Lisa
Canada Needs You Now!

The trains HAVE to run on time!
Update: Canadian Press May 23, 2012 11:39 AM EDT

TORONTO - Ottawa is prepared to table back-to-work legislation to end the strike at Canadian Pacific, federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said Wednesday as she urged both sides to keep talking to reach a deal.

         "This morning I have already put on notice a bill to ensure that we are in the position to 
           be  able to introduce legislation," Raitt said.

"If we want to we have the ability to introduce legislation at the first opportunity on Monday."

I have no special powers to predict the future, but it was clear that this would happen, that it would happen in less than twelve hours from the start of labor withdrawal is a surprise, one would have figured Lisa Raitt would have had the legislation ready to go at 12:01 AM Wednesday. It is clear that under the new fascist regime, otherwise known as the Harper Government© (and his buddy in Liberal disguise in Quebec, Jeannie with the Curly Hair) that both the right to strike and the right to assemble, associate or protest are dead in Canada - can free speech be far behind? The freedom to vote in a fair election has already gone by the wayside.........

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As any fan of Benito Mussolini knows, aside from being famous as a fatuous goof, fleeing Italy in his younger days to avoid military service and arrest and hanging around the gas station upside down, he was dedicated to having the trains run on time. So in light of the following it is clear that our Ms. Lisa Raitt has her work cut out for her.

Canadian Pacific Receives 72-Hour Strike Notice From Union

TORONTO (DOW JONES)--Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP, CP.T) said Saturday it may be forced to shut down its railroad operations in Canada as early as Wednesday if it fails to end a labor dispute with 4,800 engineers, conductors and rail traffic controllers. 

A shut down of the Calgary company's railroad network, which stretches between Vancouver in the west and Montreal in central Canada, would disrupt the movement of grains, fertilizer, coal and other commodities, potentially threatening the country's growth at a time when the recovery in the U.S., a big Canadian export market, remains fragile and Europe struggles to bring its debt crisis under control. CP also operates in the U.S. Midwest and northeast but train services in these regions would continue in the event of a strike.

The potential labor disruption also underscores the challenges U.S. activist shareholder Bill Ackman faces in his bid to improve CP's operations. On Thursday, Ackman, who owns a 14% stake in CP, won a four-month proxy battle to shake-up the board and replace the chief executive. With a reconstituted board and new leader, who still needs to be chosen, the hedge-fund manager believes CP's operations, over time, can approach the greater efficiency of its main rival Montreal-based Canadian National Railway Co. (CNI). But during the proxy fight some of Ackman's critics cited CP's unions as a reason his goals were too ambitious. Ackman couldn't immediately be reached for comment. In a press release, Canadian Pacific said it received a 72-hour strike notice from the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), allowing its members to strike Wednesday....../snip

I might add that negotiations with the air plane drivers (pilots) at Air Canada aren't going too well either as in - Air Canada Labour Dispute: Pilots' Dispute Goes To Arbitration After Negotiations Fail. Maybe our little Lisa won't get to spend much time at the cottage this summer.

 Aversion Therapy for Gay Men!
 

Click to Enlarge at your own risk!
From Toronto Life:

Painter Margaret Sutherland made waves on the Internet last night with one of her latest paintings: a nude portrait of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The work, which we presume the Prime Minister did not sit for, used to hang on the walls of the Edward Day Gallery in Toronto, but is now dressing a wall in a library in Kingston (where the artist currently resides). In the 60-foot five foot oil-on-canvas painting, Harper is casually lounging in a state of undress. Salient features include the artist’s rendering of his nether regions, a woman serving the politician a Tim Hortons coffee and what appears to be a terrier of some sort. Fans of Canadiana-themed home decor will want to add this to their Pinterest board post-haste.

Definitely a case of the Emperor has no clothes...........