Media releases

• Brock experts available to speak about workplace health and safety ahead of National Day of Mourning

  Tuesday, April 24, 2018 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: 24 April 2018 – R00086

  National Day of Mourning is observed on April 28 in tribute to those who have been killed, injured or suffered illness as a result of work-related incidents.

  On Saturday, April 28, flags will fly at half-mast across the country in remembrance of the many tragedies stemming from workplace accidents. Brock University has two experts available to speak about the issue.

  Deborah McPhee, Associate Professor of Human Resources Management and Occupational Health and Safety at Brock’s Goodman School of Business, is an expert on workplace health and safety issues. Simon Black, Assistant Professor in the Department of Labour Studies, is an expert in labour relations.

  In an article published Tuesday on The Conversation Canada, McPhee explains that while Canada has some of the most stringent workplace laws, there is more work to be done to address workplace safety and minimize the number of workplace incidents affecting Canadians.

  “Workers and their families suffer the consequences when workplace safety is not taken seriously by everyone in the workplace,” said McPhee.

  McPhee is available to speak about:

  • Why workplace accidents, injuries and illnesses continue to happen despite bolstered policies and legislation in place.
  • Why it is important for employees to know their rights.
  • What employers can do to prevent workplace accidents.

  Black’s research focuses on labour relations, and he says this year unions in Canada are calling on the federal government to do more to address workplace violence and harassment. He pointed to the recently introduced Bill C-65, which would treat harassment and violence in the workplace the same way other occupational health and safety hazards are treated.

  “Bill C-65 will have certain implications for how governments regulate health and safety,” Black said. “It’s really through the struggles of women both within the labour movement and movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp that attention is being to the issue of harassment and violence as workplace health and safety issues.”

  Black is available to speak about:

  • Federal Bill C-65, which will recognize sexual harassment as a workplace hazard.
  • The need for new measures to make it safe for workers to report harassment and violence.
  • The need to recognize domestic violence as a workplace hazard.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Expert Advisory: Prof available to discuss SCOC interprovincial beer ruling

  Tuesday, April 24, 2018 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 23 April 2018 – R00085

  Brock University Professor Dan Malleck is a leading researcher on the history of government control over liquor sales in Canada. (He is the author of Try to Control Yourself: The regulation of public drinking in post-prohibition Ontario, 1927-1944.)

  He is available to comment to the media on the context of last week’s Supreme Court of Canada decision to uphold a fine against a man who bought beer in Quebec then took it back to his New Brunswick home.

  In deciding there is no constitutional guarantee of interprovincial free trade, Malleck says the SCOC ruling is consistent with most legal decisions regarding the authority of provinces over alcohol sales, and adds, “this same sentiment is likely at the heart of the decision by the federal government to give the provinces the right to manage the sale of cannabis as they see fit.”

  “In many ways, the issue of liquor sales and licensing was a fundamental factor in shaping the federal state. The contentious issue in this trial was whether it was proper for a Lower court to rule that the 1867 Constitution requirement that goods move freely across provincial borders meant any restriction on movement of goods was unconstitutional. That decision was based upon one historian’s interpretation of the act.

  “However … any constitutional historian who looks at the rulings in the first half century after Confederation could tell you, the intention of the framers of the Constitution was not maintained by the courts. Over several decades the ideal of a strong central government was replaced with an emphasis upon a federal system where provinces had increased authority to make laws in the interest of their populations.”

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases