Solar panels could be a lifesaver for public housing tenants grappling with Australia’s soaring energy costs

Benita Kolovos
Sun, 2 April 2023 


Natalie Rabey doesn’t know how much time she has left. But she knows what she wants to do with it.

“While I’m still breathing I’d like to get some action on solar panels for people in public housing because it’s just terrible at the moment,” she says.

The 73-year-old public housing resident has spent more than a decade advocating for improved living conditions for public tenants in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs. She says with the cost of living soaring, she has never seen so many people doing it so tough.

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“A lot of people around here are getting help from the Salvos and neighbourhood houses with food, especially pensioners. How are they supposed to pay their power bills, medication, groceries when it’s all going up by so much?” Rabey says.

Related: ‘I was in tears’: collapsed ceiling in family home a sign of dire state of NSW public housing

“I know some people are just not turning their heaters on in winter, while the ones who have air conditioners, they don’t use them at all in the summer because they can’t afford to. Others are just switching everything off.”

For Rabey, this is not an option. She has permanent scarring on her lungs following a viral infection that put her in hospital for nine weeks. As a result, she needs to use an oxygen machine, and run two air purifiers and a compressor 24 hours a day.

“I don’t know what it’s going cost me as we head into winter because I have to keep the heating on throughout the night, because otherwise in the morning it’s freezing and I start coughing up,” Rabey says.

She is backing a push by the Victorian Public Tenants’ Association (VPTA), to install solar panels on every public housing property in the state.

In its state budget submission, the VPTA, the peak body representing existing public housing renters and those on the waitlist, estimates 23,500 existing public housing properties are suitable for installation of rooftop solar panels.

It could save each household up to $535.49 each year in lower energy bills.

The VPTA chief executive, Katelyn Butterss, said the proposal would tackle cost-of-living pressures for low-income households, help Victoria reach its emissions reductions targets, and create more than 1,000 jobs.

“Homeowners, people who live in community housing and those in private rentals have had an opportunity to access subsidised solar panel installations, while the tenants of Victoria’s biggest landlord – the director of housing – are the only people left behind,” she said. “It’s time they also reaped the benefits.”

The VPTA’s submission also calls for a program that would see vacant property owners lease their homes to the government for temporary inclusion in the public housing stock for up to 15 years.

The government would pay participants market rent plus 1%. To encourage owners to join the program, the government could increase the vacant residential land tax or apply it to more parts of the state, the submission states.

Butterss said the idea followed the release of 2021 Census figures last year, which showed there were 1m unoccupied properties across Australia – or 10% of all housing stock – on census night.

Related: Rural housing crisis: short-stay accommodation demand in NSW towns is dire news for long-term locals | Elias Greig

“That’s really hard to reconcile when in Victoria, there are more than 100,000 individual Victorians waiting for access to safe, secure, affordable housing,” she said.

She described the proposal as a “stopgap” until the government’s $5.3bn “Big Housing Build” to construct more than 12,000 new homes eventuates. However, she warned it was likely these new properties would make only a small dent on the “very swollen waitlist”.

Rabey is keen to stress that most people in public housing don’t want to be there.

“Sometimes stuff happens to people in their lives that they can’t control,” she says. “I only ended up here because my brother’s business went down. That’s life. So we should try to make it a bit easier when we can.”

“I don’t know how long I have left but I want to see this one through.”

‘They know what’s at stake’: inside the longest-running industrial action at an Australian university

Caitlin Cassidy
Sun, 2 April 2023 

Photograph: AAP

The usually bustling University of Sydney campus is a ghost town on Friday morning, aside from a groundskeeper on his lawnmower and the occasional police car.

One hundred metres down the road, though, dozens of union members are belting out Red Flag and The Internationale to the toots of trucks and a chemistry lecturer’s french horn.

Related: Australian universities advised to avoid being ‘roped into’ multi-employer bargaining, leaked strategy reveals

Friday was the eighth day of strikes since an epic 21-month enterprise bargaining process began.

Hundreds of staff gathered to block off nine main entrances to the campus on Friday to reject management’s latest enterprise agreement proposal, representing the longest industrial action at any university in Australia.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) say management has refused to implement satisfactory controls on staff workloads, and are calling for job-security for casual and professional staff, a reduction of education-focused roles and a parity target for Indigenous employment.

Under the current agreement, management has agreed to preserve the 40-40-20 model, ensuring academic loads are split evenly between research and teaching, with 20% of time allocated to administrative work.

But it’s pushing to create 650 education-focused positions with a 70% teaching workload, while new academic roles will be increased by 10% to 330 positions.

The education positions were rejected this week with “dismay and incredulity” by emeritus professor Derrick Armstrong, who was responsible for introducing the roles and says they’ve become a way to reduce costs for the university while detaching the value of research from education.

At the picket at the Ross Street entrance, music blares all day, and students join staff armed with banners, flags and instruments. If the stakes weren’t so high, it might almost feel like a party.

Alma Torlakovic, member of the NTEU branch committee, is running the Ross Street picket. “We’re teaching a new generation of students how to fight,” she says.

“We’ve just had two unprecedented meetings in a row … it’s boosted people’s energy and spirit.

“Most staff would agree … people with any kind of job security have the best wages and conditions [nationally]. That’s what’s inspiring people to come out and lose pay – they know what’s at stake.”

A record 700 members attended the NTEU’s latest meeting to vote broadly in favour of a further eight and nine days of industrial action.

It came after management’s latest offer, which outlined a 17.1% pay increase over three years and a $2000 sign-on bonus.

A spokesperson for the University of Sydney says the pay increases are the best in the sector and it’s “disappointing” the union voted to continue with industrial action.

“Throughout the protracted negotiation process, we have never once modified our position due to industrial action, but only in response to good-faith negotiation at the bargaining table,” they say.

“The unions put forward more than 100 claims in this negotiation, more than any other university in Australia has had during similar negotiations.”

For classes going ahead in person, “roaming” strikers use interference tactics to “Zoom picket” tutorials and disrupt lessons. Where classes are running, normal attendance policies apply, while cancelled classes don’t rack up absences.

Yasmine Johnson is one of about 200 students at the university who’ve come out in support of academics.

“The things staff are facing, actually affects students too … they’ve [management] been trying for years to make classes bigger, meaning that tutors don’t have time to really mark students’ work,” she says.

“Student definitely understand. Lots of them stay at home for the strike days [and] students have been going around to classes before the strike and getting them to vote in support.”

Members of the NTEU at the University of Sydney on Friday, the eighth day of strikes since the 21-month enterprise bargaining process began. Photograph: AAP

Senior coordinator at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Dr Jason Todd is at the Carillon Avenue picket, dressed in the union’s purple. He’s running a clinical trial on prostate cancer and says his department is struggling to retain staff.

“Workloads are getting out of control … it’s hard to hire people when you can get much better offers in the private sector,” he says. “People are burnt out.”

Related: Australian university sector makes record $5.3bn surplus while cutting costs for Covid

Nick Riemer, NTEU branch president at the university, tours the picket lines on his pushbike.

He says some university cohorts, including the business school and law faculty, which were not previously active in industrial matters, have been radicalised during this campaign.

“We can’t go on striking forever, but we have to until we meet our minimum objectives … and we haven’t got that yet.”

This story was amended on 3 April, 2023 to correct that the University of Sydney’s pay increase offer is over three, not four, years.

Super tax breaks costing $45bn a year are ‘inheritance schemes’ for Australia’s rich, new report says


Peter Hannam Economics correspondent

Guardian Australia
Sun, 2 April 2023 

Photograph: Flashpop/Getty Images

The Albanese government could save the budget billions of dollars by winding back generous superannuation benefits that effectively produce “taxpayer-funded inheritance schemes” for the wealthy, a new Grattan Institute report argues.

The “super savings” report says such tax breaks now cost $45bn a year, or 2% of GDP, and will soon exceed the age pension costs. Two-thirds of the breaks go to the top 20% of income earners who typically are already saving enough for retirement.

