'My truck won't move:' Are truckers boycotting Florida over DeSantis' new immigration law?

Story by C. A. Bridges and Thao Nguyen, 

USA TODAY NETWORK • Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Truck drivers called for boycotts over the weekend against Florida's tough new penalties and restrictions on undocumented immigrants in the state, which include requiring employers to verify if workers are authorized to work in the United States.

Social media "exploded" with reports of Latino truck drivers threatening to stop delivering to and in Florida, according to independent journalist Arturo Dominguez.

"Don't enter Florida," one trucker said in a TikTok video.

“My truck will not be going to Florida at all. I’m pretty sure we can all come together as a Latino community and boycott Florida as a whole because what they are doing to our brothers and sisters out there is not fair,” a truck driver said in another TikTok video.

Florida's new immigration law requires businesses with more than 25 employees to use E-Verify. The web-based, federal system allows enrolled employers to determine if their employees are legally authorized to work in the United States. It also invalidates identification cards issued in other states that are held by people who live in the country illegally.


Stock photo of trucks on the side of a road.© Pexels.com/Quintin Gellar

The new law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday, will take effect July 1.

USA TODAY
What to know about the end of Title 42 and how it could affect migrants

Duration 2:21 View on Watch

Why are truckers not delivering to Florida?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration established Title 42, part of a public health law to curb migration in the name of protecting public health. It allowed U.S. officials to turn away migrants at the U.S-Mexico border and denied migrants the right to seek asylum.

President Joe Biden tried to end the policy's use in 2022 but Republicans sued, claiming it was necessary for border security. Title 42 was tied to the national COVID-19 emergency declaration and it ended when that did last week, triggering GOP warnings of a massive surge at the border.

In response to the end of Title 42, the Florida legislature pushed through a new bill, which has been praised by supporters as necessary and condemned by critics as cruel and potentially leading to law enforcement profiling. It’s considered among the toughest steps taken by any state to deter migrants from arriving.

What does DeSantis' new immigration law do?

Florida's sweeping immigration bill, SB 1718, seeks to crack down on the flow of illegal immigration with some of the toughest penalties in the country. Among other things, the new law:

Requires private employers with 25 or more employees and all public agencies to use the federal E-Verify system to verify a new employee's employment eligibility, starting on July 1.

Requires employers to fire an employee if they discover them to be a "foreign national" who is not authorized to work in the U.S. and makes it illegal for any person to knowingly employ, hire, recruit or even refer, either for herself or himself or on behalf of another, for private or public employment within the state, such a person.

Hospitals that accept Medicaid must ask patients if they are U.S. citizens and if they are here legally, and report that data (without personally identifying information) to the governor quarterly and annually.
Invalidates out-of-state driver's licenses issued to "unauthorized immigrants."

Makes it a third-degree felony for anyone who knowingly or who reasonably should know that they are transporting immigrants who entered the country illegally into Florida. Transporting a minor is a second-degree felony.

Expands the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s counter-terrorism efforts to include immigration matters.

Appropriates tax dollars to be used for DeSantis' “unauthorized alien transport program,” the program he began when he flew about 50 Venezuelan migrants in two charter planes from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

According to Susan Pai, a Florida immigration lawyer based in Jacksonville, the law also applies to people who lawfully entered the country on visitor and student visas but are not authorized to work

Are truckers boycotting Florida?

We don't know for sure that they are, yet. Dominguez retweeted several videos of truckers calling for a boycott.

In one of the TikTok videos, a trucker under the name of @robertooleo88oficial said, translated from Spanish: "Truckers, don't enter the state of Florida. Let's be united as Latinos in defense of our Latin American brothers who are being assaulted by this very stupid law, which incites hatred and discrimination. My truck won't move. Don't enter Florida. Nobody enter Florida."

Another backed him up.

“I’m not going to Florida. I’m with you," @elarracas91.1 said, translated from Spanish. "I’m a trucker and Cuban. The race needs help and here we are. Strength.”

“Look at how many truckers are behind me," he said. "We have lines and lines and lines of truckers.

“Remember one thing. In Florida, more goes in than comes out so if we don’t take anything to Florida. Tell me? What are they going to have? Let’s see what the governor is going to do. Is his little truck going to take things to his lousy racist people he has there?”

Immigrant advocates said Florida’s approach targets a community already struggling to survive with new criminal penalties and restrictions. Immigrants living in Florida, legally and illegally, represent a huge share of the state’s workforce, leaders added. And now with out-of-state driver's licenses for undocumented people invalid in Florida, some are concerned they will be profiled and stopped.

“I’ve been getting a lot of calls from people asking me if they should leave the state,” Pai said. “The undocumented community is very scared to even show up for work.”


How many immigrants live and work in Florida?

According to the Migration Policy Institute, about 21% of Florida's population is foreign-born.

The Farmworkers Association of Florida, a grassroots nonprofit that advocates for social and environmental justice with farmworkers, estimates that there are about 300,000 farm workers in Florida who live in the state illegally — making up about 60% of the state’s farm workers.

Contributors: John Kennedy, Capital Bureau, USA TODAY NETWORK - FLORIDA; Brandon Girod, Pensacola News-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: 'My truck won't move:' Are truckers boycotting Florida over DeSantis' new immigration law?

