In this edition:
- Ontario introduces back-to-work legislation, CUPE to stage province-wide protest
- Ministry of Environment to reschedule GM lands meeting
- Fall economic statement dates set for Canada and Ontario
Ontario introduces back-to-work legislation, CUPE to stage province-wide protest
The Ontario government today introduced the Keeping Students in Class Act that would, if passed, establish a four-year collective agreement for Ontario’s 55,000 education workers in advance of a potential strike that could have started this Friday.
CUPE, which represents approximately 55,000 Ontario education workers, including librarians, custodians and early childhood educators, said its members will stage a provincewide “protest” Friday – meaning they will be off the job despite the government tabling legislation to impose contracts and ban a strike.
The Act would provide that it shall operate notwithstanding sections 2, 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and despite the Human Rights Code, effectively pre-empting a constitutional challenge.
The position laid out in the legislation is more generous than the Government of Ontario’s latest offer, but does not meet the position of education workers. The government had been offering raises of two per cent a year for workers making less than $40,000 and 1.25 per cent for all others, and Lecce said the new, four-year deal would give 2.5 per cent annual raises to workers making less than $43,000 and 1.5 per cent raises for all others.
Ministry of Environment to reschedule GM lands meeting
The Ministry of Environment will be rescheduling an update for residents on the former GM lands after abruptly cancelling a meeting that was scheduled on September 28th, 2022.
The goal of the meeting is to provide updated results from samples taken from around the Ontario Street property.
There is no date set yet, or a decision on whether the update will be provided to either the current council or councillors-elect.
Fall economic statement dates set for Canada and Ontario
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, will present the Fall Economic Statement 2022 in the House of Commons on November 3, 2022, at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET.
The Ontario Minister of Finance announced that the Government of Ontario’s Fall Economic Statement will be presented on November 14.
Niagara Economic Summit
Marwa Abdou to deliver update on Canadian economy at Summit
The Canadian economy has seen considerable turbulence since the 2021 Niagara Economic Summit, with crises of the pandemic replaced by rising inflation and interest rates, inflation shortages, and supply chain interruptions.
How have these changes impacted Canadian businesses, and what is to come for the next year? Join Marwa Abdou at the Niagara Economic Summit to find out. Marwa is Senior Research Director at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and heads the Chamber’s Business Data Lab, and has worked with and within organizations including the World Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat, APEC, OECD, Ernst and Young, Nathan Associates, the Asian Development Bank, and the Minister of International Cooperation of Egypt. Few understand Canada’s economy, how it interacts with the international economic landscape, and how it affects business better than Marwa.
Contact us to submit your questions for Marwa.
Click here for tickets to this year’s Niagara Economic Summit.
Focus on Small Business
Marking National Women’s Small Business Month: What the data say
During a Twitter Spaces discussion hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday to celebrate National Women’s Small Business Month, two participants observed that the challenges facing women business owners are “unique.”
“Women business owners often have to juggle a lot of responsibilities related to child care and taking care of parents that are often unique,” said Holly Wade, executive director of the Research Center at the National Federation of Independent Business. Her observation was echoed by other participants; the nature of those unique challenges is borne out in data on women-owned businesses.
Small businesses in Canada looking at banks for advice to weather challenging economy, J.D. Power finds
Six in 10 small businesses in Canada are classified as financially unhealthy1 and say they are challenged by high inflation (59%), supply chain issues (49%) and workforce shortages (39%). To weather the economic turmoil, small business owners are looking to their banks for guidance, but while 64% have an assigned banking relationship manager, those experts mainly deliver transactional assistance (58%) and only 17% provide comprehensive advice that is fully aligned with the small business’s goals, according to the J.D. Power 2022 Canada Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study,SM released today.
According to the study, 81% of small businesses are interested in receiving financial advice or guidance from their bank, however, only 56% indicate receiving such advice or guidance in the past 12 months, and only 51% strongly agree that their bank provides useful advice or guidance.
Through the Daily Updates, the GNCC aims to deliver important business news in a timely manner. We disseminate all news and information we feel will be important to businesses. Inclusion in the Daily Update is not an endorsement by the GNCC.