“Much of the boost to super balances from tax breaks is never spent,” it said. “By 2060, one-third of all withdrawals from super will be via bequests – up from one-fifth today.”

Brendan Coates, one of the report’s authors, said the projected huge federal budget deficits and mounting demands for more spending on the NDIS, defence and other programs gave urgency to reining-in “unfair and unsustainable” super benefits.

“Our super tax breaks have been too generous for a long time,” Coates said.

The biggest changes were introduced by then treasurer Peter Costello in 2006 and “both sides of politics have been gradually chipping away at the tax breaks ever since,” he said.

Related: Coalition’s super changes will affect three times as many people as Labor’s plan, modelling shows

The 10 recommended changes include raising the so-called division 293 tax on super contributions from high earners from 30% to 35%, and cutting the annual income threshold at which this tax applies from $250,000 to $220,000. The budget would reap $1.1bn a year from the change.

To make the scheme more equitable, the low-income superannuation tax offset should be extended to those earning as much as $45,000 a year, up from $37,000 now. That change could cost $530m annually.

The Albanese government drew the ire of some investor groups and media pundits in February when it announced earnings on super balances above $3m would be taxed at a rate of 30%, up from the current 15%, starting in July 2025. Shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, criticised the move as an “attack on middle Australia”, while the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has promised to repeal it if the Coalition wins office.

The public’s response to that move – which is expected to affect about 80,000 people initially – was “actually heartening” and should encourage the government to go further, Coates said. “Polling of that change shows it has been wildly popular despite intense media commentary.”

Related: Young Australians are struggling, but improving their lives doesn’t come at the expense of older generations | Alison Pennington

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is busy preparing his second budget –– to be released on 9 May. At the end of last year, the underlying cash deficit for the 2022-23 year was expected to be almost $37bn with the annual shortfall rising to about $50bn in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Treasury officials are understood to have listened respectfully to the proposals but for now are sticking to the tax changes already planned for the $3m-plus super accounts.

Other changes proposed by the Grattan report include reducing the pre-tax contributions cap to $20,000 a year, from $27,500.

The move would save the budget $1.6bn a year by trimming voluntary contributions typically made by older people with already-high balances. Men also typically benefit much more than women.

Provisions that allow co-contributions and carry-forward provisions, intended to encourage catch-up payments, instead “facilitate tax minimisation and should be abolished” it said. Savings to the budget would be about $1.1bn a year.

The report said all super earnings in retirement should be taxed at 15%, as they are before people retire. Such a change would save the budget $5.3bn annually.

Coates said warnings that changing super conditions would alter people’s retirement plans were exaggerated.

“We change tax rates on personal income all the time,” he said, adding that the proposed changes would bring superannuation back in line with its original purpose. “This isn’t about blowing up the system.”

Mikhail Bakunin

Report of the Committee on the Question of Inheritance

FIRST INTERNATIONAL WORKINGMENS ASSOC. 1877

The Committee proposes the following resolutions:

Whereas the right of inheritance is one of the principal causes of the economic, social, and political inequality which governs,the world; Whereas, so long as there is no equality, there can be neither freedom nor justice but only oppression and exploitation—slavery and the labor of the people; Therefore, the Congress recognizes the need to abolish fully and completely the right of inheritance.

Citizens,

This question, which will be discussed at the Basle Congress, is divided into two parts, the first being the principle, and the second being the practical application of the principle.

The question of the principle itself should be considered from two standpoints: expedience and justice.

From the standpoint of the emancipation of labor, is it expedient, is it necessary, to abolish the right of inheritance? In our opinion, to ask this question is to answer it. What can the emancipation of labor mean, if not its' deliverance from the yoke of property and capital? And how can property and capital be prevented from dominating labor and exploiting it so long as they are divorced from labor, monopolized by the members of a class who need not work in order to live because of their exclusive enjoyment of the fruits of that monopoly, who will continue to exist and to keep labor down by levying on it land's rent and capital's interest, who are made strong by this state of affairs, and who thus secure for themselves all the profits of industrial and commercial enterprises as is the case now everywhere, leaving to the workers, who are themselves crushed by the mutual competition into which they are forced, only what is absolutely necessary to keep them from starving to death?

No political or juridical law, however severe, will be able to prevent this domination and exploitation, no law can prevail against the force of circumstances, no law can prevent a given situation from producing all of its natural results: From this it clearly follows that, so long as property and capital remain on one side and labor remains on the other, the former constituting the bourgeois class and the latter the proletariat, the workers will be the slaves and the members of the bourgeoisie will be the masters.

But what separates property and capital from labor? What distinguishes the classes economically and politically from one another, what destroys equality and perpetuates inequality, the privilege of the few and the slavery of the many? It is the right of inheritance.

Need we demonstrate how the right of inheritance gives rise to every economic, political, and social privilege? Plainly, it alone maintains class differences. Through the right of inheritance, both natural and passing differences among individuals, of fortune or prosperity, differences that should not outlive the individuals themselves, are eternalized, one may say petrified. Becoming traditional differences, they create privileges of birth, they establish classes, they become a permanent source of the exploitation of millions of workers by mere thousands of the well-born.

So long as the right of inheritance is in effect, there can be no economic, social, and political equality in the world; and so long as inequality exists, there will be oppression and exploitation. In principle, then, from the standpoint of the all-round emancipation of labor and laborers, we must desire the abolition of the right of inheritance.

It is understood that we do not intend to abolish physiological heredity, that is, the natural transmission of physical and intellectual abilities, or to be more precise, that of muscular and neural abilities from parents to their children. This transmission is often unfortunate, for it causes the physical and moral maladies of past generations to be passed on to present generations. But the disastrous effects of this transmission may be fought only by applications of science to individual and collective social hygiene, and by a rational and egalitarian organization of society.

What we want to abolish, what we must abolish, is the right of inheritance, which was established by jurisprudence and which constitutes the very basis of the juridical family and the State.

It is also understood that we do not intend to abolish sentimental inheritance. By this we mean the passing on, to children or friends, of objects of slight value which belonged to their friends or deceased parents, and which, because of their long use, have personal meaning. Substantial inheritance is what guarantees to heirs, either in full or in part, the possibility of living without working, by levying upon collective labor either land's rent or capital's interest.

We intend that both capital and land—in a word all the raw materials of labor—should cease being transferable through the right of inheritance, becoming forever the collective property of all productive associations.

Equality, and hence the emancipation of labor and of the workers, can be obtained only at this price.

Few are the workers who do not realize that the abolition of the right of inheritance will in the future be the ultimate condition of equality. But some fear that if it is abolished now, before a new social organization has guaranteed the lot of all children regardless of the conditions under which they are born, then their children will find themselves in financial difficulties after their death.

"What!" they say. “From the sweat of my brow and through great privation, I have amassed two or three or four hundred francs, and my children will be denied them!" Yes, these will be denied them, but in return they will be cared for by society, without prejudice to the natural rights of the mother and father, and they will receive an upbringing and an education which you could not guarantee them even with thirty or forty thousand francs. For it is clear that as soon as the right of inheritance is abolished, society will have to take responsibility for all costs of the physical, moral, and intellectual development of all children of both sexes born in its midst. It will become their supreme guardian.

We shall stop here, because at this point the question joins that of all-round education, on which another committee should report to you.* But there is another point we should clarify.

Many persons hold that if the right of inheritance is abolished, then the greatest stimulus that impels them to work will be destroyed. Those who so believe still consider labor a necessary evil or, to speak theologically, the result of Jehovah's curse, which he angrily hurled at the unhappy human race and in which, by a singular caprice, he included the whole of creation.

Rather than enter into this solemn theological discussion, we shall base ourselves on the simple study of human nature, answering those who disparage labor, by saying that for every person who possesses human capabilities, labor, far from being an evil or a painful necessity, is a need.

To be convinced of this, you may conduct a simple experiment on yourself: force yourself to be absolutely inactive for only a few days, or to do sterile, unproductive, and stupid work, and see whether at the end you do not feel most unhappy and degraded! Man's very nature compels him to work, just as it compels him to eat, drink, think, and speak.

If labor is hated today, this is because it is excessive, brutalizing, and forced, because it is the death of leisure, because it deprives one of the possibility of enjoying life fully, and because nearly everyone is compelled to apply his productive energy to that type of labor which least fits his natural inclinations. Labor is hated, finally, because in this society, which is founded on theology and jurisprudence, the possibility of living without working is considered an honor and a privilege, and the need to work for a living is regarded as a sign of degradation, a punishment and a disgrace.

When the labor of body and mind, manual and intellectual together, is considered the greatest honor, the sign of virility and humanity, then society will be saved. But that day will never arrive so long as inequality reigns, so long as the right of inheritance has not been abolished.

[Examining the principle of the abolition of inheritance from the second standpoint, we ask:] Will this abolition be just? But if it is in everyone's interest, in the interest of humanity, how could it be unjust? We must distinguish historical, political, and juridical justice from rational or simply human justice. The first has ruled the world until now, making it a repository of bloody oppressions and injustices. The second will emancipate us. Therefore let us examine the right of inheritance from the standpoint of human justice.

A man, we are told, has acquired through his labor several tens or hundreds of thousands of francs, a million, and he will not have the right to leave them as an inheritance to his children! Is this not an attack on natural right, is this not unjust plunder?

First, it has been proven a thousand times that an isolated worker cannot produce very much more than what he consumes. We challenge any real worker, any worker who does not enjoy a single privilege, to amass tens or hundreds of thousands of francs, or millions! That would be quite impossible. Therefore, if some individuals in present-day society do acquire such great sums, it is not by their labor that they do so but by their privilege, that is, by a juridically legalized injustice. And since a person inevitably takes from the labor of others whatever he does not gain from his own, we have the right to say that all such profits are thefts of collective labor, committed by a few privileged individuals with the sanction of the State and under its protection.

Let us proceed.

The thief who is protected by law dies. With or without a testament, he leaves his land or his capital to his children or to his parents. This, we are told, is a necessary result of his individual freedom and his right; his desires must be respected. But a dead man is dead for good. Outside of the altogether moral and sentimental existence created either by the pious memories of his children, parents, or friends (if he deserved such memories) or by public recognition (if he rendered some real service to the public), he no longer exists at all: He therefore can have neither freedom nor right nor personal will. Ghosts should not rule and oppress this world, which belongs only to the living.

So that he may continue to will and to act after his death, a juridical fiction or political lie is necessary, and as he is henceforth incapable of acting by himself, some power—the State—must take responsibility for acting in his name and for him. The State must execute the'will of a man who can have no will because he no longer exists.

And what is the influence of the State, if it ts not everyone's influence organized to everyone's disadvantage and to the advantage of the privileged classes. Before all else, it is the production and the collective strength of the workers. So do the masses of workers have to guarantee the principal source of their poverty, the transfer of inheritances, to the privileged classes? Must they forge with their own hands the chains that shackle them?

For the right of inheritance, which is exclusively political and juridical and hence contrary to human right, to collapse by itself, the proletariat need only declare that it no longer wishes to support the State, which sanctions its slavery. The abolition of the right of inheritance is enough to abolish the juridical family and the State.

Moreover, all social progress has proceeded from successive abolitions of rights of inheritance. First, the right of divine inheritance was abolished, the traditional privileges or punishments which were long considered the result of either diving benediction or divine malediction.

Then the right of political inheritance was abolished, resulting in the recognition of the sovereignty of the people and the equality of citizens before the law. At present, in order to emancipate the worker, the human being, and to establish the reign of justice on the ruins of all the political and theological injustices of the present and the past, we must abolish economic inheritance.

The last question to be resolved addresses the practical measures we must take to abolish the right of inheritance. The right of inheritance may be abolished in two ways: either by successive reforms or by social revolution.

It can be abolished by reforms in those fortunate countries, which are very few in number if they exist at all, where the class of property owners and capitalists, the members of the bourgeoisie, inspired by a spirit and a wisdom that they now lack, finally realize the imminence of social revolution and earnestly desire to come to terms with the world of the workers. In this case, but only in this case, the path of peaceful reforms will be possible. By a series of successive, prudently planned modifications, mutually agreed between the workers and the members of the bourgeoisie, the law of inheritance could be abolished completely in twenty or thirty years, replacing the present customs of property, labor, and education with collective labor, collective property and-all-round upbringing and education. It is impossible for us to determine further, the character of these reforms, for they must necessarily be adapted to the particular situation in each country. But in all countries the goal remains the same: the establishment of collective property, collective labor, and individual freedom, through universal equality.

The way of revolution will naturally be shorter and simpler. Revolutions are never made either by individuals or by associations. They are brought on by the force of circumstances. The International by no means has as its goal the making of the revolution, but it ought to take advantage of [the spirit of R]evolution, organizing it as soon as it appears as the result of the increasingly clear injustice and ineptitude of the privileged classes. We must understand ,that on the first day of the revolution the right of the inheritance will simply be abolished, along with the State and juridical law, so,that on the ruins of these injustices the new international world may then appear, the world of labor, science, freedom, and equality, organizing from itself the bottom up, by the free association of all productive associations, across all political and national frontiers.

The Committee proposes the following resolutions:

Whereas the right of inheritance is one of the principal causes of the economic, social, and political inequality which governs,the world; Whereas, so long as there is no equality, there can be neither freedom nor justice but only oppression and exploitation—slavery and the labor of the people; Therefore, the Congress recognizes the need to abolish fully and completely the right of inheritance.

This abolition will be accomplished as. events require, either by reforms or by revolution.

*No such committee was formed; but see "All-Round Education" in this volume:

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/action/text/edit/mikhail-bakunin-on-the-question-of-the-right-of-inheritance/m-b-mikhail-bakunin-on-the-question-of-the-right-o-1.pdf

UK Passport Office strike: 'Huge delays' for renewals as staff begin five-week walkout

James Cheng-Morris
·Freelance news writer, Yahoo UK
Mon, 3 April 2023

Queues at passport offices are expected as staff are set to go on strike for five weeks. (Getty Images)

A five-week strike by Passport Office workers will cause “huge delays” for people looking to renew their passport, a union has warned.

British holidaymakers are bracing for severe disruption as more than 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union began more than a month of industrial action.

The staff in passport offices in England, Scotland and Wales will take part in walkouts, which are scheduled to run until 5 May.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS, warned: “In my opinion there will be huge delays in the already 10 weeks that people are supposed to apply for passports, and there will be huge disruption on the fast-track service that people can use when they want to get a passport quicker.

Read more: Who is on strike today in the UK?

“The Government says it has got contingency measures in place so we’ll see how that works out over the next few days and weeks, but I would expect there to be delays.”

The PCS union has warned of possible delays that could impact holidaymakers.

 (Getty Images)

He said there has been “radio silence” from the Government without even “one minute” of negotiations since strikes began.

Civil servants are to strike throughout April, culminating with another walkout by 133,000 workers at the end of the month, the PCS announced.

It said the huge stoppage will take place on 28 April in an escalation of the long-running dispute over pay, jobs, pensions and conditions.

With the summer holidays only a few months away, Yahoo News UK explains why some Passport Office staff are striking and when people should renew their passports if they are going abroad.

When and why are Passport Office workers striking?

More than 1,000 PCS members working in Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough and Southport will walk out from 3 April to 5 May. Members in Northern Ireland's Passport Office are currently being balloted.

It’s an escalation of a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.

General secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Our members are not backing down in this dispute.

“Ministers need to take notice that we’re escalating our action and they need to resolve the dispute by putting money on the table.

“We know our strikes have already caused serious disruption. The new strikes and another national day of action will pile the pressure on a government that refuses to listen.”

When do I need to renew my passport by?

Ultimately, the Passport Office says it can take “up to 10 weeks” for the renewal process to be completed, though a recent National Audit Office report said the processing time for “straightforward applications” was just 12 days in September last year.

Even so, if we go by the Passport Office’s guidance, 10 weeks is getting well into summer holiday territory.

Also, consider a quarter of the Passport Office’s 4,000-strong workforce will be striking for half of this time.

And the fact the office processes six million passport applications a year. This averages 115,000 a week, meaning about 600,000 applications could be received during the five-week strike period where there will be a depleted workforce.

Given you have no chance of going abroad with an out-of-date passport, it’s best not to leave anything to chance.

Strike or no strike, it’s safest to apply as soon as possible if your current passport is expiring (also note that if you're visiting an EU country from the UK, your passport will need to be valid for at least three months after the date you intend to leave, and be less than 10 years old).

Could it affect my summer holidays?

The PCS, as mentioned above, warned the strike will have a “significant impact” on the delivery of passports. But the government, responding to the union's announcement, has said there are no plans to change the 10-week guidance.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “There are no current plans to change the guidance that people should allow up to 10 weeks to get a passport.

"The Home Office will work hard to manage the impact of this strike action to ensure they can still provide the vital service to the British public as you would expect ahead of ahead of the summer where we fully acknowledge that many people will want to get away and enjoy the summer with their family.

“So we will do everything we can to mitigate the impact of the strikes.”

Read more: 'People used to clap': Why striking junior doctors are so fed-up
How much do passport workers earn?

The average figure is not available on the government's website, but current vacancies at the Passport Office show salaries of £22,400 for a document controller, up to £27,650 for a counter fraud officer and up to £27,650 for a customer service team leader.

Serwotka said the government is treating its "own workforce [including Passport Office staff] worse than anyone else".

"They’ve had six months to resolve this dispute but for six months have refused to improve their 2% imposed pay rise, and failed to address our members’ other issues of concern."

Passport Office staff paid less than supermarket workers, claims union


Emma Lawson
Mon, 3 April 2023 

Passport Office staff in Scotland could make more money “working in a cafe or supermarket”, a union representative has said as workers begin a five-week strike in a row over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions.

More than 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) at eight sites are walking out in an escalation of the long-running row.

Workers are picketing outside eight Passport Office sites across the UK, including in Glasgow, and calling for a 10% pay rise.

PCS Scotland branch secretary Andrew Bain told PA news agency: “We’ve actually had two pay rises this year, because our lowest grade would have fallen under the National Minimum wage. That’s just how close we are to the breadline at the moment.

“We think 10% is perfectly fair, we have half of our members spending 50% of their wages on housing. It’s not a great situation for us to be facing.

“We’ve got members who are having to rely on Government benefits and foodbanks just to get through the month. It’s a shocking situation for workers of the Government to be in. They could find better wages working in the cafes and shops in Glasgow.”

He added: “We’ve got examiners doing complex case work on nationality and things like that and it seems like they would be better off to work for the likes of supermarkets, where there are higher wages and far less stress, being told you’re only worth 2% has a massive impact on your morale and mental health.

“We’re only in this position because the Government refuses to engage with us. We are at a crisis point.”

PCS members are striking over pay and conditions (Jane Barlow/PA)

Mr Bain said the Government was approached six months ago when the issue of a pay rise was brought up, but since then there has been no more conversation with them.

When asked about possible disruption facing those renewing passports, he added: “The Government is still adamant that the 10-week policy will remain in place.

“Before the strike action was happening, we received a turnaround of about 14 days of renewal, so in all likelihood it might still be a 10-week period for passport applications.

“At the end of the five weeks, we’ll be back in the office processing these applications and if the Government was actually to come to the table and talk to us about this, and offer a decent pay rise, we would be back in work tomorrow to process the applications.

“We will be able to get most passports out the door once we’re back in the office, but there will be a knock-on effect, there always is.

“There was one last year when we were working at full capacity and we still had a backlog. A lot of it is panic. I would say if you don’t need to renew your passport just yet, don’t renew your passport.”

Picket lines are also being mounted outside offices in England at Durham, Liverpool, Southport, Peterborough and London; plus Belfast in Northern Ireland and Newport, Wales.

The union is stepping up strikes, with a nationwide walkout of more than 130,000 civil servants planned for April 28.

The Home Office said the Passport Office has already processed more than 2.7 million applications this year, and added that more than 99.7% of standard applications are being processed within 10 weeks, with the majority of those delivered to customers well under this timescale.

There are currently no plans to change official guidance which states that it takes up to 10 weeks to get a passport.

UK

Risk of cancelled appointments and long waits during junior doctor strikes


Abigail Beaney
Mon, 3 April 2023 

NHS junior doctors on the picket line outside the Maidstone Hospital in Maidstone, Kent. (Image: PA)

Appointments may be cancelled and patients may be waiting longer than normal as junior doctors will be striking for 96 hours in East Lancashire next week.

East Lancashire Hospital Trust has warned patients that they may experience disruption to services next week during planned industrial action by the British Medical Association and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association.

Junior doctors are set to strike from 7am on Tuesday, April 11 until 7am on Saturday, April 15 in a dispute with the government over pay.


East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which provides services across a range of settings including Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, Burnley General Teaching Hospital, Clitheroe Community Hospital, Pendle Community Hospital and Accrington Victoria Community Hospital, is trying to minimise disruption and will continue to provide essential services.

Despite this, the trust has warned that some planned appointments and procedures may be cancelled and that cancellations could be at late notice.

Lancashire Telegraph: Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital

Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital

The trust has also said there may be longer waits to be seen than usual.

Executive director of Integrated Care, Partnerships and Resilience, Tony McDonald said: "Our number one priority is to ensure that those in greatest need continue to have access to high quality care during the industrial action.

"We are doing everything we can to minimise disruption but there is no doubt that some services will be impacted and the industrial action is set to take place immediately after the Easter bank holiday, which is always a very busy time for the Trust.

"If you have an appointment at any of our hospitals, please assume this is going ahead - if we need to rearrange any appointments or procedures, we will contact you directly to let you know.

"Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases, when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.

"Please help us by thinking about the most appropriate service for your need - if it is not life threatening or an emergency, use NHS 111 online or call 111 and a clinician will be able to advise what to do."

Dr David Levy, medical director of NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, said: “We ask people to continue to use services wisely during industrial action and take simple steps to help ensure care is available to those who need it most.

"If you need health advice on a day of strike action, but it is not an emergency, try NHS 111 Online and a clinician will call you back if needed. Please continue to only use 999 or A&E in emergency and life-threatening cases - when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.

“During strike action we will prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity and trauma, and ensure we prioritise patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery.

"We will only cancel appointments and procedures where it is necessary and will reschedule immediately, where possible. The NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled. If you have not been contacted, please attend your appointment as planned.

“The public’s support during previous periods of industrial action has been invaluable and we are immensely grateful to them for continuing to use NHS services appropriately during these times of pressure.”

Communities are being encouraged to think ahead to the Easter weekend and industrial action to ensure that should they order repeat prescriptions, that they do this in plenty of time and that should a friend or relative need picking up after a hospital discharge, that this is done as early as possible to free up beds.

More information can be found on the Trust's website elht.nhs.uk or through their social media profiles on Facebook and Twitter.

UK teachers reject government pay offer amid labor unrest


Mon, April 3, 2023 

LONDON (AP) — Teachers in England rejected the government’s latest pay offer on Monday, raising the specter of more strikes and further disruptions for parents and children as double-digit inflation sparks labor unrest across the country.

News that teachers had voted to reject the offer came as U.K. passport workers kicked off a five-week strike that threatens to cause headaches for travelers ahead of the summer holiday season.

Immediately after announcing the results of the ballot, the National Education Union scheduled one-day strikes for April 27 and May 2.