Threat of Trucker Protest Isn't Swaying Ron DeSantis on Migrant Crackdown

Story by Thomas Kika • May 15,2023

People look over a boat was left along the shoreline after it was used to transport Cuban migrants from the island nation on January 05, 2023 in Marathon, Florida. An increasing number of migrants from Cuba and Haiti have taken to the seas to reach the United States.

© Joe Raedle/Getty

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday stood by his state's recently passed immigration laws, despite reports of planned protests in response to it.

As Title 42 came to an end on Thursday, DeSantis signed into law a new bill, SB 1718, which will enact a handful of new rules against undocumented migrants when it goes into effect on July 1. This will include requirements that employers use E-Verify to ensure that their employees are authorized to work in the U.S. and that hospitals collect information on undocumented patients, among other things.

Newsweek

Ron DeSantis Stands By New Florida Immigration Laws

Duration 1:29  View on Watch

MSNBCThe cost of DeSantis' war on culture
7:13

NBC NewsFull Panel: DeSantis’ image that ‘he’s Donald Trump without the baggage' ... 'fell flat'
10:25

While the new bill has been praised by DeSantis's allies on the right, it has also received considerable pushback that continues to mount. On Saturday, independent journalist Arturo Dominguez began sharing to Twitter numerous clips of Latin American truck drivers calling for their fellow truckers to begin a service boycott of Florida, which would involve not bringing shipments into the state.

"Truckers, don't enter the state of Florida," one of the truckers said in Spanish. "Let's be united as Latinos in defense of our Latin American brothers who are being assaulted by this very stupid law, which incites hatred and discrimination...My truck won't move. Don't enter Florida. Nobody enter Florida."

Newsweek previously reached out to DeSantis's press office for comment on those reported boycott plans. While the governor has yet to issue an official statement on the issue, he stood behind SB 1718 during a press conference on Monday when he was pressed about the impact its new requirements would have on industries in Florida.

"Florida law is that you have to be here legally to able to be employed," DeSantis said. "That's been the law for forever. And so, when we have something like an E-Verify, that's a tool to make sure longstanding Florida law is enforced, and I think that that's important. You can't build a strong economy based on illegality."

Despite the numerous videos of truckers spreading on Spanish-language corners of social media, it remains unclear for the time being if any sort of protest has actually begun.

Meanwhile, immigrant advocates in Florida have reported that the state's undocumented communities are in a panicked state as SB 1718's new rules approach, with some considering if they might have to leave altogether.

"I've been getting a lot of calls from people asking me if they should leave the state," immigration lawyer Susan Pai said. "The undocumented community is very scared to even show up for work."

 

Others on social media have raised the concern that the new laws will lead to an increase in the profiling of anyone who appears to be Latin American or Hispanic, as SB 1718 will void any license issued out-of-state to undocumented individuals.

Newsweek reached out to the Florida Democratic Party via email for comment.

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China aims for better-skilled population, to improve childcare

Story by By Farah Master • May 15, 2023

 parents pushes a stroller with a baby in a park in Shanghai

© Thomson Reuters

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China needs to focus on education, science and technology to develop a better-skilled population, the state-backed People's Daily said on Tuesday, adding that the country will strive for a "moderate fertility" level to support economic growth.

President Xi Jinping recently attended a meeting concerned with population development, it added with the newspaper describing population development as a major event linked to China's "great rejuvenation".

Concerned about China's first population drop in six decades last year and its rapid ageing, the government has urgently embarked on measures to lift the country's birth rate including financial incentives and boosting childcare facilities.

Related video: Why China is launching projects to build 'new-era' marriage, childbearing culture (India Today)   Duration 1:23  View on Watch

China will double the number of childcare centres by 2025, state-backed broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday, with the headline "It is no longer difficult to take care of a baby".

The number of caregivers per 1,000 people will increase to 4.5 by 2025 from 2.5 in 2022, it added.

Many Chinese women are reluctant to have more than one or even any children due to the high costs of child-rearing and as the lack of childcare means becoming a parent often entails giving up a career. Gender discrimination and traditional thinking that places the burden of caring for children mostly on women are still widespread throughout the country.Authorities have in recent months increased rhetoric about sharing child-rearing duties but paternity leave is still limited in most provinces.

Opening up fertility services to unmarried women may help to boost the country's fertility rate, the government's political advisers proposed in March.

(Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Thais cheer poll winner Move Forward as opposition parties agree to coalition

Story by By Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um • 

REUTERS

Tuesday, May 16,2023

Thailand general election© Thomson Reuters

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's two main opposition parties agreed on Monday to form a ruling coalition after they trounced in a weekend election military-backed rivals that have controlled government for nearly a decade.

The Move Forward party and opposition heavyweight Pheu Thai dominated Sunday's ballot in a rout of army-backed parties, but could face challenges in mustering enough support to vote in a prime minister, with parliamentary rules drafted by the military after a 2014 coup skewed in favour of its allies.



Thailand general election© Thomson Reuters

Their alliance would need to ensure its efforts to form a new government would not be stymied by a junta-appointed Senate, which gets to vote on a prime minister in a bicameral sitting of the 750-member legislature, and has a record of favouring conservative parties led by generals.

Pita Limjaroenrat, Move Forward's 42-year-old leader proposed an alliance of six parties that would command 309 seats. That would be short of the 376 seats needed to ensure he was elected as prime minister.


Thailand general election© Thomson Reuters

Asked about the Senate, he said all sides must respect the election outcome and there was no use going against it.

"I am not worried but I am not careless," he told a press conference.

