A shutdown of both of Canada’s major railways brought freight trains to a grinding halt this week, Kamala Harris clinched the Democratic party’s nomination for president and Air Canada pilots voted for a strike.
These are the top stories this week.
STRIKES AND SHUTDOWNS
Rail shutdown: Ottawa imposing binding arbitration on parties
The federal government will intervene to try and bring an end to the labour dispute that brought Canada’s rail network to a grinding halt Thursday, Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon said.
Speaking in Ottawa less than 24 hours after thousands of unionized workers at the country’s two main railway companies were locked out, McKinnon said he will use his powers under the Canada Labour Code to “secure industrial peace” and impose final, binding arbitration.
Union says it will challenge Ottawa’s arbitration order
The union representing rail workers has said it is looking at options to challenge Ottawa’s decision to ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose final, binding arbitration to end a shutdown at both of Canada’s largest railways.
François Laporte, national president of Teamsters Canada, said Thursday the union was speaking to its legal advisors and considering its next steps.
“We believe that the Supreme Court decision regarding our right to strike is a constitutional right. And we believe that the application of Article 107 (of the Canada Labour Code) is not valid. We are looking at our options regarding that situation,” he told reporters in Calgary on Friday.
Air Canada pilots, ‘resolved and unified,’ vote for strike. What comes next?
Air Canada pilots have voted in favour of a strike if the airline can’t reach a deal with the union, a move that could ground planes and disrupt travel plans for Canadians across the country.
The results released Thursday show 98 per cent of Air Canada pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) took part in the vote and of those participating members, 98 per cent voted in favour of striking.
“Air Canada pilots sent an overwhelming message that they are resolved and unified and willing to do what it takes to get the contract that they have earned,” Charlene Hudy, chair of the Air Canada ALPA Master Executive Council, told Global News in an interview Thursday.
U.S. ELECTIONS
Protesters seek to keep pressure on Democrats as convention comes to close
Even as Kamala Harris clinched the Democratic party’s nomination for president, protesters gathered outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago once again Thursday to keep pressure on the party to take a firmer stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Palestinian American activists said they were denied a chance to speak at the event’s final night.
Leaders of the “Uncommitted” movement, which garnered hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries across the nation in protest of U.S. support of Israel, said Thursday negotiations with the convention broke down the day before.
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Democratic convention protesters say Harris must ‘earn’ their votes on Gaza
As U.S. Democrats kicked off their national convention in Chicago on Monday, newly energized by Vice-President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, thousands of protesters vowed to put pressure on the party to change its stance on the crisis in Gaza and focus on Americans’ needs at home.
Demonstrators gathered in Union Park holding Palestinian flags and signs calling for an end to U.S. military aid for Israel and decrying what they called a “genocide” in Gaza. The rally culminated in a march of a few thousand people toward the United Center that is hosting the convention less than a kilometre away from the park.
BUSINESS
Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard looks to buy owner of 7-Eleven
The company behind Canada’s Circle K convenience stores is looking at acquiring the owner of 7-Eleven stores globally, the Japanese operator confirmed in a statement on Monday.
Seven & i Holdings said it received a “confidential, non-binding and preliminary” proposal from Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. to acquire all outstanding shares of the Japanese company.
In response, the company said its board of directors formed a special committee to conduct a “prompt, careful and comprehensive review” of the proposal.
Loblaw’s No Name discount stores show focus on cash-strapped Canadians
Just four months after announcing it would test out smaller-format No Frills stores, Loblaw says it will be piloting ultra-discount stores under its No Name brand in Ontario, but retail analysts are mixed on how successful it will be.
According to Loblaw, the stores will be less complicated to run because they will rely on reused fixtures such as shelves and cash lanes to reduce costs, while also having shorter operating hours, limited marketing and no flyers.
Homebuying outranks wedding planning for Canadian youth, RBC survey says
Canadian youth are prioritizing their efforts to break into the housing market over other traditional markers of adulthood like getting married, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The survey commissioned by RBC’s homebuying platform Houseful show homeownership remains an aspiration despite affordability barriers boxing out many of the youngest generation.
