On October 22, 2013, the federal government announced the introduction of the Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 2. The Bill would, if passed, implement key measures from Economic Action Plan 2013 (the Budget), as well as certain previously announced tax measures. Among other things, the Bill would: freeze Employment Insurance premium rates for three…
Industry: Municipalities & Municipal Agencies
Manitoba Passes Private Sector Privacy Legislation
On September 12, 2013, Bill 211 The Personal Information Protection and Identity Theft Prevention Act, a Private Member’s Bill, passed Third Reading in the Manitoba Legislature. It received Royal Assent on September 13, 2013. Subject to specified exemptions, Bill 211 will apply to all organizations in the province (including private sector organizations) and will govern…
Ontario Introduces Bill to Amend the Employer Health Tax Act
On September 24, 2013, the Ontario government introduced Bill 105, Supporting Small Businesses Act, 2013. Among other things, the Bill would, if passed, amend the Employer Health Tax Act to increase the exemption amount for eligible employers to $450,000 for the calendar years 2014 to 2018, after which an exemption amount would be adjusted every…
Leaves to Help Families Act Passes Second Reading
On September 25, 2013, Bill 21, Employment Standards Amendment Act (Leaves to Help Families), 2013 passed Second Reading in the Ontario Legislature and was referred to the Standing Committee on General Government. As previously reported, if passed, Bill 21 would allow eligible employees to take the following job-protected unpaid leaves of absence: Family Caregiver Leave…
Parliament Prorogues until October 16th
Upon the request of the Prime Minister, the Governor General officially prorogued Parliament today. The next session of Parliament is scheduled to begin on October 16, 2013, with a Speech from the Throne. As described in our previous post – Parliament to be Prorogued – all Government Bills have “died on the Order Paper,” and…
Government Announces Three-Year EI Premium Freeze
On September 9, 2013, the federal Government announced that it would be cancelling its planned EI premium hike for 2014. Instead, EI premiums will be frozen at the 2013 level of $1.88 per $100 of insurable earnings. The Government also stated that the rate would not exceed $1.88 for 2015 or 2016. On the same date,…
John Saunders Mentioned in Fire Fighting in Canada
Hicks Morley’s John Saunders was mentioned in the September 3, 2013 edition of Fire Fighting in Canada in an article entitled, “Police deserve higher pay than firefighters, report says.” The article discussed Deloitte’s job-evaluation report, presented by John Saunders at the City of London’s interest arbitration, which concluded that fire fighters do not deserve equal or…
John Saunders Quoted in The London Free Press
Hicks Morley’s John Saunders was quoted in the August 27, 2013 edition of The London Free Press in an article entitled, “Toronto attorney John Saunders argues during arbitration hearing that the old rules are gone and some non-core services should be outsourced.” The article discusses contract arbitration hearings regarding proposed retroactive wage hikes for the…
Parliament to be Prorogued
The Prime Minister has announced that he will ask the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until October 2013. Parliament was previously set to resume sitting on September 16, 2013. With prorogation, the unfinished business of Parliament will “die” on the Order Paper, including government bills which have not yet received Royal Assent. These bills can…
John Saunders Mentioned in The Globe and Mail
Hicks Morley’s John Saunders was mentioned in the August 8, 2013 edition of The Globe and Mail in Margaret Wente’s article entitled, “A nation of $100,000 firefighters.” Highlighting municipal budgets’ contentions with fire departments, the article attributes firefighters’ high wages and substantive increases to arbitration settlements. Paraphrasing Saunders, “There’s no good reason for salaries to…