CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

OSC alleges Toronto-based Bridging Finance 'mismanaged' funds, breached 'numerous' laws

Barbara Shecter 

POSTMEDIA

2/5/2021

A Toronto-based investment management firm with $2 billion in assets under management has been put into court-approved receivership while the Ontario Securities Commission conducts an investigation into questionable related-party transactions and movement of funds to personal bank accounts.

© Provided by Financial Post A Toronto Police Services officer at the Ontario Securities Commission.

In an unusual twist, David Sharpe, the chief executive and one of the main operators of Bridging Finance Inc., which raises capital from investors to make loans to corporate borrowers in exchange for limited partnership units, is himself a former mutual fund regulator.

According to documents filed in court, enforcement staff of the Ontario Securities Commission “has uncovered evidence that BFI and certain members of its senior management team … appropriated amounts from the BFI Funds for personal gain … mismanaged the BFI Funds, including by failing to disclose material conflicts of interest … (and) breached numerous securities laws and regulations, including by misleading Enforcement Staff.”

As a result, Canada’s largest capital markets regulator asked an Ontario court judge Friday to appoint receiver PriceWaterhouseCoopers Inc. “to safeguard the best interests of stakeholders, the reputation of Ontario’s capital markets, and the integrity of the ongoing investigation.”

Ontario Says Lender Misappropriated Funds, CEO Took Payments

Opinion: Reform capital markets for growth and prosperity

The OSC says husband and wife Natasha and David Sharpe, who was director of investigations at the Mutual Fund Dealers Association between 2005 and 2009, are “the two most senior officers and decision-makers at the firm.”

She founded Bridging Finance, serves as executive chairman and is a minority shareholder. She was previously CEO and chief investment officer, according to the OSC.

The regulator’s investigation has focused on a series of transactions between 2017 and 2020, and potential conflicts of interest arising from the relationship between the firm, certain directors, officers and shareholders and the principals of some of the loan counterparties.

Among other things, the OSC alleges that, under Sharpe’s direction, “BFI misappropriated approximately $35 million from the BFI Funds to complete an acquisition for its own benefit.”

In addition, the documents filed in court allege David Sharpe received approximately $19.5 million in undisclosed payments in his personal chequing account from a company that was controlled by a person whose other firms BFI had loaned more than $100 million.

The regulator termed the evidence uncovered so far as “significant and credible” in the document.

Daniel Tourangeau, lead investigator and a senior forensic accountant with the OSC, said in an affidavit filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that the enforcement team found evidence that contradicted explanations given to them by Bridging Finance about the reasons for a buyout transaction, the source of various funds and use of funds to repay certain loans.

Tourangeau said he reviewed transactions involving David Sharpe’s chequing account and was “unable to ascertain a legitimate business purpose” for the undisclosed payments deposited there.

“Instead, it appears that D(avid) Sharpe used the undisclosed payments for his personal benefit or enjoyment” including transferring $11.7 million to investment accounts at BMO Nesbitt Burns and Richardson GMP, of which “at least $1.4 million appears to have been later transferred offshore,” Tourangeau said in the affidavit.

A further $228,000 went to vehicle expenses at Tesla Motors and Holand Leasing, “which I believe relates to the lease payments made in connection with the lease of a 2013 Bentley GTC Mulliner and a 2018 Bentley Bentayaga,” the forensic accountant said in the document.

Other funds were transferred to personal bank accounts and may have been used for construction or renovations and donations to educational institutions including Queen’s University, Tourangeau said in the affidavit.

On the business, side, Tourangeau said OSC investigators were told by Sharpe and others at Bridging Finance that a company called Ninepoint sought to be bought out of a fund co-management arrangement with Bridging because Ninepoint was under financial pressure.

However, in an interview with investigators, John Wilson, co-CEO and chief investment officer at Ninepoint, “instead explained that BFI and Ninepoint entered into discussions to sever the co-management arrangement after Ninepoint threatened BFI with litigation over concerns it had with transactions” in the fund accounts.

According to Wilson, Tourangeau said in his affidavit, an operational review revealed that Bridging Finance had transferred $20 million from the Income Fund to fund a loan and then reversed the transaction. However, the $20 million that came back into the Income Fund came from accounts related to other BFI Funds rather than the law firm trust account that initially received the money.

“This concerned Ninepoint” and Wilson and others at Ninepoint questioned Sharpe and others about it.