"It will be quite a hefty price to pay if someone is thinking about debunking the election result or forming a minority government."

Pheu Thai, controlled by the billionaire Shinawatra family said it agreed with Pita's proposal and wished him luck in efforts to become prime minister.


Thailand general election© Thomson Reuters

The party had won most seats in every election this century, including twice in landslides, but met its match against Move Forward as it came close to a sweep of the capital Bangkok and made gains in rivals' strongholds.

NO OTHER ALLIANCE

"Pheu Thai has no plan to form any other government," party leader Chonlanan Srikaew told a press conference.

Though the results appear to be a hammer blow for the military and its allies, with parliamentary rules on their side and some influential power-brokers behind them, they could determine the shape of a new government.

Move Forward was galvanized by a wave of excitement among the youth over its liberal agenda and promises of bold changes, including breaking up monopolies and reforming a law on insulting the monarchy.

The landslide victory of two progressive political parties in Thailand's

Duration 2:53  View on Watch

On Monday, Pita did a victory lap in Bangkok where thousands of supporters had gathered - some in the streets, others on rooftops - dressed in Move Forward's signature orange colour and chanting "Prime Minister Pita".

Thai opposition crush military parties in election

Duration 2:10View on Watch

DW  Thai Elections

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WION  Thailand Election 2023: Opinion polls indicate massive support for two opposition parties

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Dailymotion Nanalong Move Forward Party Leader ng Thailand, nakipagkasundo sa pagbuo ng coalition

2:03

Student Pirag Phrasawang, 22, said he was "overwhelmed and excited to see change finally come to the country".

"My voice has been neglected for a long time. I'm glad that people finally woke up and responded to Move Forward's policies."

Pita has said Move Forward would press ahead with its plan to amend strict lese majeste laws against insulting the monarchy, which critics say have been used to stifle free speech. Thailand's palace does not comment on the law or its use.

The law punishes perceived insults by up to 15 years in prison, with hundreds of people facing charges, some of whom are in pre-trial detention.

Pita said parliament would be the right forum to seek amendments to the law, or article 112 of the criminal code.

"We will use the parliament to make sure that there is a comprehensive discussion with maturity, with transparency in how we should move forward in terms of the relationship between the monarchy and the masses," he said.

Asked if Pheu Thai would back that, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, one of its main candidates, said it could be discussed in the legislature.

"Pheu Thai has a clear stand that we won't abolish 112 but there can be a discussion about the law in parliament," she said.

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Chayut Setboonsarng, Juarawee Kittisilpa and Panu Wongcha-um; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Thailand’s opposition won a landslide in elections. But will the military elite let them rule?

Story by Helen Regan • CNNTuesday, May 16, 2023

Like a good democracy, now comes the horse trading.

Hear from supporters of winning party in Thailand's election

Duration 2:40   View on Watch

Thai voters delivered a powerful message to the country’s military-backed government on Sunday: you do not have the will of the people to rule.

The progressive Move Forward Party, which gained a huge following among young Thais for its reformist platform, won the most seats and the largest share of the popular vote.

Pheu Thai, the main opposition party that has been a populist force in Thailand for 20 years, came second.

Together they delivered a crushing blow to the conservative, military-backed establishment that has ruled on and off for decades, often by turfing out popularly elected governments in coups.

“This is an unmistakable frontal rebuke, a rejection of Thailand’s military authoritarian past. It’s a rejection of military dominance in politics,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist from Chulalongkorn University.

Over the last two decades, each time Thais have been allowed to vote, they have done so overwhelmingly in support of the military’s political opponents. Sunday’s vote – which saw a record turnout – was a continuation of that tradition.

But despite winning a landslide, it is far from certain who will be the next leader.

Thailand’s opposition won a landslide in elections. But will the military elite let them rule?© Provided by CNNSupporters of the Move Forward Party react as they watch results come in at the party headquarters in Bangkok on May 14, after polls closed in Thailand's general election. - Jack Taylor/AFP/Getty Images

That’s because the military junta that last seized power in 2014 rewrote the constitution to ensure they maintain a huge say in who can lead, whether or not they win the popular vote.

Neither opposition party won an outright majority of 376 seats needed to form a government outright, they will need to strike deals and wrangle support from other parties to form a coalition big enough to ensure victory.

But that won’t necessarily be straightforward.

Dangerous territory

The first thing to know is that any opposition party or coalition hoping to form a government must overcome the powerful voting bloc of the senate.

Under the junta-era constitution, Thailand’s unelected 250-seat senate is chosen entirely by the military and has previously voted for a pro-military candidate.

Because a party needs a majority of the combined houses – 750 seats – to elect a prime minister, it means opposition parties need almost three times as many votes in the lower house to be able to elect the next leader and form a government.

In 2019, coup leader Prayut Chan-o-cha won the senate votes which ensured his party’s coalition gained enough seats to elect him as prime minister, despite Pheu Thai being the largest party.

There are also other threats to the progressive movement’s win. Parties that have previously pushed for change have run afoul of the powerful conservative establishment – a nexus of the military, monarchy and influential elites.


Thailand’s opposition won a landslide in elections. But will the military elite let them rule?© Provided by CNNMove Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, attends a press conference following the general election, at the party's headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 15. - Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

Lawmakers have faced bans, parties have been dissolved, and governments have been overthrown. Thailand has witnessed a dozen successful coups since 1932, including two in the past 17 years.

