urgent measures, we call on you to coordinate international leadership to:

• Secure a permanent ceasefire;
• Ensure the immediate release of all remaining Israeli hostages, and the bodies of those that have tragically passed away;
• Reaffirm unwavering support for a negotiated two-state solution as the only path to lasting peace and stability; and
• Reopen the Israeli labour market to Palestinian workers, and advocate that back wages be paid to the more than 200,000 affected workers.

Prime Minister, Canada has an opportunity and a responsibility to be a voice for peace. In times of conflict, our commitment to diplomacy, international law, and human rights must guide our actions toward a just and lasting resolution.

Yours sincerely,

Bea Bruske
President

The post Canada’s unions urge the government to take action to help end the crisis in Gaza appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“Back-to-work legislation would be a misstep that would only aggravate the situation. If the right to strike is weakened by the federal government legislating the 7000 ILWU workers back to work, it will have a significant impact on every Canadian who expects to have their rights protected by their government. Collective bargaining and the right to strike are fundamental rights. They are central to our democracy. We urge your government to allow the parties to finish bargaining the outstanding issues in good faith,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. 

The post National, provincial and territorial labour leaders voice strong opposition to back-to-work legislation in ILWU job action against the BC Maritime Employers Association (BCME) appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

In a joint letter sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today, the three organizations express dismay over comments made today by Morneau about pharmacare and say he should recuse himself from the pharmacare file given his perceived conflict of interest.

Download the letter

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

Re: Minister Morneau should recuse himself from the pharmacare file given his perceived conflict of interest

We write to express our dismay at comments made today by Finance Minister Bill Morneau before the Economic Club of Canada regarding pharmacare. In the absence of any terms of reference for the newlyannounced Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare (ACINP), Minister Morneau has already presupposed the outcome. His comments today suggest a sharp turn away from the evidence-based pharmacare recommendations that every commission ever convened on the topic has made, as well as the commitments of Morneau’s own Liberal Party at their most recent convention.

In his comments before the Economic Club of Canada regarding the ACINP, Minister Morneau differentiated between a “national pharmacare strategy” and a “national pharmacare plan,” calling them “two very different things.” He went on to say, “we recognize that we need a strategy to deal with the fact that not everyone has access and we need to do it in a way that’s responsive – that deals with the gaps and that doesn’t throw out the system we currently have.”

Minister Morneau’s comments are incorrect: Canadians have witnessed decades of research, consultations, Royal Commissions and parliamentary studies which have overwhelmingly recommended a national pharmacare plan, not piecemeal coverage. Moreover, after receiving testimony from 99 expert witnesses, the Commons health committee is on the verge of unveiling a landmark report to Parliament which is expected to recommend the same: a universal pharmacare plan.

Minister Morneau’s comments contradict the overwhelming evidence and threaten to undermine the work of the ACINP before it even begins. We request that he retract these statements and recuse himself from involvement with the ACINP. This is a vital step to eliminate any perceived conflict of interest. To ensure its legitimacy, the ACINP must be guided exclusively by evidence and public interest. In his speech, the Minister also stated “my firm [Morneau Shepell] was the largest provider of benefits consultancy services in Canada.” With these deep ties to the private firm Morneau Shepell, we are concerned that the Finance Minister may not be approaching the issue of fundamental change in national drug insurance policies with an exclusive focus on evidence in the public interest.

As health professionals and labour leaders, we are committed to the wellbeing of patients and the effectiveness of our health care services, it is our hope that insurance industry and pharmaceutical industry interests will not play a role in the implementation of universal public pharmacare. Canada must join the rest of the industrialized world and establish what the evidence shows works best – a universal, public pharmacare system similar to our universal health care system.

We remain optimistic about the appointment of Dr. Eric Hoskins to chair the ACINP. With his track record in Ontario, as a public official committed to the wellbeing of patients, he is the right person for the job. We look forward to working collaboratively with Dr. Hoskins and the ACINP to assemble a blueprint for the implementation of a national pharmacare plan by early 2019. Thank you for your consideration of this letter.

Signed,

Linda Silas, RN, BScN
President, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions

Dr. Danyaal Raza, MD MPH CCFP
Chair, Canadian Doctors for Medicare

Hassan Yussuff
President, Canadian Labour Congress

The post Joint letter to Prime Minister Trudeau on finance minister Bill Morneau’s comment on pharmacare appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

• Work together to protect our members from raids and organize the unorganized;
• Defend our members and their international unions from baseless attacks; and
• Recommit our efforts to the political action necessary to improve the lives of all workers.

The Canadian Labour Congress represents over 3 million workers and brings together Canada’s national, international, and provincial unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 107 district labour councils, whose members work in virtually all sectors of the Canadian economy, in all occupations, in all parts of Canada.

Signed by,

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