“After a back and forth, Ninepoint threatened BFI with litigation and BFI offered to purchase the Management Interest” from Ninepoint, Tourangeau said in the affidavit, adding that no one at Bridging Finance interviewed during the investigation mentioned the dispute with Ninepoint.

INDONESIA

Video: INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY/ MAYDAY

Labour Day rally to protest job creation law (Associated Press)

Colombia's president withdraws tax reform after protests

By Julia Symmes Cobb 

MAY 2,2021

© Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ FILE PHOTO: Protest against the tax reform, in Bogota

BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Sunday he would withdraw a proposed tax reform after sometimes violent protests and widespread lawmaker opposition, though he insisted a reform is still necessary to ensure fiscal stability.

© Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ FILE PHOTO: Protest against the tax reform, in Bogota

Duque said on Friday the law would be revised to remove some of its most controversial points - including the leveling of sales tax on utilities and some food - but the government had previously insisted it could not be withdrawn.

© Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ FILE PHOTO: Protest against the tax reform, in Bogota

Protests against the reform have led to multiple deaths around the country since they began on Wednesday.

"I am asking Congress to withdraw the law proposed by the finance ministry and urgently process a new law that is the fruit of consensus, in order to avoid financial uncertainty," Duque said in a video.

The reform, which the government has insisted is vital to stabilizing Colombia's finances, maintaining its credit rating and funding social programs, remains necessary, Duque said.

Political parties, local officials, business leaders and civil society have contributed valuable ideas over the last several days, he said.

There is consensus on the need for temporary taxes on businesses and dividends, an increase in income tax for the wealthiest and deepened state austerity measures, Duque said.

"It is a moment for all of us to work together without malice," he said.

The central bank warned on Friday failure to approve the reform could have a negative impact on the economy, while a loss of the country's investment-grade credit rating has already been priced in by many investors.

Lawmakers, unions and other groups hailed the announcement as a victory. Celebratory cacerolazos, a traditional protest where people beat pots and pans, could be heard in some neighborhoods.

"It is the youth, social organizations and mobilized citizens who have seen deaths and defeated the government," leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda said on Twitter. "May the government not present the same reform with make-up. The citizens won't accept tricks."

There is not yet a definite national count of deaths connected to protests, amid incidents of looting, destruction of public transport and road blockades in several cities.

Local officials in Cali, the country's third-largest city and where demonstrations have been the most violent, have confirmed three. Another death occurred in Neiva and a police officer was killed in Soacha.

Human rights groups have alleged police abuses - especially in Cali - and said deaths number more than 20.

Duque said late on Saturday cities at high risk for disturbances would get military assistance, an offer rejected by Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Another Amazon Warehouse In Ontario Has Been Partially Closed Due To A COVID-19 Outbreak

Duration: 01:00 MAY 2,2021

NARCITY



Yet another Amazon facility in Brampton has been ordered to partially close after a COVID-19 outbreak —

Peel's third reported Amazon outbreak in under a week.

Federal budget lacked a plan to combat violence against Indigenous women, advocates say

Olivia Stefanovich 
CBC 2/5/2021

© Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, holds a copy of the final report from the closing ceremonies of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Gatineau, Que., on June 3, 2019.

Advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) say the federal government sidestepped the national inquiry's finding of genocide in its budget — and they wonder how Ottawa can commit money to ending the violence without a plan.

Two years ago this June, the National Inquiry into MMIWG concluded violence against Indigenous women and girls amounts to genocide — a finding the United Nations Human Rights Office urged the government to investigate.

The word "genocide" isn't mentioned in this year's budget — the first one to be released since the inquiry's final report.

Instead, the document describes the violence against Indigenous women and girls as a "national tragedy."

"It's a misstep because this is a genocide," said MMIWG advocate Meggie Cywink.

"Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau said it was a genocide, so with that comes a certain level of responsibility from the government."
Money welcome, but accountability needed

In its budget, the Liberals promise $2.2 billion over five years and $160.9 million each year after to address the root causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls.

The money is earmarked for culture revitalization and preservation projects, efforts to tackle racism and discrimination in the health care system, the creation of culturally sensitive policing services, improved access to justice for Indigenous people and supports for families and survivors.

