I have sent this little missive to the Conservatives about their election web-blog.
Dear Conservative.ca;
Your election blog is booooooring. Warmed over press releases do not a blog make. If you would like to see what a real blog looks like check out one of your own; Monte Solberg. Now while Mr. Solberg and I do not see eye to eye on practically anything, except perhaps our fondness for Timmys coffee when working, he is a shining example of what your blog should be. If you want a real election blog, dump yours and link to his.
Sincerely,
Eugene Plawiuk
Friday, December 02, 2005
Will Monte Buy Shares in Timmy's?
Conservative Finance Critic and caffine driven blogger; Monte Solbergs favorite coffee shop Tim Hortons is going on the market with a share offering that the National Post reports they expect Canadians to buy up. Big appetite seen for Tim Hortons offering Will Monte put his money where his mouth is? There had been speculation Wendy's would sell the initial stake in Tim Hortons as an income fund. The company chose to sell common shares instead because, should Wendy's want to spin off the rest of its stake to shareholders, the transaction would be tax-free. Ah shucks no income trust tax shelter for Monte he will actually have to take a risk. As a confirmed capitalist apologist will he or won't he? Will he put his money where his coffee cup hits? Inquirying minds want to know.
Where Are Your Clothes Made
The Maquila Solidarity Network has released its Transparency Report Card: COMING CLEAN ON THE CLOTHES WE WEAR Check it out and see how Canadian Retailers and Suppliers rank as suppliers of Sweat Shop labour.
Gildan Sweat Shop Success Story
Gildan profit soars
After closing its yarn spining plant in Quebec and outsourcing the work offshore, Gildan exports its T-Shirt manufaturing to the Caribbean/Central American Free Trade Zones.
This year they agreed to re-hire fired union workers in their new factory operations in the Houndouras leading the Canadian Anti-Sweat Shop Activist group Maquila Solidarity Network to suspend their campaign against Gildan.
Gildan then launched a massive new advertising and promotional camapaign for its products helping it push up its sceond, third and fourth quarter profits. Coincidence I think NOT. No word on what happened to the workers in Quebec who lost their jobs at Gildan. No compensation just the unemployment centre for them.
And while the Anti-Sweat Shop campaigners have been satisfied with their sop from Gildan, the Anti-War movement has not. They have focused on Gildan's sweat shop operations taking advantage of the current Canadian/UN occupation of Haiti in the name of Empire.
Building an Antiwar Movement in Canada
Again Liberal trade policies are a direct cause of the offshoring of Quebecs clothing industry and Gildans success. And with Gildan they are further compounded by the companies involvement with the Canadian Occupation of Haiti. Welcome to the world of global capitalism.
This is a report from Haiti about Gildan detailing the union busting anti worker situation currently occuring in the offshore garment industry in that country. I have to ask MSN why it has been sucked in by Gildan and halted its information and pressure campaign for the rights of Gildan workers? Simply because the company has ameliorated the conditions of some of its workers at the expense of others? This seems to be the case.
"Excerpts from Batay Ouvriye News Bulletin No. 2, originally published in Creole circa September/October 2005
At the GILDAN factory in Tabarre, five workers were fired without reason. But on closer scrutiny, we note that these are the workers who played a role in fighting for the factory to pay transportation to and from the factory (which is actually stipulated in the Labor Code!). At first, Richard Coles, a close Aristide ally, was the main production responsible for Gildan in the country. But Coles lost the contract and Apaid is the one who came to play this role. Presently, several bourgeois in the assembly industry are producing for Gildan. All use the module production to exploit the workers, as described above, with repressive control embedded in the production structure itself… Gildan, however, is the most sadistic exploiter of the module production systems. That’s why struggle at Gildan is a concentration amongst others that has great importance presently.
Profile
Gildan Activewear is a vertically-integrated marketer and manufacturer of premium quality branded basic apparel. The Company manufactures premium quality basic T-shirts, sport shirts and sweatshirts for sale in the wholesale imprinted sportswear market. The Company sells its products as blanks, which are ultimately decorated by screenprinters with designs and logos for sale to consumers. Gildan has announced plans to sell its products into the mass-market retail channel, in addition to the screenprint market. In conjunction with this strategy, Gildan is expanding its product-line to include underwear and athletic socks.
Gildan is North America's largest T-Shirt manufacturer, and it is Canadian.After closing its yarn spining plant in Quebec and outsourcing the work offshore, Gildan exports its T-Shirt manufaturing to the Caribbean/Central American Free Trade Zones.
Moneysense.ca | Oct 1, 2004
Real Assets Investment Management Inc., an ethics-based investor, said Thursday it has sold its shares of Gildan Activewear over the T-shirt company's treatment of workers at a Honduras factory.This year they agreed to re-hire fired union workers in their new factory operations in the Houndouras leading the Canadian Anti-Sweat Shop Activist group Maquila Solidarity Network to suspend their campaign against Gildan.
