Secret ballot Private Member’s Bill tabled in the House of Commons

CPC MP Blaine Calkins:

“Well thank you Speaker. I’m honoured to rise today to introduce my private member’s bill. As you correctly stated it, it is an Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act. This bill Mr. Speaker provides necessary amendments to the certification and decertification of a bargaining agent by way of a mandatory secret ballot vote based on a majority. Mr. Speaker for far too long, the federal legislation has lagged behind that of our provincial counterparts and workers deserve the right to have a secret ballot vote to decide who represents them at the bargaining table.”

The National Citizens Coalition welcomes this legislation. It’s long overdue. Card check opens up votes to intimidation by union organizers. This legislation will protect the rights of workers to support or resist union initiatives without the risk of social alienation or physical intimidation.

Radio-Canada rebrands as “ici”

From, ahem, Canada.com,

MONTREAL — The French-language CBC has announced plans to change its name. Radio-Canada will lose the words “radio” and “Canada.”
 
Instead, the federally funded broadcaster will be known in French by the name “ICI” — which means “here” in French.
 
The name change had been rumoured for months but was made official Wednesday with an announcement by the Crown corporation.

The Quebec wing of the Canadian crown corporation… is dropping “Canada” from its name, dropping the bilingual nature of the name and rebranding as “ici”.

A bit more insular isn’t it?

In 2006, the Bloc Quebecois beat the nationalist “ici” drum with its “Heuresement, ici, c’est le Bloc” slogan. Radio Canada has been accused of being a den of separatists in the past, perhaps they were inspired by it?