The money is in addition to the $781 million-plus — and more than $106 million each year after that — set aside in the Fall Economic Statement to deal with the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system, strengthen community-based justice systems and build new shelters and transition housing for First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

Cywink said the funding is generous but she wants to see the government do more to address violence against Indigenous women and girls.

Twenty-seven-years ago, the body of Cywink's sister was discovered at an Indigenous historical site known as the Southwold Earthworks, just outside of London, Ontario.

Sonya Nadine Cywink was 31 years old and pregnant at her time of death.

Since then, Cywink has been on a quest to learn what happened to her sister, helping other families of missing and murdered women and girls along the way.

Cywink said she wants to make sure those families are at the centre of any discussions on how the $2.2 billion is spent.

"Awareness is something that we've already done," she said. "Now, it's about creating the actions that are really going to stop ... the genocide"
Budget informing national action plan

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett did not use the word "genocide" when asked about its absence from the budget. She said the federal government accepted the findings of the inquiry's final report.

"We have been asked by the families and survivors for decades to put in place the concrete actions where they would seek justice, receive healing [and] support as well as concrete actions to stop this national tragedy. That was their words," Bennett said.

"We are, I think, faithful to the words of the families, but also to the way forward."

Bennett said the recent work on the national action plan informed what's in the budget.

"These investments in the budget are supporting the federal contribution to a national action plan so the dollars in the budget are part of our implementation of that ..." Bennett said

SHE PRODUCE'S CROCIDILE TEARS EVERY TIME SHE HEARS THE WORD GENOCIDE

© Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett wouldn't offer a clear date for releasing the national action plan to address violence against Indigenous women and girls.

Marion Buller, former chief commissioner of the national inquiry, said she wants to see the government do more to acknowledge the finding of genocide.

"Using the term 'national tragedy' in the budget to describe MMIWG is an attempt by government to avoid the legal and social reality of genocide," Buller said.
Addressing the finding of genocide

As for the $2.2 billion pledge, Buller questioned how the government can assign funding to a national action plan that hasn't been released yet.

"How they can assign a dollar amount to something that hasn't landed is a bit of an accounting mystery to me," Buller said.

Buller said she's been briefed on the national action plan several times but has no say on what happens next.

"What I don't see in this budget is the paradigm shift that we called for in our Calls for Justice," Buller said.

"We have to move away from programming and temporary measures and that whole way of thinking ... to that paradigm shift of Indigenous people doing for themselves."

© Chantelle Bellrichard/CBC Marion Buller, former chief commissioner of the national inquiry, said the federal government tried to avoid acknowledging the legal and social reality of genocide in the budget.

Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said he will be watching to see how the government frames its response to the national inquiry's finding of genocide in the national action plan.

"I recognize the admission of genocide is not an easy thing for any institution or nation state," Obed said.

"The opportunity for Canada, I believe, is to hear what Indigenous women and girls have said, and to respond and show that they have heard and take to heart the findings, and will do all that they can to change the reality, and also to uphold human rights for First Nations, Inuit and Métis women and girls in this country."

Obed said it's good the government is linking its funding with the inquiry's Calls for Justice, which it notes in several of its budget promises, but he wants to see more specifics.

"We want to make sure that this isn't just status-quo funding that would've gone to these areas anyway that is now being repackaged as an investment in the implementation of the Calls for Justice," he said.
Action plan to be released 'as soon as it's ready'

More than 100 Indigenous women, girls and and transgender people are overseeing the plan to address systemic causes of violence against them, said Bennett.

She said urban Indigenous, two-spirit, First Nation, Métis and Inuit specialized groups are creating their own chapters of the action plan, along with the provinces and territories.

© Kate Kyle/CBC Natan Obed, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president, said he will be watching to see how Ottawa frames its response to the national inquiry’s finding of genocide in the national action plan.

Once it's complete, Bennett said, the action plan will include a way for families and survivors to track its progress and provide feedback.

Bennett wouldn't commit to a new target date for releasing the plan, but said she's optimistic about the work.

"We've made extraordinary progress," Bennett said. "We really look forward to being able to put it together, as soon as it's ready"

DIY MUTUAL AID

How outdoor community fridges are changing life for those facing hard times

Nick Purdon & Leonardo Palleja 
CBC 2/5/2021

You might have spotted a refrigerator, painted with bright colours, out on a public sidewalk near where you live. If so, you've stumbled upon a growing international food-sharing initiative known as "the community fridge."

