Is Teachers College Worth It? Nope, Here's the Proof.

Being a bit of a wonk I've been looking at the data coming out of the Ontario University Application Centre. The 2013 admissions data for Ontario teachers colleges is out and it points to a continuation of a long-term decline in the number of applicants. Some might take this as a bell-weather for future turmoil for other professional training programs.

The 2013 data confirms a long-term trend of less people applying to teachers college in the wake of the financial crisis. This decline isn't terribly shocking in and of itself; however, some of the declines hit specific institutions fairly hard. While most institutions faced double-digit declines in the number of applications in the range of 12% to 18%, a couple institutions posted declines above 20% (Windsor at -25.1% and Lakehead at -22.0%).

When one looks at the specific program data a couple trends appear. French language programs are holding up better than English language programs; however, the French language programs still face declines in the range of -10.0%. The next trend is that programs focused on technological studies face declines of approximately -38.0%; although, this may be linked to the closure of a specific program (I'm unclear on why this decline is so high).

The employment prospects for teachers college graduates continue to be is dire. There's simply a vast over-supply of graduates and arguably there's an extremely troubling insider-outsider dichotomy engaged in relation to the teaching profession in Ontario. The majority of recent graduates are unemployed or underemployed. Graduates that are able to find work often have to move to remote locales in other parts of the country.

There's further room to reduce the number of teachers college students in Ontario. In 2012 there were approximately 6,940 students in Ontario's teachers colleges. There's plenty of room of cut that number by half without much of a real world impact (aside from unemployed professors and administrative staff). Ideally some of the under-performing education faculties could be eliminated entirely via attrition while high-performing ones could be strengthened.

The failure of the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities to address the over-supply of graduates from teachers colleges is a massive oversight failure and the current draw-down of students continues to be a policy blunder. Over a decade ago the MTCU predicted a shortage of teachers and then didn't act once the original forecast was shown to be erroneous. Thousands of students have wasted valuable time and were forced into debt when they had little chance of obtaining a teaching position.

The media haven't latched onto this story yet and it'll be interesting to see how universities attempt to gloss over the collapse of the demand for teachers college in Ontario. Take a look at the following articles for some additional context, see: here, here, here, and here. I've written a number of pieces about the problems facing recent teachers college graduates, see: here, here, here, and here. Take a look at the video below for an overview of the problem, see:

Generation Jobless Airing This Thursday

Just a quick note today. Later this week CBC's DocZone is airing a documentary called Generation Jobless. The documentary covers a lot of ground in addressing youth un(der)employment, the lack of a national labour market strategy, the failure of post-secondary institutions in preparing students for the labour market, and lack concrete action by government to address the youth employment crisis.

Last year I was interviewed by the producers about my research on unpaid internships in Canada and some the footage appears in the documentary; furthermore, Ross Perlin, a fellow intern rights activist, also gets featured. It's great to see that that more and more attention is being paid to the exploitation of young workers via unpaid labour. It remains a massive issue in Canada's labour markets that policy makers are only beginning to come to grips with.

It's airing on Thursday January 31 at 9:00 pm on the main CBC channel, so set your PVRs to record it and watch me in action. There's also a live-chat happening at the same time featuring TalentEgg's Lauren Friese who will be discussing what techniques youths can use to find jobs. Here's a preview of the documentary:

International Labour Organization's Global Employment Trends 2013

The International Labour Organization has released in 2013 Global Employment Trends report. The report makes for grim reading as the ILO predicts an uptick in the global unemployment rate in the face of continuing economic uncertainty in Europe. If you're a labour market wonk then I would highly suggest giving the report a scan as the ILO's research is unparalleled and paints a global picture of the challenges that the global economy faces going forward. Below is an short video interview with Moazam Mahmood, Director of the ILO's Economic and Labour Market Analysis Department, covering off key findings from the report.

Failing Law Schools? You be the judge.

"There is a zealous faith in American culture that higher education always pays for itself, but it's like the subprime mortgage scandal without securitization. When people realize it's a worthless degree, the system is going to collapse." - Paul Campos

The Cato Institute held an event earlier this month entitled "Failing Law Schools". Two of the most prominent critics of the current model of legal education in the U.S. spoke at it. Law professors Brian Tamanaha and Paul Campos have recently written books about the deep structural problems facing law schools. A video of the event has been posted online and I highly recommend watching it. It provides a surprisingly balanced critique (from both a right and left-wing perspective) on fudged employment statistics, extreme levels of tuition, poor job prospects, and the failing law school business model. I'm a fairly detached (and a tad cynical) observer of the evolving crisis, but some of the predatory practices discussed really floored me. I've been writing about these problems in a Canadian context for awhile now, see: here, here, here, and here. From the American perspective, check out these resources: here, here, and here. See the video of the event below:

Are interns, trainees, co-op students, & volunteers covered under human rights laws?

Interns, trainees, co-op students, and volunteers in unpaid training programs or volunteer relationships without fail are covered by human rights laws in Canada and considered to be employment under human rights laws. 

This is a bit of a wonkish post, but it covers off an extremely important topic so it needed to be written. The post covers off a number of issues: what do human rights statutes cover; some of the legal and policy considerations behind the current approach; the present state of the law in Canada; and, where to go for assistance if you feel your human rights have been breached.

Part of difficulty in tracking the legality of unpaid internships and volunteer schemes is that various statutes lay out differing tests to ascertain employee status. Simply put, when you're dealing with precariously employed young workers it isn't sufficient to rely on the tests laid out in workplace law that traditionally have been used to check if some one is an employee, rather one has to engage in a contextual analysis that considers all aspects of the employment relationship, what the statute says, and how the statute is interpreted and applied through the case law. This is due to the fact that statutes have shifting goals and purposes.

As far back as 2011 I've taken the position that emerging forms of precarious employment being deployed in Canada's labour markets are clearly covered by human rights statutes. This protection is critical and arguably just as important than coverage under statutes related to employment standards, workers' compensation, or occupational health or safety.

Before we get into the analysis it should be noted that each province and territory has its own human rights statute. That being said, there isn't much case law on emerging forms of precarious employment and it's very much an evolving area of workplace law. Finally, this isn't an exhaustive summary of the current state of the law, rather it's intended as a succinct overview highlighting an emerging area of workplace law.

What do Human Rights Statutes Cover in Canada?

Human rights statutes are laws aimed at ensuring a minimal level of protection in the area of civil rights. These laws impact on wide range of activities in modern Canadian society such as employment contracts, commercial services, rental of residential properties, and the delivery of services to the general public. 

These statutes typically state that people are entitled to equal treatment free from discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, record of offences, marital, family status, or disability; additionally, it should be noted that some provinces include additional grounds such as political affiliation.

For situations involving unpaid labour key problems that young workers could be facing include sexual harassment, discrimination on the basis of age, asking prohibited questions in interview situations, and general harassment due to the social location of the worker in the workplace.

What are the Legal and Policy Considerations Behind the Canadian Approach?

Before tackling the application of human rights statutes there are a number of key narratives that need to be covered off to address the full scope of coverage in relation to interns, trainees, co-op students, and volunteers. 

It's clear that human rights statutes are intended to be broadly applied and that the term "employment" has a far broader meaning in a human rights context than it is normally ascribed under workplace law. These statutes cover the full-spectrum of employment relationships such as short-term contracts, independent contractors, casual employees, sub-contractors, and part-time employment. It's necessary to utilize a purposive and functional analysis in determining whether an employment relationship exists. 

For support of this approach in case law take a look at the following cases: Szabo v. Poley, 2007 HRTO 37 (CanLII); Rocha v. Pardons and Waivers of Canada, 2012 HRTO 2234 (CanLII); Nowegijick v. The Queen, [1983] 1 S.C.R. 29; Reid v. Vancouver Police Board, 2005 B.C.C.A. 418; Barrie (City) v. Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 2380, [1991] O.P.E.D. No. 41 (Ont. P.E. Trib.); Roberts v. Club Expose, (1994) 21 C.H.R.R. D/60 (Ont. Bd. Inq); Ahluwalia v. Metropolitan Toronto (Municipality) Commissioners of Police, (1983) 4 C.H.R.R.  D/1757; Payne v. Otsuka Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., (2001) 41 C.H.R.R. D/52 (Ont. Bd. Inq.); Canadian Pacific Ltd. v. Canada (Human Rights Commission), [1991] 1 F.C. 571 (C.A.); Pettie v. Canada Safeway Limited and Gavin (No. 2), 2004 BCHRT 440; Middlemiss v. Norske Canada Ltd., 2002 BCHRT 5; and, Pannu, Kang and Gill v. Prestige Cab Ltd., (1986) 73 A.R. 166 (C.A.).

