RPTV Weekly - Ford's Controversial Refusal to Apologize for Immigrant Slur, and more.

By Fred Alvarada
Fred is a journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

Welcome to RPTV Weekly News Show Episode 9. In this weekly news show hosted by RPTV reporters, Fred Alvarado, Murphy Brown, and Jabin Haque, we present news that impacts on Regent Park and other surrounding communities located in the Down Town East communities of Toronto. Episode 9 for the week of October 19th to October 25th, 2021 features segments on: Canada among 130 countries backing 15% global minimum corporate tax; Ontario Premier Doug Ford refuses to apologize for comment about immigrants; The Ford government reduces barriers for immigrants with foreign credentials; Uber drivers and gig economy workers pressure Ontario government for employee status; The Indigenous Report: Regent Park welcomes Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society; SDP endorses Regent Park Social and SDP Co-chairs terms comes to an end. A report of the October 24, SDP Stakeholders Planning Committee; Report of the Session 3 of the 2021 Second Annual SDP Deep Dive; COVID-19 and Vaccination Update; Events in Regent Park community.

Here are five stories featured in this week’s episode.

Canada Among 130 Countries Backing Global Minimum Corporate Tax

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recently announced that 130 countries, including Canada, have backed a plan to establish a global minimum corporate tax rate, which will aim to reduce the use of tax havens around the world.
The new global pact will seek to deter companies from relocating profits to jurisdictions where they would pay little to no tax, often in places where the company has little to no business presence. Additionally, it will curb the use of tax havens, a practice that has been widely criticized by regulators around the world.

The agreement sets in motion a historic opportunity for governments to collect a greater share of the wealth generated by the world’s richest companies. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement Friday afternoon that Ottawa strongly supports international efforts “to end the corporate race to the bottom” and that Canada will work with its international partners to implement the deal.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford refuses to apologize for comment about immigrants

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is declining to apologize for comments he made about immigrants. After an unrelated announcement on Monday, October 18, in Tecumseh, Ontario, Ford launched into a familiar line about Ontario’s biggest problem being a shortage of workers, particularly in the trades and construction.

He said people who want to come and work their “tail off” like every other new Canadian has done should come to Ontario, but people who want to “collect the dole and sit around” should go somewhere else. The term “collect the dole” which means accessing social assistance is a disparaging term used to describe the act of accessing “government programs that provide a minimum level of income support to individuals and households living in poverty.”

During question period at the legislature on Tuesday, October 19, New Democrat Doly Begum said the comments are offensive to families like hers, who came to Ontario for a better future, and called for an apology. Ford refused to apologize. Instead, Ford doubled down and said that he is pro-immigration, no matter where people come from, and that his support base is made up of people from around the world.
The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) says Ford should not be promoting xenophobic tropes about immigrants.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath had said in a tweet that Ford should apologize. “Today, Doug Ford chose to traffic in demeaning stereotypes about new Ontarians looking to build a better life for their families,” she wrote. “Our diverse, welcoming province deserves better.” Speaking after Question Period, Horwath said that Ford’s response proves the premier has “some pretty distasteful and inappropriate values and beliefs about immigrants.”

“What he is doing is showing stereotypes of immigrants that create dislike, that create division, that create a situation where people assume that what the premier says is correct and it is not correct,” Horwath told reporters.
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca also called on the premier to apologize, saying the comments were “callous.” Del Duca wrote on Twitter. “As a son of immigrants, I know first-hand how people like my parents helped to build Ontario. Doug Ford should apologize for his callous comments.”

"It was a very outdated and tired thing to say so I hope he apologizes and we can move on." Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said that to suggest newcomers are not hard workers “is inexcusable.”

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, who represents Regent Park wrote in an email to RPTV news saying: “These disappointing comments from the Premier are xenophobic, divisive, and misinformed. The majority of permanent newcomers to Canada are economic class -  skilled workers, and skilled trades. These skills and the financial assets required to enter Canada, and sponsor a family, would place any newcomers well above the asset limits required for Ontario Works. The Premier’s comments are demeaning and inexcusable. Once again, he demonstrates why he is not fit to lead the most diverse province in Canada.”

Several residents also remarked that Doug Ford’s comments were particularly offensive to communities like Regent Park, Moss Park and St. James Town which are home to large populations of low income, hard-working immigrants.  

The Ford Government Reduces Barriers for Immigrants with Foreign Credentials

The recent announcement on October 21, 2021 by the Ford Government to remove the work certification for immigrants comes as a much-welcomed move for many newcomers, and also various Ontario job sectors that have seen an increased demand for skilled workers.
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton framed the issue in terms of unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. He stated that the new legislation, if passed, would:

• Eliminate Canadian work experience requirements for professional registration and licensing unless an exemption is granted based on a demonstrated public health and safety risk.Reduce burdensome duplication for official language proficiency testing, so people would not have to complete multiple tests for purposes of immigration and professional licensing.
• Allow applicants to register faster in their regulated professions when there are emergencies (such as a pandemic) that create an urgent need for certain professions or trades.
• Ensure the licensing process is completed in a timely manner to help internationally trained immigrants start working in careers that match their skillset. Currently licensing time in some professions takes up to 18 months or more, according to the government.

