Bill 32, which amends both the Labour Relations Code and the Employment Standards Code, will dramatically reduce the bargaining power and legal protections previously enjoyed by working Albertans.

These changes will set off a race to the bottom in terms of wages and workplace rights — at a time when working Albertans are already struggling and can least afford it.

Bill 32 will have serious impacts on unionized and non-unionized workers, and it will restrict the voices of workers in our democracy. Jason Foster, Associate Professor, Human Resources and Labour Relations at Athabasca University, explains the implications for unionized workers in the first of a two-part blog series. 

This might sound like a somewhat niche issue, but transgender people experience homelessness at an alarming rate. During the federal Point-in-Time count for 2018, both transgender and nonbinary individuals were present among homeless populations in every state and in nearly two-thirds of regional Continuums of Care programs. Between the 2018 and 2019 counts, the number of homeless transgender people increased by 30%, most of them living on the streets. Gender-minority children account for 3% of the unaccompanied youth population, a hugely disproportionate share. To bar transgender and nonbinary people from shelters that match their gender would be to condemn them to suffering, Minter says.