Closely related to the above-noted proposition are a couple of inter-related concepts. The first is that human rights statute and policies arising from them are deserving of broad, policy-based, and liberal interpretations. For case law backing up this concept see: Canadian National Railway Co. v. Canada (Canadian Human Rights Commission), [1987] 1 S.C.R. 1114; B. v. Ontario (Human Rights Commission), [2002] 3 S.C.R. 403; and, Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse) v. Boisbriand (City), [2000] 1 S.C.R. 665.

Second, there's the concept that when a legislature intends on limiting the scope of the statute, it will usually do so in a clear and cogent manner; furthermore, it is beyond the power of human rights tribunals to create statutory limitations. For case law in this area take a peek at the following decisions: Pharmascience Inc. v. Binet, [2006] 2 S.C.R. 513; Glykis v. Hydro-Quebec, [2004] 3 S.C.R. 285; Merk v. International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers, Local 771, [2005] 3 S.C.R. 425; Canada (House of Commons) v. Vaid, [2005] 1 S.C.R. 667; and, University of British Columbia v. Berg, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 353.

Are Interns, Trainees, Co-op Students, & Volunteers Covered Under Human Rights Laws?

In Canada interns, trainees, co-op students, and volunteers enjoy protection under human rights statutes. This is due to the application of concepts examined above and the evolving nature of workplace law in Canada. Over the past twenty-five years there have been any number of decisions that have enshrined protection for wide number of citizens who engage in forms of employment that fall outside traditional forms of employment.

The leading decision on scope of employment related to volunteers in Canada is the Nixon v. Vancouver Rape Relief Society, 2002 BCHRT 1, which held that volunteer relationships can be "employment" for the purposes of human rights statutes and for the obligations arising out of the law. The reasoning of the decision was later confirmed by the British Columbia Court of Appeal in Vancouver Rape Relief Society v. Nixon, 2005 BCCA 601 (also see the Superior Court decision).

In the recently released decision in Rocha v. Pardons and Waivers of Canada, 2012 HRTO 2234 (CanLII), the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario held that even when a person agrees to work in an unpaid capacity without remuneration for a period of time it does not remove them from the protections guaranteed under the provisions relating to employment under Ontario's Human Rights Code.

For additional human rights case law, see: Brown v. Robinson, (1989) 10 C.H.R.R. D/6286 (B.C.C.H.R.); and, Thambirajah v. Girl Guides of Canada, (1995) 26 C.H.R.R. D/1. Additionally, there is support under Canadian tort law for holding volunteers to be employees in analyzing whether a duty of care existed, see: Huba v. Schulze and Shaw, (1962) 32 D.L.R. (2d) 171 (Man. C.A.); and, Poppe v. Tuttle (c.o.b. 800 Ranch), (1980) 14 C.C.L.T. 115.

What Should I do if my Human Right Have Been Violated?

If you feel you're experiencing a breach of your human rights it is best to contact a lawyer or the human rights agencies in your specific province to get specific advice on how to enforce your rights (feel free to show them this article). Take a look at some of my previous articles on unpaid labour in Canada, see: here, here, here, and here. Take a peek at this great episode of Al Jazeera's The Stream discussing the implications arising from unpaid internships, see: 

Are workplace rules around tattoos changing in Canada?

I'm going to get back into the habit of addressing day-to-day workplace issues that young workers face in the course of their jobs. Today's post is right up that alley as it's all about the permissibility of tattoos and piercings. This is a thorny issue that has been stirring for decades as tattoos are perceived to be "sinful", wrongly of course, by certain quarters of the Canadian population. The perception of people with tattoos is changing as the younger (and more tatted) generation enters the labour market. Mainly the issue centres around inter-generational tensions, stereotypes, and ingrained prejudices.

Recently an arbitrator ruled that an Ontario employer was not allowed to force employees to cover-up large tattoos or remove body piercing. The decision was made in the context of an unionized workplace and relied upon the KVP principles which holds that workplace rules imposed by employers must be "reasonable". I'm not going to delve much into the legal background, but here's the actual decision and Doorey's Workplace Law Blog breaks down the legalities.