The walkouts are the latest in a wave of strikes that has disrupted Britons’ lives for months. Public-sector workers including doctors, train and bus drivers, airport baggage handlers, border officers and postal workers are demanding pay increases to keep pace with inflation, which stands at 10.4%.

A cost-of-living crisis fueled by sharp rises in food and energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left many struggling to pay their bills. Unions say wages, especially in the public sector, have fallen in real terms over the past decade.

The government had offered teachers an average 4.5% pay increase, plus a one-time payment of 1,000 pounds ($1,233), which it described as “fair and reasonable.”

But the offer was rejected by 98% of the teachers who took part in a ballot on the proposal.

The offer was unacceptable and did nothing to address the shortage of teachers in England, NEU Joint General Secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney said at the union’s annual conference.

“The offer shows an astounding lack of judgment and understanding of the desperate situation in the education system,'' they said in a statement.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan countered that the government had negotiated in good faith and that the union's decision was extremely disappointing. She said pay would now be decided by the independent pay review body.

“After costing children almost a week of time in the classroom and with exams fast approaching, it is extremely disappointing that the NEU have called more strike action,'' she said.

Earlier Monday, 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services union at the Passport Office walked off the job as they too demand higher pay. The strike is taking place as Britons seek to renew travel documents in preparation for their summer vacations.

Despite fears of delays, the government hasn’t changed its estimate that it will take up to 10 weeks to get a passport.

Danica Kirka, The Associated Press

Teachers in England and Wales facing ‘unmanageable’ workload, survey finds

Richard Adams Education editor

THE GUARDIAN
Sun, 2 April 2023 

Photograph: Chris Bull/Alamy

Teachers have said they are facing “unmanageable” levels of stress and workload, before the result of a crucial vote that could trigger further strikes and school closures in England in the coming weeks.

Some teachers surveyed by the National Education Union (NEU) reported turning to antidepressants to cope, while 48% said their workload was unmanageable all or most of the time. In contrast, just 1% of teachers said their workload was always manageable.

The findings come as the NEU’s annual conference on Monday will learn if its members have voted to reject the government’s pay offer, which would lead to strikes on Thursday 27 April and Tuesday 2 May.

NEU members in England have been balloted on whether to accept the government’s offer last month of a one-off £1,000 payment for this year and a 4.3% pay rise for most teachers from September, with the government also offering a new taskforce to explore cutting teachers’ workloads.

Members of the NASUWT teaching union as well as the National Association of Head Teachers and the Association of School and College Leaders are also being consulted on the offer.

The almost 18,000 teachers and support staff in England and Wales who responded to the NEU’s survey said workload and stress were major issues that appeared to be getting worse compared with previous surveys.

Nearly two-thirds of teachers in England said they “very often” worried about their wellbeing, a significant rise compared with the results of a similar NEU survey two years ago when fewer than half said they were very often worried.

The NEU joint general secretary Mary Bousted said: “We have known for a number of years that workload is the number one reason teachers decide to leave the profession, and it remains a major concern for support staff also. It is a key driver of the recruitment and retention crisis, where talented graduates suffer burnout within just a few years of qualifying.”

The NEU’s results echo the findings of an unpublished survey for the Department for Education (DfE), revealed by Schools Week. The DfE’s survey found that one in four teachers in England were considering leaving the state sector in the next year, with almost all blaming high workload. The pressure of Ofsted inspections and government policy changes were also blamed by large numbers, followed by pay.

The DfE’s survey also found that more than one in five teachers were working 60 hours or more each week during term time. Three-quarters of the 11,000 teachers and school leaders surveyed said they had “unacceptable” workloads and spent too much time on administration.

Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said the results would “alarm parents across this country and could be disastrous for children’s education”.

The NEU’s delegates to the annual conference in Harrogate will also meet the union’s new general secretary, Daniel Kebede, after his victory in the members’ ballot.

Kebede, a primary school teacher, won in a landslide among the 9% of members who voted in the first leadership contest since the NEU was formed in 2017, after the merger of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

ONTARIO

PC government’s $28B highway budget criticized for ignoring emissions reduction & congestion solutions

Local Journalism Initiative
Mon, April 3, 2023 

“Misaligned finance is holding back progress.”

Those were the words of Christopher Trisos, a researcher and director of the Climate Risk Lab at the African Climate and Development Initiative at the University of Cape Town and one of the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) AR6 Synthesis Report.

It provided a “final warning” for humanity, pointing out that capital exists to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, encouraging nations to strengthen their emissions reductions targets.

Misaligned funding by governments with diverging priorities is one of the biggest barriers.

Doug Ford was the target of frustration voiced last week by federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who addressed Ford’s latest attack on Ottawa’s carbon tax, saying his criticism was “incredibly rich coming from a premier who has no plan to fight climate change.”

A day later, on Thursday, Ford shot back during a press conference in Hamilton, calling Guilbeault a “real piece of work.”

He highlighted investments in the Ring of Fire, to extract minerals needed to make electric vehicles, “to make sure we take cars off the road.” He also claimed that his government is “building the largest transit system in North America to get people out of their cars and get them onto the transit system. We’re doing everything we can.”

The facts and figures do not support Ford’s claims in the face of the Environment Minister’s criticism of the premier’s policies.

After taking control of the provincial legislature in 2018, Ford immediately cancelled the electric vehicle subsidy, which resulted in sales plummeting by more than 50 percent (they have since partially recovered), and his move to build the 413 Highway and another one just south of Bradford was in direct contrast to the existing transportation planning for Southern Ontario, which focuses on alternative modes such as regional commuter train lines, light rail transit through cities and bus rapid transit to connect municipal systems.

While the 2023 budget allocates funding largely for projects that are already underway or are needed within the existing transit infrastructure model, its almost $30 billion for highways runs counter to the research that began to shift transportation thinking a couple decades ago.

In 2013 the C.D. Howe Institute released research that showed highway congestion across the GTHA cost as much as $11 billion each year, from lost productivity, shipping delays and associated social costs.

The impact of highway gridlock on individuals and families, who lose time with each other and often suffer from anxiety and stress related to commute times that can reach four hours a day, is hard to measure.

Transportation makes up the greatest proportion of emissions in Ontario — 35 percent according to the Canada Energy Regulator. The Ford government has never hidden its love of highways for single-occupancy cars to travel from place to place in a driver’s utopia. In reality, across Ontario, major 400-series highways have become chronically congested, significantly contributing to longer commutes and a dramatic increase in emissions.

A 2019 study by business to business research consultancy Expert Market, based in the UK, used seven data points to rank the best and worst cities in the world for commuting. Toronto was the worst in North America and was only better than five of the 74 global cities studied, using criteria such as average commute time (96 minutes, the longest on the list), average journey distance (10 kilometres) and average number of hours spent in congestion over 240 commuting days (47).

The urban app Moovit, used by transit riders and other commuters around the world, published its Global Public Transport Report for 2022 last year. It found GTHA residents struggle with the longest average transit commute in North America, 12.29 kilometres per trip, and each individual trip from point A to B took 56 minutes.

The biggest issue, according to transportation experts, is Ontario’s under-funding of transit and over-reliance on highways, which, according to research, create more and more congestion due to the reality of “induced demand”. Increasing road space does not alleviate gridlock, it just creates more volume over time which makes congestion even worse.

Instead of moving away from highway capacity (which the province has been addicted to for a century), at the expense of smart transportation design, Ontario has continually invested in its major roads.

The Gardiner Expressway was built in the ‘50s to alleviate traffic in downtown Toronto. When it became overused, the 401 was extended to alleviate gridlock and now represents the epitome of gridlock in North America, with the infamous designation as its busiest highway. Enter the 407, the toll route built to relieve parking lot traffic on the 401.

Less than six months after the 407 was built in 1997, its toll charges led to a sharp decrease in use, and continued congestion on the 401. The PCs’ solution is the 413, repeatedly claiming it will save drivers up to 30 minutes per trip.

