International
Forty Republicans sent a letter to Trump about an LGTBQ clause included in the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement) urging him not to sign the agreement. They didn’t feel that a trade agreement was the place to “decide when, whether and how to tackle issues of civil rights, protected classes and workplace rights”. Prime Minister Trudeau said “the deal included some of the strongest labour provisions of any trade deal negotiated by Canada, but that he wasn’t going to negotiate in public about how far Canada would go to keep the clause in the USMCA. clauses.” Mexican trade officials are defending the inclusion of the clauses and want to see them left in.
Expecting trade partners to meet certain expectations and criteria is new and it remains to be seen if it will work but LGTBQ rights are a big concern as many of them live below the poverty line.
National
The union has rejected an offer from Canada Post to suspend the strike over the Christmas holidays to allow the backlog of mail to be delivered and Canadians to get there Christmas deliveries. The union felt they couldn’t agree to sending their workers back to work under the same working conditions that have prompted the strike.
Canada Post has requested binding arbitration if the sides have not come to an agreement by the end of January 2019.
The Retail Council of Canada has asked the government to table back-to-work legislation.
Local
The Ottawa Redblacks beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 46-27 in the east division final here in Ottawa on Sunday afternoon. They will play for the Grey Cup next Sunday in Edmonton against the Calgary Stampeders.