New column day

Here, on the Saskatchewan Party's determination to make work more precarious - and pay and benefits harder to come by - in the public and private sectors alike.

For further reading...
- The history of the Skip the Dishes saga includes the government's plan for millions of dollars in handouts; the decision of the company not to bother following through on the deal, resulting in the cancellation of a cheque already sent out; the sale of the business to a British buyer; and most recently the uproar over an applicant being told that her questions about pay and benefits made her unfit for Skip the Dishes' "corporate culture".
- Among the other "sharing economy" actors facing needed regulatory scrutiny, see CBC's report on tax enforcement over eBay, Jeff Gray and Ross Marowits on the effort to bring Airbnb in line with housing and accommodation policy, and Mike Isaac's revelations about Uber's attempts to evade regulation.
- Again, Nick Purdon and Leonardo Palleja discussed the lack of stable work for new university graduates. And Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on the continued abuses by Ontario employers who have already been caught violating employment standards.
- Meanwhile, the Wall government's plan to lay off building cleaners started in January - with observers noting that it wouldn't be expected to save money. And this week, word came out as to the 230 workers affected by having their jobs outsourced.
- Finally, in case anybody in government was actually interested in ameliorating the provincial deficit rather than attacking workers, Jason Warick has pointed out that areas including unnecessary health care usage and agricultural subsidies offer far more opportunities for savings.