Deal reached in WestJet mechanics’ strike, but travel disruptions still expected
(CP) – WestJet has reached a deal with its mechanics to end a strike that disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands over the Canada Day long weekend.
In a news release on its website, WestJet said there will still be flight disruptions in the week ahead as its planes are brought back into service.
“The damage to Canadians and our airline is massive, a swift resolution was necessary; we take no victory laps on this outcome but will sleep better tonight knowing further harm has been prevented,” airline president Diederik Pen said in the release, which was posted late Sunday.
In its own news release, the Airplane Mechanics Fraternal Association urged its members to return to work immediately pending a vote on the temporary agreement.
Some 680 workers, whose daily inspections and repairs are essential to airline operations, had walked off the job on Friday evening despite a directive for binding arbitration from the labour minister.
Since Thursday, WestJet had cancelled 829 flights scheduled between then and Monday — the busiest travel weekend of the season — the carrier said.
The vast majority of Sunday’s trips were called off as WestJet pared down its 180-plane fleet to 32 active aircraft and topped the global list for cancellations among major airlines over the weekend.
Pro-Palestinian protesters block CN railroad south of Montreal, four arrested
MONTREAL (CP) – Police say about 30 pro-Palestinian protesters blocked a stretch of railroad tracks on Saturday, for several hours, just south of Montreal.
The railway line, owned by CN, connects Montreal to Halifax where protesters claim goods are shipped to the Middle East.
Police say four officers were pepper-sprayed and four people in their 20s and 30s are facing charges ranging from obstruction to assault.
In a news release, protesters say their goal was to shut down a “vital trade artery” between Canada and Israel and that all trade with the country must be stopped.
This comes as a growing number of pro-Palestinian encampments have popped up on university campuses in Montreal, and most recently in a downtown public park.
CN says it’s aware of the incident and is monitoring the situation, and protesters declined The Canadian Press’s request for an interview.
Time crunch, rules mess could plague a Liberal leadership race
By Laura Osman
OTTAWA (CP) – Calls have intensified for Justin Trudeau to resign as head of the party he almost single-handedly pulled back from the brink after a decimating electoral defeat in 2011.
Still, Trudeau has been steadfast in his intention to lead the party into the next election.
But even as several former elected Liberals, party faithfuls and strategists declare it’s time for the prime minister to step aside, for fear of dragging the party down along with his personal polling numbers, many also admit a Liberal leadership race would be a risky and messy affair.
The party hasn’t selected a new leader since 2013, when the Liberals changed the rules to give ordinary citizens a bigger say in who would take the reins of the party.
It was part of the board’s “road map to renewal” plan to rebuild the party.
The changes allowed a political movement to form behind Trudeau, who won the race easily and reinvigorated the party after a time of crisis.
His leadership did usher in a new era of Liberal unity, but Conservative strategist Ginny Roth said the party was also remade in his image.
If Trudeau were to step aside before the next election, the party would not only need to find a new leader before the next election but also redefine what it means to be a Liberal.
In email to caucus, Liberal MP says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should step down
By: Mickey Djuric and Mia Rabson
OTTAWA (CP) – One Liberal MP who is not seeking re-election has sent an email to fellow caucus members calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down as party leader.
Another suggested it may be time to put that question to the party’s membership.
But the prime minister showed no signs of blinking Friday as he was greeted by happy throngs of supporters at both a party fundraiser and a campaign-style stop at the Taste of Asia festival in a Toronto suburb.
Tension in the Liberal caucus increased since the party lost the stronghold seat of Toronto — St. Paul’s to the Conservatives, by about 600 votes on Monday.
Liberals had claimed the urban riding as theirs for about 30 years, even during their worst electoral showing ever in 2011. Some Liberal MPs attribute the loss to the choice of candidate and to insufficient campaigning, while others point to Trudeau as the problem.
Public support for the prime minister has tanked since 2021, amid high inflation, soaring housing costs and immigration levels which have outpaced Canada’s plan for accommodating many more newcomers.
Are you proud to be Canadian? Poll suggests that feeling is dwindling for some
By: Sarah Ritchie
OTTAWA (CP) – A new poll suggests the vast majority of Canadians are proud of their home and native land, but our sense of national pride is lower than it was a few years ago.
Polling firm Léger surveyed 1,607 people last weekend, asking how they’re feeling about being Canadian, ahead of Canada Day. The firm posed similar questions to a group of 1,003 Americans ahead of the Fourth of July.
The results suggest the vast majority of us — 76 per cent — would call ourselves proud Canadians.
But 45 per cent of people who did the survey said they were feeling less proud than they did five years ago in 2019. Léger said that’s up 16 percentage points from 2021, when they posed the same question.
Respondents were asked to choose from a list of things that make them most proud to be Canadian. The country’s natural beauty topped the list, followed by universal health care, freedom and equality, a peaceful and safe society, and multiculturalism.
Just one in five said their fellow Canadians made them feel proud.
The state of the health-care system was near the top of a list of concerns for respondents, second only to economic inequality and poverty, as the thing that made people feel least proud to be Canadian.
Coming in third on that list: the current federal government.