And the purportedly independent election commission, anti-corruption commission and the constitutional court are all dominated in favor of the establishment.

In the progressive camp’s favor, however, is their large margin over the military-backed parties.

“If the results were murky, or if the pro-military parties got more, then we would be looking at manipulation, trying to shave the margins. But the results are so clear and very difficult to overturn now,” said Thitinan, adding that if there were attempts to subvert the vote, there would be public anger and protests.

Move Forward’s predecessor the Future Forward Party won the third most seats in the 2019 election. Shortly afterward, several of the party’s leaders were banned from politics and the party was later dissolved after a court ruled it violated electoral finance rules.

In the short term, that decision ended the threat from the Future Forward Party. But it also, in many ways, laid the foundation for Sunday’s historic vote.

Youth-led protests erupted across Thailand in 2020 after Future Forward was dissolved and a whole new generation of young political leaders were born, some of whom were willing to debate a previously taboo topic – royal reform.

Those calls electrified Thailand, where any frank discussion of the monarchy is fraught with the threat of prison under one of the strictest lese majeste laws in the world.

Many youth leaders were jailed or face ongoing prosecution linked to those protests. But some also went on to create the Move Forward party that swept to victory in the popular vote on Sunday.

That leaves the military establishment now locked in a political battle with a party that has kept the subject of royal reform on its manifesto.

Experts have said another coup would be costly, and dissolving a party with such a mandate would be “drastic.”

“Dissolving a party is a fairly drastic move. If there’s a way of keeping Move Forward out without dissolving them, then conservative politicians would probably prefer to do that. Because it’s not as strong a step in subverting the will that people have expressed,” said Susannah Patton, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute.

“But you can’t rule that out.”

Vote for change cannot be ignored

Move Forward’s allure went beyond the youth vote on which it built its base.

Unofficial results showed the party captured 32 out of 33 seats in Bangkok – traditionally a stronghold for conservative parties.

“What this shows is that people who are living in urban areas are really fed up with the government that the military has provided for almost a decade,” said Patton.

“They are wanting to choose something different, and Move Forward is not just the youth party but actually can attract a wider cross section of support as well.”

Move Forward’s radical agenda includes reforming the military, getting rid of the draft, reducing the military’s budget, making it more transparent and accountable, as well as constitutional change and to bring the military and monarchy within the constitution.

The party’s win over the populist juggernaut Pheu Thai is also significant. This is the first time a party linked with ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has lost an election since 2001.

And Pheu Thai’s marginal defeat to Move Forward shows voters’ frustration with the old cycle of politics that pitted populist Thaksin-linked parties against the establishment.

Thailand’s “two party system was already breaking down in 2019, but it’s continuing to break down this election,” said Patton.

In a press conference on Monday, Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat said the party would go forward with plans to amend the country’s strict lese majeste laws – a key campaign pledge despite the taboo surrounding any discussion of the royal family in Thailand.

One of his priorities is to support young people facing jail terms on lese majeste charges, and Pita warned that if the law remains as it is, the relationship between the Thai people and the monarchy will only worsen.

His policies “strike at heart of the establishment,” said Thitinan, and even talking about the monarchy openly “is an affront to the palace.”

The Move Forward leader said Monday that he wants to form an alliance with the four other opposition parties to secure a majority in the lower house.

It could take 60 days before a prime ministerial candidate is endorsed by Thailand’s combined houses of parliament, but Sunday’s vote shows the people are ready for change.

However, if Thailand’s turbulent recent history is anything to go by, that could mean little. The military has shown in the past that it has few qualms about ignoring the popular vote.

CNN.com

Thailand's Senate could hold the key for hopeful election winner

Story by By Panarat Thepgumpanat • May 15

Thailand general election© Thomson Reuters


BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's Move Forward party announced on Monday that it had sufficient votes to form a coalition government but a military-appointed Senate, the party's position on a royal insult law and a complaint against its leader may stand in the way.


Thailand general election© Thomson Reuters

Pita Limjareonrat, 42, led the Move Forward party to a stunning victory in Sunday's general election, winning the highest number of seats, ahead of another opposition party, the political heavyweight Pheu Thai.

The victory of the two opposition parties may pave the way to ending nearly 10 years of military-backed governments led by a former army chief, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, whose newly formed party won a small fraction of the seats that the opposition parties did.

"I am ready to become Thailand's 30th prime minister," Pita declared, explaining that his party and its five prospective coalition partners, including Pheu Thai, would secure 309 seats in the 500-seat lower house of parliament.



Thailand general election© Thomson Reuters

However, to be indisputably in a position to become prime minister he needs to be able to command a majority in a joint sitting of the bicameral legislature, which includes 250 members of a military-appointed Senate.



Thailand general election© Thomson Reuters

So he needs 376 members of a joint session to vote for him.

Reuters spoke to six senators to try to gauge the mood of the upper house. Some of them suggested they would not necessarily vote with the majority in parliament, even though that reflected the will of the people as expressed on Sunday.

Related video: Analysis: Two Scenarios for Post-Election Thailand - TaiwanPlus News (TaiwanPlus)

Duration 2:33  View on Watch

DailymotionOpposition Parties Score Stunning Election Win in Thailand

1:31

France 24Changing of the guard? Thailand election winners challenge ruling establishment

44:58

cbc.caThai voters choose democratic-leaning opposition parties

2:01

Senator Somchai Sawangkarn said his vote for who becomes prime minister would based on his criteria and a lower-house majority alone was not sufficient.

