“CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AREN’T SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS.”
– ANDREW MERCIER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE B.C. BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL
Construction workers are vital to maintaining critical infrastructure and must be kept safe, says BCBT
Construction workers from across B.C. say they are at risk because their working conditions do not allow them to follow basic health, hygiene and safety regulations.
Vancouver city council has voted unanimously in favour of a motion aimed at enforcing social-distancing measures during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Council met virtually on Monday morning to vote on an amendment to the city’s emergency powers bylaw that would allow bylaw officers to issue penalties to anyone either gathering in large groups or not doing what they can to keep two metres apart.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau Hon. John Horgan
Prime Minister Premier of British Columbia
House of Commons West Annex, Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0H6 Victoria, BC., V8V 1X4 justin.trudeau@parl.gc.cajohn.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca
As people around the world are taking social distancing measures to keep their communities safe Coastal Gas Link and the RCMP continue to bring in workers from all over Canada during a pandemic putting both workers and entire northern communities with limited medical staff at grave risk.
We cannot give workers a choice between spreading the virus and missing rent. The consequences could be disastrous.
In Canada, COVID-19 has meant that public events and gatherings are being cancelled. Flights, concerts, and hockey games are getting cancelled across the board. Restaurants and bars are closing. People’s contracts and work hours are being lost.
Canadians can expect more disruptive protests if the federal government pushes forward with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion against the wishes of some of the Indigenous communities it will pass through, says a British Columbia lawyer and Indigenous negotiator.
In the last month, Indigenous people across the country set up barricades on train tracks, roads and bridges, in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary chiefs, some of whom object to the construction of a natural-gas pipeline through their traditional territory.
