Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…
Statistics Canada to release July figures for real GDP today
Statistics Canada will release its figures for how the economy started the third quarter this morning.
The agency will report real gross domestic product numbers for July.
Its early estimate for the month released on Sept. 1 suggested real GDP was essentially unchanged in July, though it cautioned at the time that the reading would be updated.
It said that gains in the public, finance and insurance, and professional, scientific and technical services sectors were offset by weakness in the manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and construction sectors.
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Here’s what else we’re watching …
Air Canada pilots picket at Toronto’s Pearson as talks continue
Air Canada pilots are demonstrating at Toronto’s Pearson airport today, calling for better wages and working conditions as talks with the country’s biggest carrier continue.
The Air Line Pilots Association kick-started the bargaining process in June, one day after fellow union members at WestJet ratified a new collective agreement.
The union represents more than 5,000 Air Canada pilots.
Both union and employer say the so-called informational picket at Terminal 1, which comes the same day their own nine-year deal expires, will not affect Air Canada’s flight schedule.
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B.C. nation welcomes totem taken 100 years ago
A ceremony will be held today by the Nisga’a Nation in northern British Columbia for a memorial totem that has gone to Scotland and back over the last century.
The 11-metre totem was carved in 1860 to honour a dead chief, but it was taken almost 100 years ago by a person doing research in the village and then sold to the National Museum of Scotland.
A Nisga’a delegation, including some with family connections to the totem, travelled to Scotland a year ago to ask for its return, which was granted by the museum and then approved by Scottish government.
The totem’s arrival in the remote northern community comes the day before Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, held to honour residential school survivors and the children who did not come home.
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Tribunal rules on side of injured migrant workers
An Ontario tribunal has ruled in favour of Injured Migrant Workers seeking better compensation from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, finding that the board was not treating them appropriately.
The workers went to the tribunal to argue for better compensation after their loss-of-income benefits ran out after a maximum of 12 weeks.
The tribunal noted that the loss-of-earnings provisions of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act assumed that after three months, all workers could return to work either in Ontario or their home country, without taking into account workers’ actual circumstances, such as whether they had recovered from their injury, were capable of working or finding a job.
The tribunal ruled that was not appropriate, saying loss-of-earnings compensation ought to be based on migrant agricultural workers’ ability to earn in their actual local labour market.
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New fiscal results could dominate Manitoba election campaign today
Manitoba’s finances are likely to take centre stage today on the campaign trail for the provincial election next Tuesday.
The government is set to release the final results for the last fiscal year, including the size of the provincial deficit.
Manitoba has run deficits in every year but one since 2009, and last year’s red ink was originally forecast at $548 million.
The Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats have both promised to balance the budget within the next four years, while the Liberals have said they would take a little longer.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2023.
The Canadian Press
