Province Must Lead on Poverty, Say BC Cities

The Union of British Columbia Municipalities is ending its partnership with the provincial government on a three-year-old poverty reduction project and instead wants the province to pursue a broader anti-poverty plan.

"The pilot project is completed," said Al Richmond, the president of the UBCM. "There's not really a role for us to play at this time... If they come back with initiatives to reduce poverty in British Columbia, UBCM will be more than happy to participate."

Not just aboriginal women should be scared of Quebec's police

Read this week's statement by the president of the Sûreté du Quebec police union if you're a lover of irony.

Pierre Veilleux was commenting on the uproar over allegations made by aboriginal women of police abuse in the northern Quebec city of Val d'Or.

"This crisis," he said, "brings to light a social issue in aboriginal communities living with great difficulties right across the country."

Amazon Prime Now Drivers Claim They Were Paid Below Minimum Wage

Well, that didn't take long.

It was just a few weeks ago that Amazon launched its Amazon Prime Now service in Los Angeles and several other metropolitan areas, promising customers one- and two-hour delivery for tens of thousands of products.

On Tuesday, four former Amazon Prime Now drivers in Southern California sued the online retail behemoth, claiming the labor model behind the service is a sham. The drivers had made deliveries for roughly a month before they filed their complaint, which alleges violations of minimum wage and overtime pay laws.

Russia risks a repeat of doomed Afghan war in Syria, says EU foreign policy chief

Russia risks being trapped in another quagmire like Afghanistan unless it helps orchestrate a political transition in Syria, the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has warned.

Referencing the Soviet-Afghan war, Mogherini spoke on Wednesday on the eve of a new multilateral push to end the four-year Syrian conflict.