Food for thought

As expected, Canada's economic recovery is cooling off as national unemployment `seasonally-adjusted' figures rose to 8%. Insecurity is the order of the day, as usual, for the working class.
The futility of reform – The Ontario Provincial government promised tough new labour laws to protect the 700 000 most vulnerable workers - temporaries. Right to holiday pay, overtime and other basics were to be mandatory. That legislation has now been `modernized', i.e. workers will be forced to confront employers with their complaints before filing a claim with the Ministry of Labour, rendering the law virtually useless.
Canada's environment minister, Jim Prentice, is elated that the arctic ice is receding. An investigator buff, he is happy that the ice-free ocean has turned up the HMS Investigator, sank 155 years ago while searching for Sir John Franklin's doomed Northwest Passage expedition. In his article, Peter Gorrie (Toronto Star, August 7, 2010), observes, "Climate change will unseal many other arctic treasures over the next few years. Most important – less romantic but incomparably more lucrative than an old boat – are oil and gas." No wonder they do not want to admit to, or do anything about, climate change! John Ayers