Monthly Archives: May 2009
Deal With the Devil Collapses
| 5/8/2009 | Posted by Patti under Afghanistan |
Less than a month after the signing of the regulation giving the Pakistan Taliban control over the Swat Valley and the ability to impose their form of Islam on the people, the deal has collapsed. What a non-surprise. Shortly after the Taliban moved their forces into Bruner and tried to take control there which would have placed their forces some scant 35km from the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
How many times are the Taliban, Pakistani or Afghani, going to have to demonstrate they can’t be trusted before the two governments are going to stand firm against them? It has taken 25 years for that conclusion to be reached in Sri Lanka in their fight against the Tamil Tigers. The Taliban, like the Tigers, will never be fully wiped out, that’s a given. With enough resolve and resources their ability to openly and freely regroup, train and finance their operations can be seriously restrained. That will not happen while the Pakistan government continues to waffle. (more…)
3rd Nanny Claims Dhalla Abuse
| 5/8/2009 | Posted by Patti under General |
A third nanny is claiming that Ruby Dhalla and her family hired her to work illegally and then proceeded to overwork her. Specifically, this one claims Dhalla’s mother did most of the overworking her. The same mother who while needing a nanny to care for her manages to use Dhalla’s flying privileges as an MP to travel to various places around the world.
Ruby Dhalla, having resigned her critics position, has now asked the Parliamentary Ethics Commissioner to examine her role and decide if she has done anything wrong. The Immigration Committee is calling her accusers to appear before them to testify about their alleged abuse. All very nice, good feed for the media but nothing of any substance. (more…)
Dhalla No Ruby for Nannys
| 5/7/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Ruby Dhalla the Liberal MP for Brampton has stepped down from her critics position in Parliament as a result of the current storm over her alleged treatment of two nanny’s employed by her and her family. Personally, I think Ignatieff needs to impose an unpaid leave of absence from her position as MP and ask the appropriate authorities to investigate and either lay charges or clear her.
The uproar stems from a meeting between Provincial Education Minister Kathleen Wynn and several nannys to talk to them about their rights. Ontario Labour Minister Peter Fonesca was present as an ‘observer’ when one of the two nannys levelled allegations that Dhalla and her family had them working illegally, took their papers from them and refused to return them, had them doing non-nanny work like cleaning the families chiropractic clinics, washing cars and shining shoes and imposed 12-16 hours days without paying addition wages.
The complaint about Dhalla wasn’t the only complaint received that day. There were about 30 received. While the uproar is about one of those complaints, it really does beg the question of the lack of action on all the complaints. If Wynn and Fonesca really wanted to let the nannys know they had rights why did they not move to have all 30 complaints investigated with Dhalla right at the top of the list?
You can’t convince people they have rights if you stand by and fail to not only show them how to assert those rights but not start the ball rolling. The two MPPs had the ability to do that, and they should have done so. Ruby Dhalla should answer for her and her family’s behaviour and so should the 29 other complaints if they are true.
Ignatieff Hits the Ground Running?
| 5/7/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics, economy |
Ignatieff was acclaimed as leader of the federal Liberals this past weekend and appears to have come out of the gate ready to run. During the convention along with moving the Liberals forward into a one vote, one member system, which most other parties use, he threw down a gauntlet to the Conservatives claiming he is willing to take the country to the polls if the government doesn’t change the IE program.
Every worker across this country contributes to IE while they are employed but only about 31% of those losing their jobs are able to collect. IE is meant to be bridge income while a person seeks a new job. In a recession like the one Canada is currently experiencing, jobs are increasingly scarce, the chances of a short gap between jobs becomes increasingly unlikely.
To qualify for IE workers have to have a minimum number of hours worked. This halts those who would rather draw ‘pogey’ than work from working briefly and then drawing IE. Currently the number of hours needed is varied across the country, there are some 54 different areas where the hours and even the amount of EI received varies. (more…)
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