In the decision, the arbitrator ruled that the rules governing large tattoos and piercings had no legitimate business reason associated to them and goes on to essentially toss the rule out. It's important to note that the precedent that this decision sets would only apply to unionized employees. Sadly the vast majority of young workers in Canada work in non-unionized workplaces are out of luck when it comes to contesting rules on piercings and tattoos as they have no one advocating on their behalf; however, if it could be proved that the tattoos or piercings relate to an enumerated ground under Ontario's Human Rights Code then a worker might have an opportunity to contest a rule.

If you've have been the target of harassment or discipline at work due to your tattoos let me know via email or leave a comment below. I've culled a few articles on the issue, see: here, here, and here.

The Future is Unwritten: Precarity, Cultural Apartheid, and Unpaid Internships

Note: Last Friday I was a part of a panel discussing internships at the Canadian University Press's annual conference. The following are my comments and it focuses on the growth of unpaid labour and the emergence of cultural apartheid in key professions in Canada's labour market. I've inserted some hyper-links to key material that I relied upon in crafting my remarks.

First off, thank you to the organizers of NASH for inviting me to speak. It's great to be speaking with all of you this morning and I hope you're all enjoying your trip to the centre of the universe. 

The topic today is whether internships are invaluable or exploitative? I come at this issue from a legal perspective as my graduate research has focused on issues relating to the unpaid labour that young workers engage in during the school-to-labour market transition. My comments today are aimed at the deeper cultural, political, and economic implications arising from the rise of unpaid labour in Canada's labour markets.

I'm going to cover three areas. I'll frame the overall issue with a particular focus on some of the underlying inequalities that are implicated. I will argue that internships are a form of cultural apartheid. Finally we'll end by talking about why this issue matters to you as journalists. 

Framing the Problem of Unpaid Internships

Let us take a look at the dimensions of this issue. 

I want to begin by casting cast internships as an issue that implicates inter-generational equity. This concept relates to how societal resources are distributed over the spectrum of age; the intergenerational differences in access to economic resources and social mobility; and, how any differences are accounted for within law, public policy, and institutional structures. 

One of the profound problems with unpaid internships is that this type of employment specifically targets youths. Our parent's generation didn't have to engage in nearly the same level of unpaid labour; it's the new normal after thirty years of successive governments actively ignoring and not responding to the changes within Canada's labour markets.

The growth in unpaid labour is linked to the feminization of Canada's labour markets. This is concept that holds that jobs are increasingly resembling the conditions that women have historically faced in the workplace. This is a process of gendering-down which sees lower wages being paid, few or no benefits, low levels of regulatory protection, and little or no control over the conditions of work. The foregoing being a deviation of the post-war standard employment relationship. 

Journalism is an industry that features a growing level of feminization. This is evidenced by: a high-level of labour market insecurity, a reliance on freelance or contract workers, and stagnating wages that often can't adequately sustain the necessities of life.

We all exist in a "gloves-off economy". One that has been buffeted by thirty years of austerity, cuts, structural adjustments, and profound changes. Consider McGuinty's illegal imposition of contracts on teachers or Harper's assault on families and workers by slashing at heart of EI and CPP. Governments are increasingly attacking workplace standards, promoting policies that download risk onto individual employees, and tactics aimed at eroding of the living standards that our parents and grand-parents enjoy. 

Young people have been sold a bill of goods, this is a false prospectus of massive proportions. Students have been told by government, their parents, and schools that if they obtain post-secondary educations they'll get a good job and earn more. Currently we have youths beset by the triple whammy of high tuition, un(der)employment, and debt. A shrinking minority are still able to land decent work, but the majority are forced to make due with what Douglas Coupland (originally coined by sociologist Amitai Etzioni) termed a McJob - "a low-pay, low-prestige, low-dignity, low benefit, no-future job in the service sector." 

Every year in Canada young workers engage in somewheres between 100,000 to 300,000 illegal, unpaid internships. These positions are used as pools of cheap labour which employers directly benefit from. The growth of unpaid labour in the youth labour market has a destabilizing effect on Canada's labour markets. 

Consider the impact: wages are driven down, paid employees are replaced with unpaid ones, youths are forced to incur higher levels of debt, entry level jobs become scarce, underemployment becomes commonplace, and the youth unemployment rate increases. The rise of unpaid internships in Canada corresponds to the growth of precarious work among youths such as temp, unpaid, freelance, contract, and part-time positions which deviates from the post-World War II standard employment relationship characterized by full-time positions, living wages which could support a family, and job-security. 

Beyond the labour market impacts there are larger socio-economic trends engaged. Young people today are engaging in post-secondary education in much higher numbers than previous generations. Tuition fees are at high levels with little chance of abating in most provinces. There is a troubling increase in mental health issues amongst youths. More that half of millennials now live with their parents. Relationships, marriages, household formation, and the birth-rate have been declining over the past two decades. Youths also face stagnating wages and difficulty in finding good jobs with benefits.

This all points to the fact that youths are facing declining living standards and deteriorating economic conditions as compared to previous generations. 

Is Cultural Apartheid Emerging as an Effect of the Growth of Unpaid Labour?

Journalism has become an "elite pursuit", a "glamour industry" if you will for the privileged elite of the post-industrial age. In the wake of the Internet the industry has been in a permanent state of upheaval and disruption. To enter the field inevitably requires aspiring journalists to engage in unpaid labour, be it at student publications, as part of their degree requirements, or as a precursor to paid employment. 

What has occurred is that journalism as a profession has generally been cut-off as a possible career to youths from lower socio-economic classes which also has linkages to social locations such as racialization, immigration status, or disability. To become a journalist now literally requires start-up capital or incurring debt for school, stints doing unpaid work, and to bolster low starting wages. Now, all of this is deeply troubling, so let us explore some of the deeper implications that I see on the rapidly approaching horizon.

Look around this room, consider who is attending this conference. Or look in the conference guide to see who's reflected in the presenters at this conference. I'll let you draw your own conclusions, but I'd suggest what's on display is undeniable privilege. My aim here is not to criticize, but to point out how power structures within our culture are being replicated and sustained.

Over the past eighteen months Canada has seen the emergence of a number of social movements: Occupy, the Maple Spring, and now Idle No More. All of which are contesting the prevailing social and economic conditions in Canada. Like clockwork each of these movements faced sustained vitriolic attacks from the mainstream media. For the most part the demands were marginalized, the leaders mocked, and the underlying grievances and possible remedies largely unexamined. I would suggest that none of the foregoing are particularly positive developments for either the media or our democracy.

Consider the cartoonish capitalist horror-show duo of Lang and O'Leary preaching the gospel of unrelenting greed, Ezra Levant's venomous diatribes against Aboriginals, Muslims, Roma refugees, and the poor; or the idiotic, provincial ramblings of Wente, Blatchford, and Levy aka the Holy Trinity of Hate.

This is what passes as "journalism" these days in Canada, a form of tawdry infotainment devoid of perspective and heavy on mocking anyone not falling outside a narrow, uncritical corporate mould. I could move on to other examples, but I'm certain you get my point that currently there's little evidence that a marketplace of ideas is on offer within the mainstream media in Canada, which are the exact places that many of you, I would imagine, want to end up working.

Underpinning all of this is an unstated subtext at work that demands interns: look like us, talk like us, and be from money. If you look at the national, regional, and local media outlets in Canada our country's diversity isn't well reflected; there's a profound lack of racialized perspectives, little differing socio-economic angles, few viewpoints from Aboriginals peoples, and a deep gendered bias that ignores the insights of women. 

Many key media outlets now regularly use unpaid labour as part of their business model, locally organizations like The Walrus, CTV, BlogTO, Rabble.ca, This Magazine, Spacing, and The Grid all use unpaid internships. The growth of unpaid labour contributes to exclusionary conditions where historically marginalized groups are denied the opportunity to fully participate in key institutions in Canadian society and face structural glass ceilings that aren't easily broken. The alienating and socially exclusionary nature of internships can be easily characterized as an emerging form of cultural apartheid that strikes at the heart of democracy, equality, and diversity. 

My worry is that one of the long-term implications we're starting to see from the deployment of unpaid labour in Canada's labour markets is the enclosure of certain key professions, be it the law or journalism, via economic and social barriers which will prevent members of historically marginalized groups from obtaining paid employment and establishing themselves in these professions.

So Why Does All of This Matter?

