CURRENT EVENTS OCTOBER 4

1. CURRENT EVENTS OCTOBER 4 FEDERAL INMATES GO ON STRIKE TO PROTEST PAY CUTS • Inmates in several federal prisons across Canada have gone on strike to protest against a 30 per cent cut in their pay that took effect this week. • The government began deducting the money from prisoners’ paycheques as part of a move to recover costs under the federal government’s Deficit Reduction Action Plan. The move was first announced in May 2012 by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. • Until now, the top pay an inmate could earn was $6.90 a day, but only a small percentage of inmates received that. The average is $3 a day. • http://www.cbc.ca/news/federal-inmates-go-on-strike-to-protest-pay-cuts-1.1875491 CURRENT EVENTS TERM ONE OCT 4 #5

2. CURRENT EVENTS OCTOBER 4 • Despite inflation, inmates have not had a pay raise in 32 years, even though the Correctional Service of Canada's own figures show costs have risen more than 700 per cent. • As well, inmates are now expected to use their pay to purchase items that the prison no longer provides, such as soap, shampoo, deodorant, stationery and stamps. • According to correctional service figures, the move will save about $4 million a year out of the total budget of more than $2.6 billion. CURRENT EVENTS TERM ONE OCT 4 #5

3. CURRENT EVENTS OCTOBER 4 RICH CANADIANS MORE SECURE THAN BEFORE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN • A new BMO survey of high-net-worth Canadians finds a majority feel more financially secure now than before the 2008 financial downturn, a sign that the economic turmoil of the past five years seems to have bypassed the wealthy. • While 45 per cent of Canadians have no emergency savings and 36 per cent of older Canadians say they’ll postpone retirement to pay for a child’s education, the survey for BMO Harris Private Banking found 77 per cent of respondents with investable assets of over $1 million say they are the same or better off than before the 2008 financial crisis CURRENT EVENTS TERM ONE OCT 4 #5

4. CURRENT EVENTS OCTOBER 4 • About 29 per cent of those interviewed were not born in Canada, a reflection of the opportunities discovered by many people who are new to Canada • Despite coming from many different backgrounds, the majority of those surveyed invested the bulk of their money in Canada. They also had investments in the U.S. (69 per cent), Europe (35 per cent) and increasingly Asia (28 per cent). About the only thing that high-net=worth individuals were unhappy about was taxation, with 48 per cent saying they were treated unfairly and 66 per cent saying they would like to see lower capital gains taxes. http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2410193186/ CURRENT EVENTS TERM ONE OCT 4 #5

5. CURRENT EVENTS OCTOBER 4 CHRISTY CLARK WARNS CANADA UNPREPARED FOR TANKER OIL SPILLS • If a tanker were to spill oil off the coast of British Columbia today, the federal government would not have the resources to handle a large-scale disaster, warns B.C. Premier Christy Clark. • Her comments come amid a recent video ad campaign by Coastal First Nations in B.C. directed at Prime Minister Stephen Harper. • The video shows devastating images from the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989. The song The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel accompanies the dramatic pictures. • http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2410104419/ CURRENT EVENTS TERM ONE OCT 4 #5

6. CURRENT EVENTS OCTOBER 4 • The video tells viewers a similar oil spill could cost taxpayers $21.4 billion to clean up and notes that 80 per cent of British Columbians oppose oil tanker traffic in the province's coastal waters. • The Joint Review Panel into Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline is expected to give Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver a decision by Dec. 31, 2013. Enbridge official said the company expects the federal government to approve the pipeline, which would move oil from northern Calgary to a tanker terminal in Kitimat, on the north coast of B.C., by 2018 CURRENT EVENTS TERM ONE OCT 4 #5