A10 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER6,
Commuters across Metro Vancouver face
another day of uncertainty as talks re-
main stalled in a continuing transit strike
and Premier John Horgan says the prov-
ince will not intervene.
About 5,000 transit drivers, SeaBus op-
erators and maintenance staff began lim-
ited job action last week, including a ban
on overtime by maintenance workers.
The ban had an almost immediate ef-
fect on SeaBus service connecting Van-
couver and the North Shore, resulting in
sailing cancellations that continued Tues-
day with three afternoon round trips
scrubbed.
Mr. Horgan told a Vancouver news con-
ference that “collective bargaining should
run its course,” andhis government has
“no plans to interfere” in the impasse be-
tween Unifor and Coast Mountain Bus
Company, which bargains on behalf of
TransLink.
Gavin McGarrigle, lead negotiator for
Unifor, has said the union is still consid-
ering its next steps, but could extend theovertime ban to bus drivers, something
he believes would immediately affect ser-
vice by 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
Wages, benefits and working condi-
tions are key issues, and Michael McDa-
niel, president of the Coast Mountain Bus
Company, says the company has offered
wage increases of 12.2 per cent to mainte-
nance workers and 9.6 per cent to drivers
over four years.
New Westminster Mayor Jonathan
Cote, the chair of the Mayor’s Council on
Metro Vancouver transit, called Monday
for a mediator to step into the dispute to
head off further disruptions.THE CANADIAN PRESSPeoplewaitforbusesinVancouveronFriday.Thousandsofdrivers,SeaBusoperatorsandmaintenancestaffbeganjobactionlastweek,
includingabanonovertimebymaintenanceworkers.JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
B.C.willnotinterveneinMetro
Vancouvertransitstrike:Horgan
Premiersaysbargaining
should‘runitscourse’between
UniforandCoastMountain
VANCOUVER
In a rare show of solidarity, all of Quebec’s
opposition parties gathered on Tuesday
with a group of foreign students to de-
nounce thegovernment’s latest immigra-
tion reforms, which they described as cruel
and inhumane.
Hundreds of foreign students in the
province recently learned they might be
forced to leave because of retroactive
changes to a popular fast-track immigra-
tion program, which used to be open to all
university graduates and others who com-
pleted technical degrees.
The Quebec experience program will
now be open only to a select list of gradu-
ates who are seeking work in industries the
government says are facing labour short-
ages, Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-
Barrette announced last week.
Monsef Derraji, a Liberal member of the
legislature, told reporters on Tuesday the
government’s latest immigration reforms
are breaking lives and killing dreams.
“We attracted them to Quebec – with a
big publicity campaign – from all over
Europe, Africa, Asia, South America ...
they speak our language, share our values,
survived our winters. ... It’s unacceptable,”
Mr. Derraji said.
Mr. Derraji stood alongside members of
the other opposition parties, as well as
about 20 foreign students, many of whom
had tears in their eyes during the news
conference.
Clement Sageste, a student from France
who is well established in Quebec, said: “I
felt an anger, a betrayal ... they give you
something, then take it away. It’s inhu-
mane.”
A woman from China broke down in
tears describing how she and her husband
had moved to Quebec three years ago,
learned French and bought a home, and
may now have to leave the province.
Mr. Jolin-Barrette told reporters later in
the day the Quebec experience program
must be open to people who can fill the
needs of the province’s economy. He re-
jected calls to modify the reforms by allow-
ing foreign students already in the prov-
ince to qualify under the old rules.
Quebec Premier François Legault, like
his Immigration Minister, shrugged off the
morning’s emotional news conference. He
said the fast-track residency programremains open to graduates the province
desperately needs, such as people with de-
grees in information technology, engineer-
ing, artificial intelligence and nursing sci-
ences.
Mr. Legault said he was sensitive to the
concerns of the students who were cut out
of the program, but added “no student was
given a study permit with the guarantee
they would eventually be given citizen-
ship.”THE CANADIAN PRESSQuebecoppositionparties,studentsprotest
asprovincereformsfast-trackimmigration
QUEBEC
ImmigrationMinisterSimonJolin-Barrette,seenattheQuebecLegislaturelastmonth,says
theprovince’sexperienceprogramwillonlybeopentoforeignstudentswhoseekworkin
industriesthatarefacinglabourshortages.JACQUES BOISSINOT/THE CANADIAN PRESSSaskatchewan will be restricting
the sale of vaping products such
as e-cigarettes to people who are
at least 18 years old.
Health Minister Jim Reiter has
introduced amendments to the
Tobacco Control Act to bring the
products in line with existing to-
bacco legislation.
