Newsstand: July 10, 2015

News today: the CN Tower wasn't on fire, medical pot growers are fighting to unionize, and a controversial member of the Police Services Board was reappointed.

By Tannara Yelland • Illustration by Matthew Daley

No, the CN Tower was not on fire yesterday.

Employees of licensed medical marijuana grower MedReleaf, based in Markham, are fighting to unionize to counter precarious employment and sporadic hours. The group’s potential union, United Food and Commercial Workers, says the company and a third party, the temp agency that initially placed many of MedReleaf’s employees, have used unscrupulous tactics like telling employees they may be fired if a union vote passes and investors pull out. The unionization vote lost by a single vote, but employees and the union are taking a potentially historic step by asking the federal government to rule on whether these workers, as arguably employees of Health Canada, should be treated as federal employees subject to the federal government’s higher standards for labour. If this is successful, employees will be allowed to vote again on whether to join a union.

In a 28-11 vote yesterday, City Council approved the reappointment of Andy Pringle to the Police Services Board. Pringle is a long-time friend and once political advisor to Mayor John Tory, and critics say he’s in favour of continuing carding (which Tory also favours, albeit with some reforms). Pringle, for his part, says his stance on the tactic—which is disproportionately used on people of colour and involves officers collecting data on people not under any suspicion, often without their knowledge—has been “misunderstood,” though it’s not entirely clear what that means. Pringle is currently vice-chair of the board and is expected to take the top seat when current chair Alok Mukherjee steps down soon. Many councillors, including former board member Michael Thompson (Ward 37, Scarborough-West) and current member Shelley Carroll (Ward 33, Don Valley-East), are critical of Pringle’s interest in working through the current discord between police and the city’s communities of colour.