NICOLE GNAZDOWSKY DARED to confront her MLA in public recently. It got her a call from the cops.

ALL THE NICE WORDS DIDN’T MATTER. A coalition of Black activist organizations has rejected a proposal to create a National Institute for People of African Descent. They say they had no choice because what the federal government offered is far different from what the acivists had in mind.

SCOTT BIDDLE IS ACCUSED of putting workers on his farms in harms way. It’s not a first for Biddle. But it is for Ontario: it is the first time any Ontario employer has faced prosecution for failure to provide workers adequate protections from COVID-19.

GIVING THE RICH A PASS is old hat for Revenue Canada. They did it in 2016 with the leak of the “Panama Papers.” There is no reason to believe they won’t do it again with the recent leak of  the“Pandora Papers”—another astonishing look at how the rich and powerful use offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes.

SAM FITZPATRICK DIDN’T HAVE TO DIE. His parents were sure of it. They were sure his employer had a duty to protect Sam—and failed. They worked long years to win a chance to prove it in court. That chance is gone.

ALBERTA HAS A DOUBLE PROBLEM. First, COVID-19 is close to out of control. Second, premier Jason Kenney refuses to face up to that reality. Dr. Neeja Bakshi calls it “the big disconnect”—the difference between what life is like on the frontlines for healthcare providers and what life is like out in the world beyond the ICUs.

HE HAD THE LAW ON HIS SIDE but it didn’t help. The FDM Group still says a temp worker in Mississauga, Ontario owes them $30,000 because he quit a job they had placed him in. The OLRB (Ontario Labour Relations Board) has ruled he doesn’t. But the board refuses to do anything to enforce their own ruling directing FDM to stop billing him and others.

THE PANDEMIC WAS NO MATCH FOR OUR CEOS. They managed to keep paying themselves fat bonuses to increase their annual income by an average of $171,000 (17 per cent) compared to 2019—even when their businesses and workers took heavy hits.

IT’S LIKELY ILLEGAL BUT SO WHAT?. Halifax landlords are busy compiling and sharing secret lists of “bad tenants.” The landlords call it good business practice. Many others call it unfair in a city where affordable housing is next to impossible to find—never mind the fact that the practice is a gross—and probably illegal—violation of privacy rights.

CHRISTINA GOWER CALLS IT “MORAL DESPAIR”: the feeling she gets from the deluge of insult and vitriol she has to endure from anti-vaxxers, just because she wants to help sick people get well.