The idea behind the fridges that have cropped all across Canada, especially since the pandemic began, is as simple as the motto painted onto their doors: "Take what you need — leave what you can."

The refrigerators offer free food to anyone who needs it, and are stocked by anyone who wants to donate.

There are eight community fridge locations spread across downtown Toronto. CBC's nightly newscast The National spent some time at several fridges and spoke to people who use them, as well as people who keep them filled.

Bernice Sampson

© Nick Purdon/CBC Bernice Sampson, 60, is happy that the lo.cal community fridge in her Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale is so well stocked. 'Oh, it's wonderful,' she said. 'I feel proud of Parkdale'

"I just come to see what I can get. Something to eat for supper," Bernice Sampson said. "Or if I get some toothpaste and toothbrush, I'm good to go."

Sampson frequents the community fridge in the downtown Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale almost every day. She says it has become part of her routine.

On the day CBC News spoke with Sampson, she was able to grab a couple of onions and a box of breaded shrimp from the fridge.

"They're going to go in my stomach when I get home," she said with a laugh.

"It's awesome that someone wants to give back something to the community," Sampson continued. "It feels good to know that people are doing that for the community — not only for me, but for the kids, for the old ones, for people that don't have nothing."

Diane Hanson comes to the fridges in Parkdale, accompanied by her son, in the hope of finding donations of fresh, healthy food:

Kathryn Arab, 31© Nick Purdon/CBC Kathryn Arab is a front-line nurse who lives a few doors down from a community fridge in Toronto. 'I think a lot of people are struggling,' she said. 'I'm just trying to help out others any way I can.'

Kathryn Arab lives near one of Toronto's community fridges and she stocks it whenever she can.

"I just drop off whatever I had that I wasn't using. And it all gets taken, like, within five minutes," she said.

For Arab, helping comes naturally. She's a front-line nurse and has worked through the pandemic. She also cares deeply about the Toronto community of Parkdale where she lives — one of the poorer neighbourhoods in the city.

"I know these people. I see them on the streets. I see them struggling. I see them begging, sleeping on the sidewalk," she said. "And they're my family. They're my brothers and sisters. They're my friends. Why wouldn't I want to help them if I could?"

© Nick Purdon/CBC Many of the community refrigerators in Toronto have been decorated by the volunteers who maintain and supply them.

Jake Silva

Along with his father, Jake Silva runs The Iceman, an ice-making business that serves restaurants in Toronto. The family business has been in the same neighbourhood for 40 years.

Silva helped set up a community fridge outside his business as a way of giving back.

Patricia Reid

© Nick Purdon/CBC Patricia Reid holds the items she took from her community fridge. 'It's just a godsend,' she said.

Patricia Reid says she only recently found out about Toronto's community fridges. Now she visits them often.

"I got a tomato, I got spinach. I could make a salad. They're expensive," she said on a recent trip, smiling.

Reid is 80 and lives on a fixed income. She explains that the community fridge helps her because she needs to save money to pay for her dental surgery.

"I have to pay $4,000 for my tooth implants. And I'll give up food for that, because teeth are really important in health," she said. "I have to give my food money away to that."

Reid says she doesn't know much about who is behind the community fridges, but she wants them to know that the initiative has made a difference in her life.

"You have eased my life, that's what they've done. And I couldn't imagine somebody being so kind. I get really worked up about that," she said with tears in her eyes.

"It's given to me, so I don't have to go beg. I don't want to beg."

Watch full episodes of The National on CBC Gem, the CBC's streaming service.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

An FDA official who led the approval of OxyContin got a $400,000 gig at Purdue Pharma a year later, a new book reveals

insider@insider.com (Allana Akhtar) 2/5/2021

© Doubleday "Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" by Patrick Radden Keefe Doubleday

An FDA director who oversaw the approval of OxyContin got a $400K gig at Purdue Pharma a year later.

A new book by Patrick Radden Keefe reported on these claims and on the billionaire Sackler family.

A Sackler family lawyer told Insider Keefe refused to meet with them during his reporting process.

The US regulator who oversaw the approval of the highly-addictive opioid OxyContin got a six-figure gig at the drug's manufacturer a year later, a new book claims.

Curtis Wright, once a director at the US Food and Drug Administration who oversaw evaluation for pain medication, got a position with a first-year compensation package of $400,000 at Purdue Pharma a year after he led the approval of OxyContin, according to the book "Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" by Patrick Radden Keefe.