“We’re building new highways, like Highway 413 and Bradford Bypass because without them, already intense gridlock will more than triple within as many decades,” Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said in the opening message to her government’s Transportation Master plan which came out in February 2022.

Ford and his PC government claim the solution to gridlock is the paving of new highways and the widening of existing ones, announcing in the 2023 budget a staggering $27.9 billion for highway projects over the next decade.

The Pointer reached out to the provincial transportation ministry in July and again this past week to find out how the government concluded 30 minutes would be saved per trip on the 413. Responses did not provide an explanation. An expert panel commissioned by the most recent Liberal government found the highway would only save between 30 and 60 seconds per trip, according to its detailed analysis.

Nonetheless, the PCs are committed to invest $27.9 billion over 10 years for the construction or rehabilitation of highways across the province, a move that has many transportation and environmental experts shaking their heads.

“They're spending billions on what we know are unnecessary highways, but then they can't make financial commitment to necessary infrastructure,” Jennifer French, MPP for Oshawa and NDP Transportation and Infrastructure Critic, said.

The construction of more highways will see more people using personal vehicles opposed to other forms of transportation, in turn leading to more congestion, gridlock and emissions.

Gideon Forman, Climate Change and Transportation Policy Analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation, called the Highway 413 project a “waste” and an example of “inappropriate spending”, warning the impact will stretch much further than the highway itself contributing to massive sprawl across the southern reaches of the Greenbelt.

The environmental organization, which has been a prominent advocate in the fight against the 413, is launching a new ad campaign that highlights the cost of the transit project, displaying posters on TTC and Brampton Transit asking “what else could that money buy?”

The answer? A lot.

Research from the David Suzuki Foundation found Highway 413, if built, will cost approximately $8 billion and move about 7,000 people per hour at peak times. In contrast, $7 billion could be invested in advancing public transit systems that will move between 22,000 and 29,000 people per hour for less cost.

“There's a whole range of things that we can do in short order, that would move a lot more people on public transit,” Forman said.

He told The Pointer he would like to see this money put toward advancing crucial public transit infrastructure. The 2023 provincial budget briefly mentions a transformation of Go Transit infrastructure but does not give details on what this will look like or specific costs for projects. Forman said the $8 billion allocated for the 413 could easily be swapped to fund transit in the same areas like the Milton Go line, the Kitchener Go line, and developing a Go line to Bolton — a project Caledon council, in particular Mayor Annette Groves, who was the former regional councillor for Bolton, has been pushing for years.

Research from the David Suzuki Foundation found the highway funding could also be used to better deal with many other pressing problems facing Ontarians. Instead of building the 413, 11 hospitals could be built; or 20,000 nurses could be hired; or 40,000 affordable housing units could be created.

“They talk a lot about housing, but we don't we certainly don't see it in this budget. We need to be getting back into the business of publicly funded affordable housing and building it,” French said.

With Bill 23 and the removal of certain parcels of Greenbelt land for development — which will create more sprawl — unnecessary major highways will only increase the value of land developers have already assembled for suburban-style subdivisions.

“We're also really concerned about [Highway 413] being a sprawl accelerator,” Forman said. “So not only is it harmful paving farmland and the Greenbelt, but it also increases and vastly expands the whole thrust towards sprawl.”

Urban planners and environmentalists are increasingly sending warnings about the environmental impacts of sprawl. As development encroaches closer to sensitive ecosystems, there is an increased risk of contaminants entering crucial waterways and other natural habitats, harming crucial flora and fauna.

A previous investigation by The Pointer found 29 endangered, threatened and species of concern that had been spotted along the proposed path of the 413. Twenty-one of these species were found in the areas where proposed interchanges would be built.

Environmental consequences of the construction of the highway will put significant financial pressure on the government. The Financial Accountability Office, which conducts independent analysis on financial and economic risks across the province, estimated in an emissions analysis the costs to deal with roads, rail and bridge repairs alone, over the rest of the century, could cost approximately $171 billion. This medium emissions scenario is optimistic and, at the rate Ontario is moving, it would more likely experience a high emissions scenario which could see costs as high as $322 billion.

The Province’s own transportation master plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, which was published in February 2022, and the Metrolinx Big Move master plan, stress the importance of elevating public transit systems and modes of active transportation to enhance the way people move. With the sprawling communities that will be built under Bill 23 and subsequent changes to the Greenbelt, Ontario will be left with communities that cannot rely on any method of transportation other than the individual car, and the highway projects the PCs plan to spend $28 billion on over the next ten years.

“When we look to safer infrastructure, whether it's for cycling, pedestrian, that's not that's not likely from the government, because certainly it's not the designing we've seen to this point,” French said. “And I don't see any signaling in this budget that they're going to change course.”

Both French and the NDP Public Transportation Critic and MPP for Ottawa Centre, Joel Harden, said the PC budget focuses on fancy new projects as opposed to working on existing infrastructure. French said she was disappointed, but not surprised, to see a lack of funding for maintaining local roads and highways. Despite an increase in funding on paper, the money is not being reasonably or sustainably allocated to the projects that she sees as more important than new highway projects.

“I think transit and transportation planning should be evidence based, that if they're going to focus on transportation, do it properly.”

Harden points out that while some municipalities have seen a return to pre-pandemic transit ridership levels, others are still falling behind, struggling to maintain ridership and service levels. Even Toronto’s transit had to just cut service to 39 routes as ridership losses continue and it becomes unlikely that pre-pandemic levels will be reached in the near future.

While the provincial budget commits $70.5 billion for transit projects over the next 10 years, a $9 billion increase from the previous year, Harden said there is no funding to help municipalities recover from what has been a “death spiral” for transit.

Another source of contention is the nonexistent funding to help electrify local transit systems, which is the best way to decrease transportation emissions. While some municipalities, like Mississauga, are way ahead in electrifying their fleets, largely thanks to federal funding, the provincial government is providing little support.

“You have to constantly water the grass, you have to constantly renew the systems you have,” Harden told The Pointer. “And there was nothing in the budget for that, there was just money in the budget for these glossy trains that don't exist.”

The move toward more sustainable transportation systems represents a dramatic shift. Forman said he believes Ontarians are on board but the government is failing to get behind the idea.

For almost 100 years, transportation has been a largely individual act, people driving in a personal car which has become the most outwardly visible symbol of one’s status.

“The idea that you get in your private car, in your own little box, and move yourself, it's just not compatible with a climate crisis. It’s not compatible with the congestion that we have. It's not compatible with the physical limits of cities,” he said.

Public transportation offers not only climate benefits, but it can also help more people more efficiently while taking up less space. One full bus is the equivalent of 35 to 40 cars on the road.

“Clearly, public transit is just much more efficient. So we need our government to be thinking in terms of that real efficiency, we need to have a government that has a conservation mindset,” Forman said.

Across Canada, advocates are pushing for new transportation policies. Last week, 65 organizations in BC signed a letter calling on the Premier and the NDP government to immediately divert infrastructure funds away from highway construction and expansion into public transit and active transportation initiatives.

French said she hopes this can be an example to governments of how to prioritize funding and finding creative solutions to keep people moving. In Ontario the removal of tolls on Highway 407 has been suggested, instead of building the 413.

Critics have pointed to Ford’s close relationship with the developers who have already assembled land across the 413 route (which will be worth as much as ten times more with a highway alongside future subdivisions) as the real motivation to build right under and through parts of the Greenbelt.

“This, really disappointingly, is not a government that is working with a plan,” French said. “They are working with somebody's wish list, and it's not that of Ontarians.”