Gildan then launched a massive new advertising and promotional camapaign for its products helping it push up its sceond, third and fourth quarter profits. Coincidence I think NOT. No word on what happened to the workers in Quebec who lost their jobs at Gildan. No compensation just the unemployment centre for them.
And while the Anti-Sweat Shop campaigners have been satisfied with their sop from Gildan, the Anti-War movement has not. They have focused on Gildan's sweat shop operations taking advantage of the current Canadian/UN occupation of Haiti in the name of Empire.
Building an Antiwar Movement in Canada
The single biggest impediment to getting people mobilized around war and occupation issues is the widespread perception that Canada’s hands are clean in the world; that unseemly regime changes are things carried out by George W. Bush and that at worst we are benevolent bystanders or well-meaning peacekeepers coming in after the fact.
Perhaps one under-utilized way to get around this pervasive myth is to highlight the blatant war profiteering of massive Canadian corporations. While the sordid operations of the likes of Exxon and Halliburton are internationally known, equally rapacious war companies based north of the 49th parallel are getting away with scant attention. The two that stand out are Gildan Activewear and SNC-Lavalin.
Gildan Activewear is a massive garment manufacturer, controlling 40% of the North American t-shirt market. Following the coup against Aristide, and the de facto government’s decision to overturn minimum wage increases brought in by the Lavalas Party government, Gildan announced that it would be moving some operations from Honduras to Haiti. The company is currently engaged in a massive publicity campaign, with ads on hundreds of bus shelters in Vancouver proclaiming the sweatshop label ‘A part of your life’. It has been speculated that they are building their public profile with an eye to winning the Vancouver 2010 Olympics clothing contract. The cases of Gildan and SNC are not unique in terms of Canadian corporations, but only two of the most blatant examples that belie the quaint notion of a harmless, innocent big business community, and the related myth of a political policy pursuing lofty, disinterested ‘humanitarian’ objectives.Again Liberal trade policies are a direct cause of the offshoring of Quebecs clothing industry and Gildans success. And with Gildan they are further compounded by the companies involvement with the Canadian Occupation of Haiti. Welcome to the world of global capitalism.
This is a report from Haiti about Gildan detailing the union busting anti worker situation currently occuring in the offshore garment industry in that country. I have to ask MSN why it has been sucked in by Gildan and halted its information and pressure campaign for the rights of Gildan workers? Simply because the company has ameliorated the conditions of some of its workers at the expense of others? This seems to be the case.
"Excerpts from Batay Ouvriye News Bulletin No. 2, originally published in Creole circa September/October 2005
At the GILDAN factory in Tabarre, five workers were fired without reason. But on closer scrutiny, we note that these are the workers who played a role in fighting for the factory to pay transportation to and from the factory (which is actually stipulated in the Labor Code!). At first, Richard Coles, a close Aristide ally, was the main production responsible for Gildan in the country. But Coles lost the contract and Apaid is the one who came to play this role. Presently, several bourgeois in the assembly industry are producing for Gildan. All use the module production to exploit the workers, as described above, with repressive control embedded in the production structure itself… Gildan, however, is the most sadistic exploiter of the module production systems. That’s why struggle at Gildan is a concentration amongst others that has great importance presently.
Hillary Does Gore
Hillary Clinton promotes law to ban violent video games
Shades of Tipper Gore, Hillary's bosom buddy, who led the charge to ban explicit lyrics in Rock and Roll. Yep Hillary is running for Prez in 08. Showing she is tough on the Entertainment Industry and Crime in one fell swoop. Hey it worked for Tipper, during the height of the Republican attacks on Porn.
Shades of Tipper Gore, Hillary's bosom buddy, who led the charge to ban explicit lyrics in Rock and Roll. Yep Hillary is running for Prez in 08. Showing she is tough on the Entertainment Industry and Crime in one fell swoop. Hey it worked for Tipper, during the height of the Republican attacks on Porn.
Job Cuts Poll #1
Through the Election I will be running a jobs cut poll. The numbers of folks losing thier jobs in Canada.This is a direct result of the Liberals and Conservatives economic strategies, or lack of them, that impact on real working folks in Canada.Job Losses Since November 2005- 6717"The real story is what doesn't happen in the headlines; it's the five or 10 jobs that are lost each week or each month and eventually they really tend to add up.That's one of the bigger stories that's looming over every other minor cyclical story we talk about," said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns.