So why should the growth of unpaid labour matter to young journalists? Well, there's the personal angle in the fact that many of you will need to engaged in prolonged periods of unpaid labour to establish yourselves as journalists in Canada's labour markets, but there's a deeper lesson in this issue with troubling dimensions afoot. It's about untold stories, about narratives that are ignored, and the hidden issues that are being faced by growing segments of our society.

We face immense challenges as a country in the decades ahead. Consider that we face a rapidly aging population, crumbling infrastructure, a broken political system, and an economy that will be only growing slowly going forward. Amid this environment many people will be experiencing profound precarity in their lives, insecurity in the labour market, and uncertainty as they navigate new socio-economic realities in Canadian society. As a society we need stories about these sorts of issues told, desperately, as increasingly we're living in country that delineates the haves from the have-nots.

That's where all of you come in. There's a dire need to explain, contextualize, and account for what's occurring in the labour market and wider society. Currently there's a dearth of coverage about what's happening to regular Canadians in their day-to-day working lives. The struggles, the triumphs, and how the daily grind impacts upon our families, the communities we live in, and larger society. 

Somewheres along the way we stopped telling stories about labour and work, this needs to change going forward. Hopefully some of you will begin to tell our stories about the dignity or indignities that jobs bring. As Joe Strummer, the lead singer of the Clash, once remarked "the future is unwritten", so go write it. 

Thanks, that's all I have for today.

(This blog post is dedicated to the memory of Aaron Swartz. Aaron was an Internet pioneer and information activist who helped create much of the infrastructure that bloggers rely on to disseminate information. He was charged by the U.S. Federal Government over a trivial matter related to his activism and committed suicide last week in the lead-up to his trial where he was facing a possible sentence of forty years in prison.)

The Help

Baffler magazine once opined that "interns built the pyramids". Perhaps the modern equivalent of the pyramids is the prodigious level of governance emanating from Washington and London, cities that are literally fuelled on the exploitation of (illegal, unpaid) intern power.  I've been pinning for an opportunity to address how local politicians abuse the unpaid labour of young workers, but understandably the concerned parties aren't exactly forthcoming with concrete information (unless you're Nick Kouvalis). Recently, I stumbled upon evidence that exposes the practice by senior politicians in Ontario of exploiting unpaid labour.

With almost one in five young workers in Ontario currently unemployed one would think that provincial politicians might be taking the problem seriously. No, in fact some are actually contributing to youth joblessness as evidenced by Liberal MPP Laura Albanese's recent advertisement (see above) on the York University's Career Centre website looking for a Communications/Outreach Assistant. 

MPP Laura Albanese

Laura Albanese, who is also the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour, is looking for a little (free) help in the areas of "social media, writing of communications pieces, data input, tour logistics, graphic design, media relations, event planning, policy creation, research and other duties". These duties appear to be what workers normally get paid for in Ontario, but strangely this part-time unpaid internship doesn't offer any form of remuneration. 

This position is illegal under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 ("the ESA") as it fails to pay the minimum wage of $10.25 per hour and is an attempt to contract out of the minimum standards under the ESA. Simply put, a person cannot "volunteer" their labour to employers where the job duties are similar to those for which workers in Ontario normally receive remuneration. Additionally, this position does not appear to fall into any of the exclusions enumerated under the ESA. It's disgusting that one of the senior leaders at the Ministry of Labour feels free to blatantly violate the social minima designed to stabilize Ontario's labour market.

Given the horrible record of the Liberal Party of Ontario when it comes to youth unemployment this sort of exploitation targeting youths shouldn't come as a surprise. Over Premier Dalton McGuinty's three terms youth unemployment has skyrocketed, funding for programs targeting youths have been slashed, and tens of thousands of young people have lost their jobs. The neglect by the McGuinty government toward youth labour market problems has been profound amid little movement towards actually addressing youth underemployment, an abject lack of a labour market strategy, the rise of unpaid labour, or the growing economic insecurity and precarity that youths face in Ontario society.

Given that Laura Albanese is essentially violating the ESA via the above-noted advertisement I would hope that at a minimum she is removed from her position as Parliamentary Assistant if not asked to resign her seat as a MPP. If you don't like Laura Albanese's hands-on approach to destabilizing Ontario's youth labour market give her a call at 416-212-9790 or drop her an email. For earlier articles about political inaction on youth labour market issues, see: here, here, and here. Finally, take a look at the video below where I discuss the rise of unpaid internships in Ontario.