Rachel Morgan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer

Saskatchewan Budget Still 

Overlooks the Poor

Sun, April 2, 2023 

While there are some good things to be found in the 2023-24 Saskatchewan Provincial Budget, critics say that it does nothing for the poorest in the province. Finance Minister Donna Harpauer refuted the criticism pointing out the $26.6 million that the Ministry of Social Services will spend on programs supporting people with low incomes including families and seniors and increases to Saskatchewan Income Support and Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability. However, the $30 a month the government committed to increasing the basic benefit, factors out to about one dollar a day for those being supported by those two programs. Neither of these programs takes into account the seniors living on a fixed income, as only in very specific circumstances do they receive support from either SIS or SAID once they attain the age of 65 years.

“Our province is the most affordable place to live in Canada for a family of four," Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said as she delivered the Budget, but that only holds true if that family of four has an annual income of $75,000.00 and owns their own home. The province is also calculated to be the second-most affordable province for single people who rent and earn at least $40,000 a year, but the 2021 census showed that the median annual income for single individuals in Saskatchewan is $42,400. Mathematically, the median is the middle value in a list ordered from smallest to largest, so this points out that half the single individuals in this province make less than $42,400, and for reference to earn that median amount, those individuals need to make $22/hour and work 40 hrs/week. With a minimum wage of $13/hr, it becomes easier to see what the critics are pointing out.

Even if a family or individual does fit the criteria that say they find Saskatchewan affordable, Joel Bruneau, head of the economics department at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon said, they may have costs cutting into their household budget that the province didn't account for. Governments create pseudo-families to facilitate their calculations, and this often overlooks the reality that many face.

"If you have two small children and you're searching for daycare, that could be a struggle. If you're trying to take care of an aging parent and struggling to find long-term care, that can be a struggle," he said. "By essentially arguing that we're affordable for everybody, I think we gloss over the fact that there are a lot of people that are struggling."

Saskatchewan's finance minister, Donna Harpauer, said last Wednesday that the budget is meant to help those who really need it, but if those who really need help are saying it does nothing for them, then one must ask who Minister Harpauer defines as “those who really need it”? The working poor remain stuck at low wages, seniors continue to face challenges to remain in their own homes, and the disabled and unemployed are told that an extra dollar a day is going to make their life better.

Using data from the Government of Saskatchewan website (May 2022 scale), the basic Saskatchewan Income Support available for eligible single adults with no children, who have a low income or are unemployed and need assistance paying for their basic needs is $315 per month. This basic benefit amount is meant to pay for food, clothing, travel, and personal and household items. Additionally, a shelter benefit which is meant to pay for all shelter-related expenses including rent, mortgage payments, utilities, and taxes for singles outside of Saskatoon and Regina $540; an additional alternate heating benefit can be provided for those who reside in a residence where natural gas is not accessible and must use an alternate heat source ($130/month). That results in a total monthly support of $855/month. When was the last time you saw rent and utilities totaling $540? Arguably, there are low-income rental units in many towns across the province, but if the individual has a pet or companion animal those units are more often than not unavailable because they do not allow pets of any sort. The same is true of many designated senior rental units. This discriminatory practice continues despite the numerous studies which have concluded that companion animals have many health benefits for the infirm and the elderly.

Looking now at the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability program, there are three main components to the program: the Living Income component which covers basic needs such as food, shelter, and transportation. The Disability Income component pays for costs directly related to the disability, while the Exceptional Need Income component helps to cover bills like those for service animal care costs, special food items, and home care. According to the different tiers of funding which relate to where the individual lives, for a single adult in Wakaw and surrounding areas the benefits should be as follows: Living Income Benefit $931; utilities: phone $30, power $84, heating $93 and water and sewer $50. There may be other benefits available for individuals with disabilities that are outside of the SAID program, but these amounts are those that are attributable to it alone. (https://www.savvynewcanadians.com/said-payment-dates/)

Saskatchewan also offers a Seniors Income Plan which is a monthly supplement provided to seniors who have little or no income other than the federal Old Age Security pension ($687.56/month currently) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement to qualify for the senior must have an annual income less than $20,832 (a maximum monthly payment is $1026.96). For a single pensioner living at home, the maximum monthly benefit is $330 and they must have an annual taxable annual income of $4560 ($380/mon) or less, which means they can still apply if they receive CPP as long as the maximum monthly payment is $380 or less. So for seniors who rely solely on the OAS, GIS, and possibly SIP their monthly income is a mere $2044.52 which works out to less than that earned by someone working minimum wage. (https://www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/family-and-social-support/seniors-services/financial-help-for-seniors#eligibility)

If these three groups are not those in our province who need the help and support the most, then who are? The usage numbers for Food Banks around the province continue to climb as the poorest amongst us continue to struggle to make ends meet and put food on their tables. Madame Minister, $1 a day is not even a drop in the proverbial bucket.

Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Wakaw Recorder

PEI
'Love is louder': Community comforted by large turnout in support of transgender rights


CBC
Sun, April 2, 2023 

More than 200 people march along Great George Street in Charlottetown in support of transgender rights. (Tony Davis/CBC - image credit)

Members and allies of P.E.I.'s transgender community say the large turnout for a rally in support of transgender rights on Sunday brought them a "ton of joy" and made them feel safe in a time when bigotry is on the rise.

More than 200 people marched in downtown Charlottetown, carrying signs that read Protect Trans Youth and Trans Men Are Real Men and chanting slogans such as "We're here. We're queer. We won't disappear."

Lucky Fusca, executive director of the P.E.I. Transgender Network, said the march was about transgender joy, increasing visibility of the transgender community and standing up to transphobia.

"The emboldenment of bigoted beliefs and hate has been really loud and we wanted to gather today to show our community and to show our allies that love is louder," Fusca said.

Tony Davis/CBC

Last month, a storytime event featuring people dressed in drag that was planned for the Kings Playhouse in Georgetown was cancelled after it was the target of online attacks. It has been rescheduled for April 15.

Fusca said they were grateful to see so much support on Sunday.

"When I turned around and saw how many people were following in tow, it was healing for me. It brought me a ton of joy and made me feel safe," Fusca said.

Police were not notified in advance of the demonstration, but there was little traffic disruption.

Fusca said they did not see any people protesting the march other than a a few "head shakes."

Tony Davis/CBC

The march was part of a week of all-ages events hosted by the P.E.I. Transgender Network called "Break the Cis-tem." Fusca said they hope to have similar events in the future.

Kali Ross, who sits on the board of the P.E.I. Transgender Network, said there have always been queer and transgender people in the community, and always will be.

"No matter the hatred that people spread and the bigotry, that does not erase the trans community, the queer community, no matter what," she said. "So, it's really important that we're here and we're … spreading that message and taking space up."

Drag events, including rescheduled ice performance, pop up across Calgary

CBC
Sun, April 2, 2023 

Karla Marx was one of the organizers of Saturday's Drag on Ice event. (Terri Trembath/CBC - image credit)

It took more than a month, but the show eventually did go on.

Drag on Ice, an event originally scheduled for Feb. 10 during Calgary's annual Chinook Blast festival, was postponed due to safety concerns surrounding protests and demonstrations at the time.

On Saturday, performers finally took to the ice at the Henry Viney Arena. It was one of several events happening at more than 40 venues across Calgary that day to stand in solidarity with the drag community.

"It just shows that while there are vocal opponents, they are a minority. Especially when you're in the online world, their voices seem ubiquitous," said Karla Marx, a drag queen and one of the organizers of Saturday's ice performance.

"But then you come out to an event and you see who shows up, how many people show up."

Terri Trembath/CBC

Marx recalled riding a float during the Calgary Pride Parade last year where, she says, thousands of people were outside in "sweltering heat" supporting and cheering others on.

"I will always keep that memory," she said.

Among the venues that held a pop-up event on Saturday was local pub Ship and Anchor. Fostering a welcoming environment is something the business says it holds to a high regard.

"It's always been a place that we've tried to keep safe, inclusive. That goes for not just our staff, but our regular customers are people we treat like family.… Their safety and comfort and inclusivity within this environment is very important to us," said Nick Lake, a floor manager at Ship and Anchor.