Some 78 per cent of single or unmarried first-time homebuyers under 30 said they’re prioritizing saving for a home, up from 70 per cent of those above the age of 30, according to the report.
For 40 per cent of first-time buyers under 30 years old, owning a home is seen as a critical part of their five-year plan. That outranks buying a car (33 per cent), travel (30 per cent) and getting married (24 per cent).
From ‘gradual’ to a cut every meeting: Why are interest rate bets changing?
The latest inflation data from July sealed bets from economists that the Bank of Canada is set for its third interest rate cut in a row come September, with growing beliefs that there could be even more relief on the horizon.
Statistics Canada said Tuesday that annual inflation slowed to 2.5 per cent last month, the lowest levels seen since March 2021 and another step towards the central bank’s two-per cent target.
The Bank of Canada uses its policy rate to broadly set the cost of borrowing across the country, raising the rate to cool the economy and tame inflation or lowering it to spur growth as needed.
Money markets and many economists are now expecting rate cuts of 25 basis points at each of the central bank’s remaining monetary policy decisions in 2024, a call which, if it comes to fruition, would bring the benchmark policy rate from 4.5 per cent to below four per cent by the end of the year.
HEALTH
Child benefits are rolling out to Canadians. How much will parents get?
The latest child benefits are going out to Canadian parents on Tuesday after a routine increase in monthly payments last month.
The Canada Child Benefit (CCB) amounts were increased in July after an annual recalculation based on a family’s net income from the previous year and inflation.
The federal government said the top-up was “to help parents keep up with the cost of living.”
“That’s more tax-free money back in their pockets every month — to spend on groceries, rent, summer camps and whatever their family needs,” said Employment and Social Development Canada in a statement last month.
CCB payments go to eligible families that have children under the age of 18 residing in Canada.
In August, parents could receive a maximum payment of $648.91 for each child under the age of six years. That is an annual increase of 4.7 per cent relative to 2023.
For every child aged six to 17 years, the maximum CCB payment will be $547.50, which is a 4.7-per cent increase from last year.
How contagious is mpox? Why scientists say this strain is ‘worrisome’
Mpox has been declared a global public health emergency and while immunologists say more research is needed to determine how contagious it is, cases are being reported across communities and the virus is impacting not only adults but children as well.
Known as Clade 1b mpox, the strain has been spreading across much of Africa since being first detected in the Kamituga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Last week, a case was reported in Sweden in someone who had travelled to an affected African country, the first diagnosed outside of the continent.
David Kelvin, a professor in Dalhousie University’s department of microbiology and immunology and one of the lead researchers studying the Kamituga mpox strain, told Global News that what is “worrisome” is who it has impacted compared to 2022.
Canada restricts sale of nicotine pouches. Here’s what’s changing
In response to growing concerns about the rising use of nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) among youth, particularly nicotine pouches, Health Minister Mark Holland is putting through restrictions aimed at curbing their appeal and accessibility.
These measures, which will take effect Aug. 28, include strict advertising restrictions, prohibiting certain flavours and limiting sales to behind the counter at pharmacies, Holland announced Thursday.
Updated COVID-19 vaccines approved in U.S. amid summer surge
As a summer wave of COVID-19 infections continues in the United States, updated vaccines have been approved by U.S. regulators ahead of the fall and winter.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) greenlit and granted emergency use authorization for updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna targeting the most recent virus strains circulating.
The new mRNA vaccines from both pharmaceutical companies target the Omicron KP.2 variant that was dominating COVID-19 spread earlier this year.
Eating processed meat daily linked to higher risk of Type 2 diabetes: study
Eating just 50 grams of processed meat per day — about the equivalent of two slices of ham — appears to correlate to a 15-per cent higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes within the next decade, according to a new study.
The study, published Tuesday in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, suggests that eating 100 grams of unprocessed meat a day, which is equivalent to a small streak, was associated with a 10-per cent higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Though the link was a correlation, not a clear causation, it adds to a growing body of research raising concerns about the health effects of processed meats.
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