Purdue Pharma's sale of OxyContin, a formulation of the narcotic oxycodone that was said to slow down the release of the strong painkiller when taken as prescribed, has been associated with the rise of the opioid crisis, according to a trillion-dollar lawsuit filed by nearly all US states.

OxyContin was the "most prescribed brand name narcotic medication" for treating moderate to severe pain by 2001, according to a report by the US Government Accountability Office. Deaths from prescription opioid overdose quadrupled between 1999 to 2019, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 247,000 deaths from prescription opioid overdose over the last two decades.

Read more: One of the nation's biggest insurers wants to make mental-health care available to more people. Here's how Cigna plans to tap Ginger's network of coaches to do it.

Keefe's book explores the lives of the billionaire Sackler family who founded Purdue Pharma and profited off of the sale of OxyContin. Forbes estimates the Sackler family's net worth at $10.8 billion, as of December 2020.

"This author has refused to correct errors in his past reporting and also blatantly violated journalistic ethics by refusing to meet with representatives for the Sackler family during the reporting of his book," Daniel S. Connolly, an attorney for the Raymond Sackler family, said in a statement to Insider. "Documents being released in Purdue's bankruptcy now demonstrate that Sackler family members who served on Purdue's board of directors acted ethically and lawfully."

The FDA approved OxyContin in December 1995, originally believing the controlled-release formulation of OxyContin would result in "less abuse potential," according to the agency's website. The agency amended the label in 2001, giving OxyContin a "black box" warning it adds on drug with the highest possible abuse potential, per the FDA website.

Keefe wrote Wright had confessed in a sworn deposition that he "might" have written the portion of the FDA package insert that said OxyContin was "believed to reduce the abuse liability of the drug." Keefe added that Wright would instruct Purdue Pharma to mail him documents at his home office, and conducted reviews of clinical study reports regarding the safety of OxyContin with the help of Purdue Pharma employees.

After Wright left the FDA he spent a year at another company before joining Purdue, according to the book.

"That was sufficient as a cooling-off period, apparently, to allay any concerns that Richard Sackler might have had about the appearance of a conflict of interest," Keefe wrote.

Purdue Pharma did not have additional comment to add. The FDA declined to comment.
Read the original article on Business Insider

Israeli settlers attack Palestinian village after shooting



Associated Press
Mon., May 3, 2021


JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank overnight, setting brush fires and hurling stones, Palestinian officials and an Israeli rights group said Monday.

It appeared to be a revenge attack after three Israelis were wounded in a drive-by shooting at a nearby traffic junction on Sunday.

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said dozens of settlers attacked the village of Jaloud. It circulated videos showing the fires, with people shouting in the background. Israeli security forces arrested 11 Palestinians and four people were wounded by rubber bullets, B'Tselem said.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, provided a similar account, saying the villagers had come out to defend the village after the settlers attacked.

The Israeli military said Israeli civilians and Palestinians hurled rocks at each other outside the village and that “a number of locations were ignited.” It did not provide details on what triggered the violence. It said around 10 people were detained, but did not identify them.

Radical Israeli settlers have been known to carry out so-called “price tag” attacks on Palestinian communities in response to violence or perceived Israeli plans to restrict settlement activity.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. Nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in more than 100 settlements scattered across the West Bank, which is home to some 2.5 million Palestinians.

The Palestinians view the settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace, a position with wide international support.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be a harsh response to Sunday's shooting. “We will not allow terrorism to raise its head and we will strike our enemies with force,” he said Sunday.

Clashes broke out in another village in the northern West Bank late Sunday during an Israeli military raid. The Palestinian Health Ministry said five people were wounded by live ammunition in the village of Beita.

The military said troops entered the village to search for suspected attackers after the shooting. It said Palestinians hurled rocks and firebombs at the soldiers, who responded by opening fire.

Trump's Scottish Golf Resorts Took $800,000 In Taxpayer Funds To Save Jobs, But Cut Workers


Mary Papenfuss
·Trends Reporter, HuffPost
Sun., May 2, 2021


Donald Trump’s two Scottish golf resorts collected up to $800,000 in subsidies from the British government to protect jobs during COVID-19 but fired “scores” of workers, a top union complained Sunday.