He says the changes will also
prohibit the display of e-ciga-
rettes in retail businesses where
young adults have access, restrict
their use in and around public
buildings such as schools, and
prohibit sales at amusement
parks, arcades and theatres.
The amendments also restrict
advertising of vaping products in
the same manner as tobacco
products. The changes are to take
effect in the spring.
The government says it be-
lieves the amendments will help
lower the number of Saskatche-
wan young adults using vaping
products.
Anti-smoking groups say Sas-
katchewan’s decision means Al-
berta is the only province without
legislation to control the con-
sumption, sale and marketing of
vaping products.
The Canadian Cancer Society is
urging the Albertagovernment to
move swiftly on new legislation
to give Alberta children the
chance to grow up tobacco and
nicotine-free.
“The rates of youth vaping
have skyrocketed in the past few
years and we are still waiting for
effective legislation that will pre-
vent tobacco and vaping compa-
nies from targeting youth,” Ange-
line Webb, a society spokeswo-
man, said in a release. “Protection
delayed is protection denied.”
Health authorities across Can-
ada have begun to closely moni-
tor reports of respiratory illnesses
potentially linked to vaping.
Health Canada has said vaping
has risks and the long-term ef-
fects remain unknown.THE CANADIAN PRESSSaskatchewan
torestrict
salesofvape
productsto
youngadults
REGINAFamily caregivers in Ontario now
have a helpline if they’re needing
respite, a support group or infor-
mation on issues including tax
credits.
The Ontario Caregiver Organi-
zation’s chief executive officer,
Amy Coupal, says caregivers are
experiencing frustration and
even depression as a result of
their responsibilities, and have re-
sponded to a survey saying it’s
challenging to find support. She
says a third of caregivers are not
coping well emotionally, and that
number increases to more than
half for those caring for someone
with a mental-health issue.
The helpline connects caregiv-
ers to a community resource rep-
resentative 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, and a live chat site is
also available between 7 a.m. and
9 p.m., during weekdays.
An online survey by the
Change Foundation and the care-
giver organization included 800
caregivers, and was conducted
provincewide in the spring, show-
ing 56 per cent of respondents
find the process difficult – com-
pared with 39 per cent last year –
and more of them are now under
financial strain. The groups say
emotional support for both pa-
tients and caregivers is one area
where more help is needed, and
that hasn’t changed from the first
annual survey in 2018.
Change Foundation CEO Cathy
Fooks says this year’s survey pro-
vides important information on
the impact of caregiving. A mar-
gin of error is not applicable to the
survey owing to its online metho-
dology.
“The more insight we have into
the caregiver experience, the bet-
ter we’re able to improve that ex-
perience because it’s clear that
without the tireless efforts of care-
givers our health-care system
would crumble,” she says in a
news release.THE CANADIAN PRESSHelpline
launches
forcaregivers
inOntario
TORONTOPolls began closing in Kentucky and
Virginia on Tuesday night in an off-year
election day that offers a test of voter
enthusiasm and party organization, amid
impeachment proceedings against U.S.
President Donald Trump and a fevered
Democratic presidential primary scram-
ble.
Results in Kentucky, Mississippi, New
Jersey and Virginia won’t necessarily
predict whether Mr. Trump will be re-
elected or which party will control Con-
gress after the general election next fall.
But partisans of all stripes invariably will
scrutinize the results of these odd-year
elections for clues about how voters are
reacting to the impeachment saga and
whether the Republican President is
losing ground among suburban voters
who rewarded Democrats in the 2018
midterms and will prove critical again
next November.
Mr. Trump is eager to nationalize
whatever happens, campaigning Monday
evening in Kentucky for embattled Re-
publican Governor Matt Bevin, a first-
term Trump ally, as he tries to withstand
a challenge from Democrat Andy Be-
shear, the attorney-general whose father
was the state’slast Democraticgovernor.
The President campaigned Friday in
Mississippi, trying to boost Republican
Tate Reeves in a tight opengovernor’s
race against Democrat Jim Hood. Mr.Reeves is the lieutenant-governor; Mr.
Hood is the attorney-general.
Legislative seats are on the ballots in
New Jersey and in Virginia, with the latter
presidential battleground state offering
perhaps the best 2020 bellwether. Demo-
crats had a big 2017 in the state, sweeping
statewide offices by wide margins and
gaining seats in the legislature largely on
the strength of a strong suburban vote
that previewed how Democrats would go
on to flip the U.S. House a year later. This
time, Virginia Democrats are looking to
add to their momentum by flipping
enough Republican seats to gain trifecta
control of the statehouse.
ASSOCIATED PRESSPOLLS START CLOSING IN VIRGINIA,KENTUCKY AS OFF-YEAR ELECTION OFFERS 2020 CLUES
| NEWS