Unlawful
election
advertising
complaint
fi led against
Canada Post
OTTAWA — The Canadi-
an Union of Postal Workers
(CUPW) has accused Canada
Post of failing to register as a
third party with Elections Can-
ada while engaging in election
advertising.
"Canada Post's material
clearly qualifies as election ad-
vertising," said CUPW national
president Mike Palecek.
The union filed the official
complaint against Canada Post
for distributing flyers about the
group mailboxes it plans to use
to replace home delivery.
"This material is a sales pitch
for the Conservatives' group
mailboxes," Palecek said of the
flyers. "Other political parties
are committed to stopping the
cuts to door-to-door delivery
and have been campaigning
about it. It's a major election is-
sue."
According to the Canada
Elections Act, election adver-
tising is the transmission of a
message that promotes or op-
poses a registered party or the
election of a candidate, includ-
ing one that takes a position on
an issue with which a registered
party or candidate is associat-
ed. CUPW said it registered its
"Save Canada Post" campaign
with Elections Canada as re-
quired by federal law.
"Even though we disagree
with the unprecedented re-
strictions placed on freedom
of expression by the so-called
Fair Elections Act, we've been
playing by the rules and we ex-
pect Canada Post Corporation
to do the same when it's work-
ing for the Conservatives," said
Palecek.
Ontario seeks
to close gender
wage gap
TORONTO — Ontario's la-
bour ministry is looking for
ways to close the gender wage
gap.
On Oct. 8, the provincial gov-
ernment announced it would
be hosting public consultations
in order to develop a strategy to
close the pay gap between men
and women.
As part of its mandate, the
Gender Wage Gap Steering
Committee (appointed by la-
bour minister Kevin Flynn in
April) will examine how the
roles of women are affected by
the gender wage gap and seek to
understand how the disparity
affects working women across
the economic spectrum. It will
also assess ways government,
business and labour groups can
address systemic barriers to
close the gap.
According to Statistics Can-
ada, Ontario's wage gap ranges
from 12 per cent to 31.5 per
cent, with the biggest dispari-
ties felt by Aboriginal women
and women of colour. Personal
incomes would be $168 billion
higher each year if Canadian
women had the same labour
market opportunities as men,
the Ministry of Labour said.
"While women participate in
all parts of the workforce, there
are still barriers that prevent
women from achieving their
economic potential. That nega-
tively affects Ontario's prosper-
ity," said Tracy MacCharles, the
province's minister of women's
issues.
"Our government recognizes
that when we are all treated
equitably, we all benefit. That's
why we are taking action today
for a more equal and economi-
cally sound Ontario."
Those wishing to provide in-
put can attend one of the public
town halls or email the Ministry
of Labour at genderwagegap@
ontario.ca.
LABOUR BRIEFS
2
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