"A lot of people who walk through our doors, they continue to come through these doors in particular because of why we uphold that."

Terri Trembath/CBC

Across the country in recent months, protestors have rallied against various drag events — the most vocal of whom include members of alt-right groups.

Following demonstrations at a drag event held at the Seton Library, the City of Calgary passed a safety bylaw in March — titled the Safe and Inclusive Access Bylaw — that prohibits protests within 100 metres of an entrance to a recreation facility or library.

The city also updated an existing street harassment bylaw to further address ongoing concerns about the safety of the 2SLGBTQ community.

"There's a lot of people who are interested in promoting hatred instead of inclusivity," said Mayor Jyoti Gondek. "What we've got in Calgary is a point in time where the folks in this city are saying, 'We're not down with that, we don't appreciate that.'"

Both bylaws are set to be discussed again later this month.

VPD deputy chief "appalled" by online criticism following trans-rights rally

The Canadian Press
Sun, April 2, 2023 


VANCOUVER — The deputy chief of the Vancouver Police Department says he is "appalled" by the "vile and abusive comments" officers have received on Twitter after a Friday rally in the city turned violent.

Deputy Chief Howard Chow took to the platform to respond to online criticism of the department's policing tactics and for not making arrests at the International Transgender Day of Visibility rally.

Police issued a news release Saturday saying they had begun investigating "violent confrontations" that occurred when people attending the demonstration confronted a group of counter-protesters inside Vancouver's Grandview Park.

The department has alleged at least two people were assaulted but did not provide further details.

Chow says policing demonstrations and protests are challenging, and protecting the right to free speech is "one of the most important" aspects of the job.

Investigators say they have reached out to a victim who posted a video of an assault online, and have invited that person to meet with detectives to provide a statement.

Chow says though officers did not make arrests at the time, that does not mean they won't do so in the future.

"We're used to having cameras on us, (and) some even try to set it up to elicit a particular response. It's all fair game. Never easy to give an immediate answer to a chaotic scene where you simply don't have all the facts yet. That's why we investigate and sometimes it takes time," he said on Twitter.

Police have also shared parts of video and images posted online by a victim, and are appealing to those who saw the altercations to reach out.

They said in the news release that there may be more witnesses who have not spoken to police, as well as bystander videos that may show different perspectives of the incident.

"Our full investigation into the matter will determine the outcome of criminal charges," Chow Tweeted. "This will involve different camera angles, witness accounts, video reviews, etc. Sometimes, jumping in and arresting one or two at the moment will only incite or inflame the situation."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2023.

The Canadian Press

UK
Voices: The marginalisation of trans people by the gay community is beyond unhelpful – here’s why

Catherine Kelly
Sun, 2 April 2023 

Voices: The marginalisation of trans people by the gay community is beyond unhelpful – here’s why

It’s rarely a good idea to reread diaries from your teenage years. Recently though, I found a passage from my own that made me laugh. At 15, on the verge of coming out as a lesbian for the first time, I wrote that I hoped telling people about my gay identity would help me to stop thinking about it all the time. It didn’t work out that way.

In fact, I have spent the last three years researching the history of lesbian feminist writing and activism for my PhD. I spend a lot of my waking hours thinking about what it means, and has meant, to be a lesbian.

You might assume, then, that I would be excited by the prospect of a new organisation promising to platform the needs and experiences of lesbians in the UK. Founded by academic Kathleen Stock and journalist Julie Bindel, the Lesbian Project promises to champion lesbians.

However, scratch the surface and you’ll find that this group, like the LGB Alliance, is more interested in excluding trans women than in supporting the lesbian community (which is deeply supportive of the transgender community). In fact, the group explicitly excludes transgender lesbians, as Stock confirmed in an interview on BBC’s Woman’s Hour.

In recent years the media conversation about transgender lives has become increasingly toxic, and somehow lesbians have become a key part of it. This so-called debate – which in many ways The Lesbian Project epitomises – has left me frustrated and angry. Once again, my identity as a lesbian is being used as a cover for transphobia.

So how did we get here? If you’re familiar with Bindel and Stock, the exclusionary policies of their organisation won’t surprise you. They are leading figures in a small but vocal group of “gender critical” people. Their claim that trans people can’t be part of the lesbian community is one that I know, from my research and my own life, is simply untrue.

The rights and experiences of LGBTQ people have always been intertwined – trans people have been at the centre of struggles for lesbian rights for generations. Lesbian history is not a simple or harmonious one. We have often disagreed, and trans lesbians have faced appalling transphobia in their struggle to be included in the lesbian feminist movement.

But it’s also a history marked by moments of bravery and solidarity between cis and trans lesbians. One example of this is the Lesbian Avengers, a 1990s activist group who defended the rights of trans women in women-only spaces.

As a cis lesbian, I find the arguments from anti-trans feminists to be both nonsensical and dangerous. Their fears about a lesbian identity in “crisis” – despite evidence from the most recent census that there are more of us than ever – are unfounded.

Tellingly, in their fight to exclude trans people from public life, this fringe group of “gender critical” feminists have allied themselves with a right-wing anti-LGBT movement that targets drag queen storytimes and inclusive sex education.

It’s important to note that many of the arguments being used against trans people are eerily similar to the prejudiced language that was once more commonly heard about cis lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Take education – until 2003 it was illegal for teachers in the UK to speak positively about gay relationships, or for schools to teach books with gay characters. We saw how Section 28 harmed a generation of LGBTQ+ people.

Now we are seeing these debates repackaged and directed at trans children. When anti-trans campaigners deny the validity of trans identities, they echo the sneering language of Section 28 which dismissed queer couples with children as “pretended family relationships.” We owe it to future generations to not repeat the mistakes of the past, and instead prioritise an inclusive education system so that all children have the freedom to be true to who they are, access their potential and pursue their dreams.

Stock and Bindel have tried to pre-empt some of the criticism that’s been levelled at them already, acknowledging that lesbians are a politically diverse group and that many lesbians will disagree with them and their views.

They’re right about that; over a thousand people have signed an open letter condemning the Lesbian Project for its discriminatory trans-exclusionary policies. And last week, hundreds of trans and cis lesbians and queer people danced in the street outside the Lesbian Project’s inaugural event, in a “counterparty” thrown by a new group, The Dyke Project – which describes itself as “a collective of trans, cis and nonbinary dykes and queers of all persuasions” – to show what our community really looks like.

To me, this description reflects the community I know and love. The Dyke Project kept the event off social media, letting news of it spread through word of mouth. The crowd that turned up on Saturday is a testament to the strength of our community, and to the solidarity and care we show each other when some of us are under attack.

I came along because I wanted to share my anger and sadness at the way a rising tide of transphobia in the UK is harming the people I love, but I left feeling a little bit lighter. Drag kings, DJs, dancing in the streets – this was the lesbian community doing what it does best: finding space for joyful resistance.

As someone who studies lesbian history, I was moved to see tributes to that history all over the protest. One banner read “a day without trans people is like a day without sunshine”, a reference to a pro-lesbian banner at a 1979 San Francisco Pride march.

The 1979 banner was itself a tongue-in-cheek reference to anti-gay campaigner Anita Bryant, whose advertising campaign for orange juice carried the slogan “A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine”. Bryant’s homophobic campaign, with its cry of “Save Our Children”, bears a chilling resemblance to the UK’s current moral panic about trans identities. If there’s one thing that LGBTQ people can learn from the history of anti-queer campaigns, from “Save Our Children” to Section 28, it’s that we’re stronger together.

A few days after the protest, the organisers tweeted that “trans dykes and cis dykes stand together and we always will”. It’s up to us to make sure that this is true. We can’t allow a small minority of vocal lesbians – and their friends in power – to put our trans lesbian sisters at risk, and we can’t allow them to speak over the wider trans-inclusive lesbian community. At its best, this community is brave, united and committed to justice. I’m proud to be a member.