"The person must be honest and not cause problems in the country," Somchai said.

"Hitler was elected in a majority but led the country to world war ... If there is a possibility of creating division in the country, I will not vote for them," he said.

Another, Kittisak Rattanawaraha, said the next leader must be loyal to the nation, religion and king and not corrupt, echoing themes upheld by Move Forward's conservative opponents.



Thailand general election© Thomson Reuters

A polarising issue for Move Forward is its position on amending a strict royal insult law, which sets out a sentence of up to 15 years for defaming the monarchy.

Critics says conservative governments have used the law to stifle dissent but conservatives are fiercely opposed to any suggestion of amending it.

The royal family is officially above politics and the king constitutionally enshrined to be held in "revered worship".

Senator Jet Sirathananon said he would respect the wishes of the majority.

"The Senate should not block the work of parliament. Based on what we saw yesterday, we'll respect people's votes," he said.

One senator said he would abstain on the grounds that it was the duty of the lower house to select the prime minister.

Another danger that Pita faces could come from the courts.

According to a complaint filed with the Election Commission before the vote, Pita broke electoral rules because he holds shares in a media company.

Pita said he was ready to explain that there was no wrongdoing and the allegation was a distraction.

"The road for Move Forward is just starting and it will not be smooth," said Ben Kiatkwankul, partner at Maverick Consulting Group, government affairs advisory.

(Additional reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Nikki Haley details speaking fees, corporate board position in disclosure

Story by Maeve Reston • Monday
The Washington Post

Nikki Haley details speaking fees, corporate board position in disclosure

© Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post

Republican White House contender Nikki Haley earned at minimum $1.2 million and as much as $12 million delivering a dozen speeches across the globe from March of last year through January, according to a personal financial disclosure report that she filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday.

Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador during the Trump administration before stepping down in 2018, reported receiving payments ranging between $100,001 and $1 million for each of the 12 speeches she made before a wide array of groups over the 10-month period ending in January, shortly before she announced her presidential bid in February.

The presidential hopeful also received a salary of between $50,001 and $100,000 from Great Southern Homes, a company based in Irmo, S.C., that billed itself as one of the largest home builders in the Southeast. She served as a board member for Great Southern Homes from July 2021 to December 2022 and reported holding company stock valued at between $250,001 and $500,000.

Great Southern Homes this year became part of a new publicly traded company called United Homes Group. Haley is currently serving on the board of United Homes Group, according to the disclosure.



Some past GOP presidential candidates who were serving on corporate boards stepped down from those roles before entering the race for the nomination — including Mitt Romney, who left the board of directors for Marriott International in 2011 before running for the White House.

In 2014, as he prepared for a presidential run, former Florida governor Jeb Bush resigned from all of his corporate board memberships, as well as the nonprofit boards on which he was serving — including his education foundation.

When it comes to Haley’s paid speeches, the engagements serve as an illustration of how her turn on the world stage in the Trump administration raised her international profile. The former South Carolina governor spoke to companies and groups across the spectrum from finance to global affairs, including an address to Barclays Capital Asia in Singapore, one to Canadian Friends of the Jerusalem College of Technology in Toronto, a speech to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Montreal, and one to Water Street Healthcare Partners in Chicago. The last paid speech Haley delivered before she announced her run for the Republican presidential nomination was to the National Automobile Dealers Association in Dallas.

Candidates running for president are required to file an annual Office of Government Ethics financial disclosure report with the FEC within 30 days after becoming a candidate — or by May 15 of that calendar year, whichever date is later. The forms allow candidates to report the value of their assets and income in wide ranges, making it difficult to discern the exact value of their financial interests.

Haley reported receiving between $100,001 and $1 million in royalties for her book “If You Want Something Done.” She also received a salary of between $100,001 and $1 million from an asset holding company known as Little Engine, which was described on her disclosure as a corporation jointly owned by Haley and her husband and incorporated in late December 2018.

Haley received consulting fees between $100,001 and $1 million from New York-based Prism Global Management, a global tech investor and private fund manager. Her disclosures note that her consulting agreement with Prism provides for a potential partnership interest in the future.

She reported salary within the range of $50,001 and $100,000 from United Against Nuclear Iran, a New York-based nonprofit organization for which she serves as a senior adviser

Death threats, racist messages to Calgary Liberal MP George Chahal and family reported to police
Story by Michael Rodriguez • Monday, May 15, 2023

Calgary Skyview MP George Chahal says his office has been targeted by disturbing and hateful threats.© Provided by Calgary Herald

Calgary’s lone federal Liberal representative, George Chahal is speaking out after a string of voicemails left at his constituency office — chock full of racist and homophobic slurs — called for the MP and his family members’ deaths.

The Calgary Skyview MP and former city councillor posted to Twitter two clips of voice messages his local office received recently, stating a need to fight back against “growing” hatred.

“I’m appalled by this incident, but also resolute to stand against this hate that’s being promoted by a few in our society,” Chahal told Postmedia on Sunday. “We all are accountable as elected officials to ensure that we stand up and call out and fight against this bigotry, hate and discrimination that we’re seeing.”

The audio, totalling more than four minutes, contains multiple back-to-back voice messages from what appears to be one man, laced with homophobic and racial slurs.

