Jacinda Ardern says the changes to wages and benefits will help support the most vulnerable
New Zealand is raising its minimum wage to $20 an hour and increasing the top tax rate for the country’s highest earners to 39%.
The changes will be rolled out on Thursday, alongside small increases to unemployment and sickness benefits. The government estimates the minimum wage increase – a rise of $1.14 per hour – will affect up to 175,500 workers, and increase wages across the economy by $216m.
The cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline project by a new, climate-focused U.S. president is the latest major blow to Canada’s fossil fuel industry. But it’s no secret that even before the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the economy, the sector was already reeling from falling demand and low global oil prices.
SFU team says rising construction costs, new climate change measures mean project should be shelved
The estimated construction cost for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has ballooned from $5.4 billion to $12.6 billion. (Jason Franson/Canadian Press)
A group of over 200 scholars has released a definition of antisemitism that explicitly excludes efforts to boycott Israel — the latest pushback against a campaign by a number of establishment Jewish groups to label as antisemitic double standards applied to Israel.
Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs say they are against a proposed private member’s bill that aims to address environmental racism.
Bill C-230, sponsored by Liberal MP Lenore Zann, headed to second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
The bill would require the federal government to collect data on locations affected by environmental hazards, and to examine their connections to race, socioeconomic status and health.
Air pollutants have cost Canada $120 billion per year, according to recently released figures from Health Canada, a toll that roughly equals the value of all oil and gas exports.
The health burden from pollutants in the air that come from industrial activities like oil and gas extraction, mining, manufacturing, construction, and transportation — as well as natural events like forest fires — contributed to 15,300 premature Canadian deaths in 2016, the most recent year figures are available.
I highly recommend this interview with Kim Stanley Robinson about his most recent novel, The Ministry for the Future, which charts an imaginary path through our realistically projected future of ecocatastrophe. It's simultaneously brutal and optimistic. The interview delves into some of the book's main themes.