December 2- CIBC Cuts 900 Jobs
Current Total- 7617 Canadians out of work
CIBC has announced that due to its illegal entaglement with Enron it is cutting 900 jobs to make up for the billions they had to pay in fines. While workers at the Bank lose their jobs the CEO in charge during the Enron affair got massive pay raises and bonuses. The bank attracted a lot of criticism from some shareholders when it awarded former CEO John Hunkin a retirement package worth $52 million just a month before the bank reported a $1.9 billion quarterly loss because of its Enron settlement. While CIBC is also purging management who are leaving with Golden Parachutes, after laying Golden Showers on their employees and shareholders. The bloodletting at the bank has already begun, with $100 million spent in the fourth quarter on severance payments for 50 parting executives: 10 executive vice-presidents, 21 senior vice-presidents and 19 vice-presidents.
While Stats Canada reports; Jobless rate drops to 6.4%, another 30-year low.
the reality is that this is NOT full employment which was promised all workers after the end of WWII. Nor has there ever been full employment in any of the G8.
Big Brother Wal-Mart
CBC is reporting that Wal-Mart in Quebec spied on union organizers prior to closing its only unionized store in Quebec. Which is illegal under labour law in Quebec. Ah say it ain't so. Which is exactly what the Canadian CEO of Wal-Mart said. Lets see two exposes on bad boy Wal-Mart this week by Radio Canada. The other was about Wal-Mart using Child Labour. Nice to see that there is some investigative journalism going on at MotherCorp.
That's what journalism is supposed to be about muckracking and investigative journalism, the values of a liberal/left media. The ones the right wing fails to provide and hates when anyone else does. Oh unless the muck flinging is against their political enemies.
That's what journalism is supposed to be about muckracking and investigative journalism, the values of a liberal/left media. The ones the right wing fails to provide and hates when anyone else does. Oh unless the muck flinging is against their political enemies.
GST or Global Warming You Choose
Cut the GST or Cut Emissions you choose. Which should be THE election issue?
In his column in the Toronto Star this morning business commentator David Crane asks the key question about this election. Is it about ISSUES or spin. So far its been spin, all about tax cuts. Crane on the other hand reminds us that the International Conference on Climate Change, Kyoto2, just finished in Montreal. He says; Global warming should be big election issue, too bad it not going to be.
Global warming should be big election issue
Whether we wanted a winter election or not, we have one courtesy of NDP leader Jack Layton. So we should at least hope the campaign will focus on the big issues facing Canada.One of the most important issues we face is how to deal with climate change. Make no mistake about it; human beings are building up a host of nasty future problems because of our huge dependence on coal, oil and, to a lesser extent, natural gas. Just look at our Arctic, where major warming is already underway. And this is the real question that both Martin and Tory leader Stephen Harper must answer: Do they support a Kyoto-2 beyond 2008-12 and, if so, how would they move to further reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions? This is one of the most important issues facing us because unless much more serious efforts are made, by ourselves and other nations, our planet is in serious trouble. Then the GST rate won't matter much.
In his column in the Toronto Star this morning business commentator David Crane asks the key question about this election. Is it about ISSUES or spin. So far its been spin, all about tax cuts. Crane on the other hand reminds us that the International Conference on Climate Change, Kyoto2, just finished in Montreal. He says; Global warming should be big election issue, too bad it not going to be.
Global warming should be big election issue
Whether we wanted a winter election or not, we have one courtesy of NDP leader Jack Layton. So we should at least hope the campaign will focus on the big issues facing Canada.One of the most important issues we face is how to deal with climate change. Make no mistake about it; human beings are building up a host of nasty future problems because of our huge dependence on coal, oil and, to a lesser extent, natural gas. Just look at our Arctic, where major warming is already underway. And this is the real question that both Martin and Tory leader Stephen Harper must answer: Do they support a Kyoto-2 beyond 2008-12 and, if so, how would they move to further reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions? This is one of the most important issues facing us because unless much more serious efforts are made, by ourselves and other nations, our planet is in serious trouble. Then the GST rate won't matter much.
Made In Canada Autoplan
No sooner had Jack Layton announced his auto strategy for saving Canadian jobs and investing all those tax breaks the Liberals and Conservatives are promising the corporations than it was lost in the newshype around the Harpers GST cut. Swamped was Jacks good news announcement. Swept away. But like the proverbial bottle with a message this morning his announcement takes on even more importance.
Ford has announced it is planning on following GM's lead and will be laying off 7,600 workers across North America, with its closing of five plants including one in Windsor Ontario and ironically one in Mexico. Ironic cause the plant is one set up thanks to NAFTA. When will the bleeding stop? When we have a Made In Canada Autoplan. Tax cuts don't cut it when your out of work.
Ford has announced it is planning on following GM's lead and will be laying off 7,600 workers across North America, with its closing of five plants including one in Windsor Ontario and ironically one in Mexico. Ironic cause the plant is one set up thanks to NAFTA. When will the bleeding stop? When we have a Made In Canada Autoplan. Tax cuts don't cut it when your out of work.
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