“Hey George, just a reminder you’re an ugly, trash, n—– f—– traitor, and I hope your entire family receives what’s getting to them with corporal punishment one day,” the caller said. “You should all be hanged and exterminated for your treason — thanks.”

Similar pejorative language is used in each of the messages, many of which accuse Chahal of treason for “selling us out” to China and one telling him to “get out of my country, you f—–.”

Chahal said while this is a particularly vile example, these kinds of threats and hate have increased since he moved from municipal to federal politics in 2021 and it’s something many who hold public office face — specifically women and people of colour. The Calgary Police Service is investigating the incident, and Chahal says he’s also made a report to the parliamentary sergeant-at-arms.

“I am being targeted because of my political affiliations and my race and what I stand for,” he said. “This individual and many others have over the last number of years have been targeting many elected officials who hold similar views to myself — it’s concerning. I’m also concerned about the politicians that are inflaming these types of actions here in Canada.”

More security for George Chahal’s constituency office

Chahal said he’s had to bolster security measures at his office so his staffers feel comfortable going to work and upgrade his home security system to ensure his family’s safety.

“My family is always on edge when an incident like this happens. We’ve had a number of people target me at my home, and here at the office as well,” he said. “All Canadians should feel safe to be able to go to work or be in their own home, and should not fear their ability to just be a regular person in our society. … This is unfortunately on the rise and has significantly risen over the last number of years here in Canada.”

Additionally, Chahal said his daughter and niece were followed home after a day of door-knocking during the 2021 campaign .

“This is so unfortunate there are so many incidents that I can point to since I’ve been campaigning and elected as an MP. That is a very concerning and very disturbing trend,” he said.

Chahal’s staff say the messages were left over the course of a single night in March, shortly after Chahal spoke to the Hill Times about recent controversies surrounding China’s meddling in Canadian elections.

In the piece, Chahal contested the notion that volunteers of political campaigns suspected of receiving Chinese aid should be interviewed, saying it presumes guilt and could discourage minorities from being active politically.

Chahal was elected MP for Calgary Skyview in 2021 after a single term on city council.

mrodriguez@postmedia.com
Twitter: @MichaelRdrguez

Saskatchewan government pausing tire recycling plans, reviewing procurement practices

Story by Saskatoon StarPhoenix • Monday May 15, 2023

A worker cleans equipment used to make interlocking patio tiles at Shercom Industries manufacturing facility near Saskatoon. Representatives of Shercom have raised concerns about a decision by Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan to enter into a contract with a U.S.-based company to set up a tire-processing facility in Moose Jaw.

© Provided by Star Phoenix

The provincial government is tapping the brakes on changes to Saskatchewan’s tire-recycling market.

The province announced Monday that Premier Scott Moe has engaged Cam Swan, a former deputy minister of environment, to work with the Ministry of Environment and Tire Stewardship Saskatchewan (TSS), the industry non-profit that oversees used tire collection.

Swan is to “review procurement practices and assess future needs of tire recycling and processing, and to provide recommendations to the Minister,” the announcement states.

The review is to be completed sometime this summer. In the meantime, a request for proposals for a new tire processor for the northern portion of the province is to be put on hold.

TSS recently awarded a contract to U.S.-based Crumb Rubber Manufacturers (CRM) for a tire processing facility to be set up in Moose Jaw. The move came with a guarantee that CRM would receive all used tires collected in the southern portion of the province, as opposed to the previous system, which allowed dealers to choose where used tires went.

TSS CEO Stevyn Arnt previously said the move was meant to reduce freight costs and lower the environmental impact of shipping tires from southern Saskatchewan to the outskirts of Saskatoon.

The arrangement drew strong reaction from Shercom Industries, which has for years operated Saskatchewan’s only tire processing facility in the Corman Park Industrial Area a few kilometres north of Saskatoon. Shercom’s contract with TSS expired in 2020; the last in a series of short-term extensions ran out at the end of April.

With the supply of used tires nearly cut in half, Shercom president Shane Olson last week said his company had cut dozens of jobs, as its multimillion-dollar tire processing operation was no longer viable.

He said the tire processing plant would be shut down completely once Shercom’s existing inventory was used up. From there, he said the company would then have to rely on rubber purchased from outside the province for its ongoing manufacturing business, which produces items including driveways, patio tiles and landscaping mulch.

Olson also stated that Shercom would not bid on the now-shelved plan for a processor for the northern half of the province, and cast doubt on the long-term future of the manufacturing business staying in Saskatchewan.

Citing 30 years of experience in the industry and multiple bankruptcies among competitors, Olson questioned the ability of the Saskatchewan market to sustain multiple processing operations.

The Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce also spoke against the TSS decision, and wrote to Environment Minister Dana Skoropad calling for a review.

Related
Operator of Saskatchewan tire recycling program changed

SASKATCHEWAN FIRE SALE
$3.2M and counting: Sales of SLGA buildings continue

Story by Regina Leader-Post • Monday, May 15, 2023

The now-closed SLGA Dewdney Liquor Store© Provided by Leader Post

The sale of 10 former SLGA buildings has netted the province more than $3.2 million — and there are currently three more properties up for grabs.

The Government of Saskatchewan announced Monday another building that housed an SLGA Retail Inc. liquor store in Fort Qu’Appelle was sold for $370,000.

Offers were previously accepted on properties in Watrous, Biggar, Esterhazy, La Ronge, Buffalo Narrows, Creighton, Carlyle, Humboldt and Moosomin — though six of those deals are still listed as pending on SLGA’s website.