 Minister McNaughton went to say: "If these proposed changes are passed, Ontario would become the first province in Canada to help level the playing field in certain regulated professions so that workers coming here have the opportunity to build a better life for themselves and their loved ones, and build stronger communities for us all."

The final choice of sectors affected by the legislation has not yet been determined, and it may take up to 24 months to implement the changes. but these are some of the sectors that are currently known to be on the list:

• Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario
• Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario
• College of Early Childhood Educators
• Ontario Association of Architects
• Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists
• Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers
• Ontario College of Teachers

The news that the Ontario government might relax the accreditation regulations is indeed a welcomed turn of events for immigrants in the Regent Park, Moss Park and St. James Town area who are looking to kick start and return to their original career paths.

Uber drivers and gig economy workers pressure Ontario government for employee status

People in Ontario who drive or deliver for apps such as Uber, Lyft  and Skip the Dishes are calling on Premier Doug Ford's government to grant them basic workers' rights by classifying them as employees.

It's an issue that directly affects hundreds of thousands of people who work in the province's gig economy, and could have implications for all workers  across Ontario and in other provinces.

The app companies  are profiting  from having a workforce at the ready, yet don't provide those workers the rights and benefits of  employees, says Brice Sopher, who delivers for Uber Eats and serves as vice-president of the union-backed group Gig Workers United.   
Since app-based workers are currently classified as independent contractors under Ontario's Employment Standards Act, they are not entitled to minimum wage, vacation days or statutory holiday pay. The companies they work for do not have to pay  Employment Insurance premiums or Canada Pension Plan contributions.

"There is no reason why we don't deserve full employment rights," said Sopher. "Anything less than that is a lowering of the bar for all workers." 
 
Even those whose jobs are outside  the gig economy should still be concerned about the issue, says Sopher. He says if Ontario does not classify app-based workers as employees, companies will have an incentive to convert their existing employees to gig workers, stripping them of employment rights.

While Ontario's Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development  Monte McNaughton  is promising legislation to protect and support vulnerable workers by the end of the month, he is not promising to classify app workers as employees.

Uber Canada would not grant  Uber drivers the status of employees with the right to minimum wage and holiday pay, but would provide a cash-based benefit  fund that the workers could dip into for any reason, whether a paid day off or to cover the cost of medications.
The question of whether app-based  workers should be classed as employees is at issue in a $400-million class-action lawsuit against Uber Canada on behalf of its Ontario drivers. 

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has led attempts at unionizing  app-based workers. The delivery company Foodora ceased its operations in Canada in the spring of 2020 in the wake of one such unionization drive. 

Failing to classify gig workers as employees "is creating two classes of workers right now within our society, and we do not want that," said CUPW president Jan Simpson.
 
"If the Ford government truly wanted to to support workers in a just economic recovery,  they must get rid of the misclassification," Simpson said in an interview. 

It's unclear how many people in Ontario work for the app-based companies, but it definitely numbers in the tens of thousands and there's some evidence it could exceed 100,000.

The Indigenous Report: Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society supports vulnerable Indigenous women in Regent Park.

In the downtown east area, Regent Park, Moss Park, and St. Jams Town constitute some of the most ethnically diverse communities, although, sometimes, the indigenous populations that also call these neighbourhoods home are not as well talked about. In an effort to bring more attention to this community we present the Indigeonous Report.

 The Regent Park community would like welcome the Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society in to the neighbourhood.  The organization is located at the corner of Dundas and Berkeley at 413 Dundas St East.

The Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society grew out of need to break the cycle of over-representation of Indigenous women in Canada’s prison system.

The mandate of the organization is to provide a place where Frist Nation (Status and Non-Status) Inuit, and Metis 2SLGBTQIA+ women can heal and reclaim their positive cultural identity, and place for rehabilitation and wellness.

According to its website, Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society provides a holistic healing process based on indigenous traditional teachings and healing practices.  Indigenous women who have been involved with Canadian Criminal Justice system face multiple challenges while incarceration and when they try to re-enter civil society. Re-connecting them with their cultural and spiritual identities is seen as a key component for re-integrating into society.

Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society has prioritised three areas of activity, Restoring Identity, Providing Housing, and Creating Opportunity. Each of these programs has identified the key concerns and pathways for Indigenous women who either still in correction institution, those who are currently before the courts, and those who have been released.

Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society believes that reducing the number of Indigenous women in Canadian prisons is tied to creating the opportunities them to thrive.  Providing stable employment, affordable housing, and access to adequate medical supports are crucial to the building of independent lives post – release.