Union officials called the money grab a “scandal” and are calling for a government investigation.

Trump’s SLC Turnberry Ltd received as much as $700,000 in taxpayer funds, while his resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, was paid up to $100,000 in just two months, according to government documents, reported the Scottish Sun. (The amounts are reported in ranges.)

Some other golf resorts collected as much or even more. But the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers complained to The Scotsman that the Trump Organization “hoovering up” public money while cutting staff made a “mockery” of a program specifically designed to save jobs.

The union said some 66 workers were let go at Turnberry in Ayrshire since last spring. Some have been hired back but at reduced pay, according to the union.

“It is clear to us that at the very least the principles of the job retention scheme appear to have been breached by the Trump Organization, and that should now be subjected to a detailed and forensic investigation” by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs department, said the RMT’s General Secretary Mick Cash. “It’s a scandal.”

When Trump wooed both Ireland and Scotland to allow him to develop golf resorts in both countries, he promised the operations would deliver major tax revenue. In fact, it appears the Trump Organization hasn’t paid a penny in taxes at any of the resorts because of constantly reported losses.

In 2017, Turnberry was granted a $147,000 tax break. The resort was later cut out of the program that was intended to give struggling companies a break, the Sunday Herald reported.

“It’s bad enough that he has a business presence in Scotland,” Patrick Harvie, a member of the Scottish Parliament from the Green Party, told the newspaper after the decision was made. “It’s galling to learn that the public purse is giving him a helping hand.”

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request from HuffPost for comment.

QUEBEC

No money left for pay raises, Legault tells 'guardian angels' and other public-sector workers

The Quebec Workers Federation said in a news release that the average annual salary of its public-sector workers is $39,819.

Sun., May 2, 2021

A health-care worker seen here during the first wave of the pandemic in Montreal, in May 2020. At the time, Premier François Legault routinely referred to health-care workers as Quebec's 'guardian angels.' (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Premier François Legault told Quebec's nurses, teachers and elderly care workers on Sunday that the government had no money left in its coffers to offer them pay raises much higher than inflation.

Earlier on Sunday, Legault met with the heads of several public-sector unions, representation around 550,000 workers, in an effort to sell them on the government's latest offer. He was joined by Treasury Board chair Sonia LeBel.

The workers, who include many of the health-care professionals Legault referred to as Quebec's "guardian angels" during the first wave of the pandemic, have been without a contract since March 2020.

The government is offering them a five-per cent pay rise over three years, and a further three-per cent if inflation exceeds five per cent. Inflation for that period has been estimated at 4.87 per cent by the government.

But the government is also offering higher pay rises for patient attendants in long-term care homes (23 per cent) and first-year teachers (18 per cent), in an effort to attract more applicants to positions where Quebec is facing severe staffing shortages.

Legault and Sonia Lebel, Minister Responsible for Government Administration, speak during a news conference following a meeting with union leaders in Montreal, Sunday.(Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

The public-sector unions had already indicated the salary offers were too little for their members to accept, particularly those who don't qualify for the larger raises.

Legault, though, said Sunday that with the province facing several years of deficits because of pandemic spending, that salary offer was as good as it's going to get.

"We've reached the capacity of what we can pay. So when some union leaders say 'We want more money,' well, we don't have anymore money," Legault said at a news conference following the meeting.

"I think it was important to say clearly to the union, even if you continue asking for [more money for] another six months, or a year, there won't be anymore money on the table."

Legault added that he had been patient with the unions for the past year, but now wants to see the contract negotiations wrapped up in the next several weeks.

Unions angered by Legault's inflexibility

The union leaders held a press conference of their own Sunday, expressing disappointment that the government had refused to boost its offer, which it initially tabled in March.

They said that without more significant pay raises, the public sector would continue to have difficulty attracting young workers, and retaining more experienced ones.

Throughout the pandemic, many critical areas of the health-care system has struggled to provide services to the public because of long-running staffing issues.

"People realized in the pandemic that without the public sector nothing would work in Quebec," said Caroline Senneville, a vice-president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, a union that represents around 160,000 public-sector workers, including CEGEP teachers and nurses.

"A school without a secretary — that doesn't work. A operating room that hasn't been cleaned — you can't operate there even if you have doctors."

The Quebec Workers Federation, another large labour federation involved in the negotiations, said in a news release that the average annual salary of its public-sector workers is $39,819.