The last of SLGA’s 34 stores, 19 of which it owned, closed on March 11.

Five of the buildings will be repurposed for other government organizations, the province said Monday.

Three available properties are listed for sale in Saskatoon, Nipawin and Assiniboia.

The government auctioned off the province’s remaining 35 public liquor permits in February as part of a plan to exit the business by the end of March. By the end of the month, the government said it raked in roughly $45 million for the permits.

A whole new conflict around remote work

Story by Robert Cross •

Ottawa Citizen

 Monday, May 15, 2023

April 19, 2023: Public service workers protest outside the Prime Minister's Office across from Parliament Hill. PSAC has since reached a tentative contract deal with the federal government

The tentative deal that ended the largest federal strike in decades could open a whole new conflict around remote work, a demand that came second only to wages in the two-week standoff and isn’t going away.

“It’s a strike that didn’t need to happen,” said Linda Duxbury, a Chancellor’s professor of management at Carleton University and expert on work-life balance and remote work.

She blames both the government and its largest federal union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, for failing to manage workers’ expectations about remote work, which she says is a “privilege not a right.”

“The government caused this problem by arbitrarily picking out of the air that employees must come into the office two to three days a week,” she said.

“It makes no sense when you’ve got such huge number of different jobs…. You’re can’t treat everyone the same. By trying to be fair to everybody, they are fair to nobody. People are enraged.”

In the coming days, 155,000 public servants will vote whether to ratify a deal that some fear could set the government and its workforce on a collision course. Former Privy Council clerk Kevin Lynch has questioned how it will lead to a more productive public service that delivers better services.

PSAC never got the raise it wanted to match inflation, but the four-year deal is one of the highest recently negotiated in the public sector. It will dole out raises worth 12.6 per cent – along with other sweeteners.

The agreement on remote work, however, falls short of the breakthrough PSAC wanted.

Remote work remained a red line for both parties. PSAC wanted the right to work from home enshrined in the collective agreement. Treasury Board President Mona Fortier stood firm that how and where employees work is a management right that she would not surrender.

Instead, remote requests will be assessed individually by managers and in writing. Requests that are denied will go to a joint union-employer panel for review, but they cannot be grieved.

Treasury Board has also promised to consult with unions on a review of the 30-year-old telework policy. Other union officials don’t have much faith.

“C’mon,” said one long-time negotiator. “Have you ever seen a government consulting with a union that leads to a major overhaul of anything? Let’s be real here.”

With the new deal, the first in the line of fire will be managers, who will have to juggle the responsibility and complications of remote work.

“I can’t tell you who won this deal, but I can certainly tell you who lost; the front-line and middle-level managers who all of sudden have all the onus for this on them,” Duxbury said.

Managers are already a beleaguered bunch. Duxbury said data shows those empathetic to their staff worked flat-out during the pandemic, squeezed between the must-do orders from senior management and front-line employees doing the work.

“They’re coming out of the pandemic, already burned out and what do we do? We dump this responsibility on them. We don’t give them any tools. We don’t give them any guidance. We don’t even tell them what productivity looks like for people who work at home,” she said.

Many of the issues around remote could be solved by better management. The relationship between managers and employees is all-important, but now managers are “put in the position of judging who gets to work from home. They can’t win,” said Duxbury.

If they say no, for whatever reason, they are suddenly in hours of follow-ups and grievances and committees and more committees on top of everything else they have to do.”
How to measure productivity?

It’s particularly challenging to measure productivity among knowledge workers, and the government charged ahead with hybrid work with no way track it, said Duxbury.

Its outdated classification system desperately needs an overhaul to measure productivity in jobs as diverse as carpenters and cooks to scientists and economists. What productivity means varies wildly by job, department and even the person doing the work.

Prior to the pandemic, the public service measured productivity by hours worked, and those who worked the longest and were available 24/7 were the “most worthy and promotable,” said Duxbury.

The pandemic sent everyone home to work, where employees claim they are as or more productive. They are indeed working longer hours – about 11 hours more a week, Duxbury’s studies show. But can that extra time be equated with productivity?

“Longer hours are just an input. We’re interested in output. What do you do? No one has measured that at all, so claims of productivity can’t be supported. We don’t have a clue,” she said.

Duxbury argues the strike might never have happened if Treasury Board had stuck with its original plan of letting departments decide how to make the shift to a hybrid workforce and who to bring back to the office.

Treasury Board faced lots of criticism for that hands-off approach. With more than 100 departments and agencies, the result was a patchwork, with some requiring a day or two in the office and others allowing people to work from home. Departments also didn’t enforce the various standards.

Ultimately, the government clamped down with a “one-size-fits-all” approach and created a massive uproar when it forced people back to the office two to three days a week.

“If they (had) just left it alone, and gone with departments’ plans, and given autonomy to the deputy ministers who knew the type of work being done, knew their people, and knew what was possible, probably none of this would have happened,” said Duxbury.

PSAC tapped into the fury and frustration over the government’s return-to-office order to stoke its strike vote — something it knew the government wasn’t going to give in on.

But labour observers say PSAC is facing a backlash among its members for failing to manage expectations. Already, the deal has created fractures within PSAC. One of its union components, which represents 37,000 workers, is leading a no-vote campaign against the deal.

