Chris's Posts

It is reported that the long dispute between Ottawa and US Steel over the company’s takeover of Stelco ended with a promise to keep two Ontario steel mills operating for at least several more years.

But unions representing steelworkers said the secret deal with the American manufacturer is a betrayal of Canadian employees.

Steve Arnold, Hamilton Spectator

Canada has settled its bitter three-year lawsuit against U.S. Steel for new investment of $50 million in its Hamilton and Lake Erie plants.

Opposition politicians and workers were outraged by a deal they say contains no specifics on employment or production in Canada and offers nothing to workers harmed by the company’s failure to keep its original promises.

In a surprise announcement Monday afternoon, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said he was dropping the suit.

Steve Arnold, Hamilton Spectator

An analyst warns Hamilton’s Stelco plant remains threatened despite new promises extracted from U.S. Steel.

Monday the federal government dropped a lawsuit against the company for breaking production and employment promises in 2007 in exchange for a new promise to invest $50 million in the Canadian plants and to keep them operating until the end of 2015.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to present a petition that was developed by SEIU Local 1 and circulated by SEIU retirees. They gathered hundreds of signatures in support of the urgent need for a national pharmacare program in our country.

The petitioners point out that our goal ought to be to have a national drug plan that would enable all Canadians to enjoy equitable access to medicines while at the same time controlling the rising cost of drugs.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to present another three petitions signed by hundreds more people in my riding of Hamilton Mountain who call upon the House of Commons to finally take action on asbestos. They note that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. In fact, they point out that more Canadians now die from asbestos than from all other industrial and occupational causes combined.