Newsstand: March 6, 2015

Striking workers at York University agree to sit back down with administration, gas shortages affect drivers in Ontario, and a judge delivers a compassionate ruling: your Friday morning news.

By Tannara Yelland • Illustration by Matthew Daley

Four days after voting to walk off the job, York teaching assistants will sit down again for negotiations with university officials. TAs at the University of Toronto are also on strike at the moment, after they rejected an agreement that many feel was forced on their union’s bargaining team. The York union, CUPE Local 3903, says the main issues are wages, benefits, and hiring practices.

Gasoline and diesel shortages affected gas stations across southern Ontario this week, which oil companies have blamed on the extreme weather. But Natural Resources Canada and others are suggesting the shortages have more to do with aging, at-capacity infrastructure. “Petroleum companies are suggesting this is logistics,” GasBuddy.ca’s Dan McTeague told the CBC. “I sense there’s product issue somewhere as the weather is not likely to have contributed to this shortfall, which covers the entire Golden Horseshoe.” While weather is one part of it, unscheduled repairs and labour strikes are also potential issues.

The legal world isn’t especially famous for encouraging empathy, but that’s just what a judge showed toward 29-year-old offender Jesse Armitage. Armitage was in court on charges of stealing while on probation, and Justice Shaun Nakatsuru took pains to write his ruling in language easily understood by anyone, including Armitage. “As lawyers first and then judges, we get used to using words that are long and complicated. This only muddies the message we are trying to say. In this case, I am writing for Jesse Armitage.”