The PSAC union representing tax workers at Canada Revenue Agency didn’t want the deal and stayed on strike. Without the leverage of 120,000 striking Treasury Board workers, it settled a couple of days later with much the same deal.

What about tensions between front-line workers who have to report to work and office workers who can work from home? Many argue this will inevitably lead to two-tier employment with those who can’t do their jobs remotely wanting to be paid a premium over remote work colleagues who get to save on commuting costs.
Will public servants become politicized?

Some worry the strike has so seriously shaken labour peace that public servants could become politicized against their employer.

This kind of politicization could play out in the next election, said Larry Savage, professor of labour studies at Brock University. Federal unions fear the election of a labour-unfriendly and cost-cutting Conservative government, but they don’t want to be “seen as helping the prime minister who pushed them out onto the picket line.” (Remember in the 2015 election, some federal unions openly campaigned against the Harper government over anti-labour legislation that took away their collective bargaining rights. The Liberals repealed that legislation.)

For the upcoming ratification vote, PSAC is positioning remote work as a major step forward to be built on in future rounds of collective bargaining.

And what about the other unions still in bargaining?

“What leverage does any other union have to get a better deal when this is all that came out of a 12-day strike?” said one longtime union leader. “After all this, do you think the government is going to say, ‘Oh yeah, ‘we’ll give you more than we gave them?’”

Kathryn May
This article first appeared on Policy Options and is republished here under a Creative Commons licence.

Social Services, Corrections largest sources of complaints to Sask. ombudsman
Story by Larissa Kurz • Monday, MAY 15, 2023

Sharon Pratchler, Saskatchewan ombudsman and public interest disclosure commissioner, in Saskatoon, SK on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.© Provided by Leader Post

The provincial ministries of Social Services and Corrections, Policing and Public Safety were the leading sources of complaints to the Saskatchewan ombudsman in 2022, continuing a trend lasting over a decade.

Details of the annual provincial ombudsman’s report show complaints about Social Services rose for the second year in a row, with many related to service delivery issues within the ministry’s programs.

The report, tabled at the end of April, comes as the ombudsman marks a milestone year in 2023.

The provincial ombudsman’s office opened in 1973, celebrating 50 years in operation earlier this month. Since opening, the ombudsman has fielded more than 160,000 requests for assistance from the public.

“The heart of our mandate is to ensure administratively fair processes and outcomes in provincial and municipal government programs and services,” wrote Sharon Pratchler, who stepped into the role as Saskatchewan’s ombudsman in November.

“The key to delivering on that mandate is maintaining humanity within the decision-making of systems of government.”

In 2022, the ombudsman received 3,656 requests for assistance, with 2,701 of these found to be within the office’s jurisdiction to investigate, a decrease of 4 per cent from 2021.

The largest number of requests were related to issues with Social Services, with 691 complaints marking a 6 per cent increase over 2021 and a 19 per cent rise over 2020, but less than the 884 complaints recorded in 2019.

Anecdotal details in the report indicate Social Services complaints were often related to errors in policy interpretation, such as those regarding eligibility for Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) benefits for refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

The length of time it took to get approvals for supports was also a significant source of requests to the ombudsman.

“Even if a decision is ultimately made in favour of a citizen, if there is an inordinate delay in the decision-making, this raises both procedural and relational fairness issues for citizens, as well as our office,” the report noted.

Second in volume, with 597 requests, were complaints about Corrections, Policing and Public Safety, up slightly from 2021.

The provincial correctional centres in Regina and Saskatoon saw the largest number of complaints, with the report noting this is related to the facilities housing the largest numbers of inmates.

The majority of complaints about provincial correctional centres were filed by remanded inmates, rather than those who had been sentenced, with many complaints related to misdelivery of disciplinary sanctions inside facilities.

Municipalities continued to be the third-largest source of complaints in 2022, following a trend that began in 2016 when they came under the ombudsman’s jurisdiction, the report stated.

A total of 465 requests for assistance were related to municipal administrations or councils last year.

Health care concerns also continued to be common, although complaints related to COVID-19 were fewer than in the previous two years.

Complaints were prevalent specifically amongst older adults in relation to care facilities, Pratchler wrote. Commonly shared issues related to delayed access to services like home care or surgery, timeliness and quality of care, and lack of respect or dignity.

“Many of these individuals expressed their opinion that inadequate staffing levels were a contributing factor to their situations,” Pratchler noted.

The Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner annual report, also compiled by Pratchler, was tabled in tandem with the ombudsman’s report.

Nineteen inquiries under the Public Interest Disclosure Act were submitted in 2022, but for “the majority of the cases, it was determined that the inquiry did not fall within the mandate of our legislation,” the report noted. Five open files were carried over into 2023 from the end of the year.

Pratchler said work in 2022 has continued to focus on the office’s long-standing mandate of ensuring fair and timely resolutions, either by formal or informal investigation.

Her report notes that the ombudsman has continued to resolve more than 90 per cent of complaints within three months and 95 per cent within six months, since goals were set in 2007.

She lauded the office’s past and present staff for continued dedication to addressing public concerns with government entities over the past several decades.

“Every day, the team makes a difference in the lives of Saskatchewan citizens by listening to complaints, providing information, and by using problem solving and conflict resolution skills to achieve fair and timely resolutions,” writes Pratchler.

Related
Sask. inmate disciplinary system steadily improving, says ombudsman
Ombudsman flooded with COVID-related complaints last year
Sask. ombudsman finds fault with jails, care homes, municipalities