What is the right age to join the work force?
Different provinces all have different ages set for young people to join the work force, with many of them floating around the 16-year range. It’s a tough call to make definitively, as it realistically could vary from person to person.
The rules regarding working age in British Columbia, though, are as follows:
12: (Supervision of a person aged 19 or older at all times while working; Maximum 4 hours on a school day; Maximum 7 hours on a non-school day; Maximum 20 hours in a week that has five school days; Maximum 35 hours in any other week; Written permission of parents is needed.)
15: Unrestricted
The staggeringly low 12 years of age which permits youth to work at most jobs has advocates saying that enough is enough, and that it’s time to raise the age to a much more reasonable 16.
For those who decide to join the workforce at 12, there are very few restrictions in place. 12 year olds can work any time outside of school hours, and there is no legal peramiters to which industry they work in, or which tasks they can do.
In an interview with the CBC, Helesia Luke, a communications and development coordinator of First Call B.C. said “We’re seeing kids working in construction, they’re working in manufacturing and they’re working in the trades. We know this because we know that they’re getting hurt there.”
Statistics Canada does not track the number of workers under the age of 15, so it’s impossible to say exactly how many youths are in the workforce. The best indication First Call B.C. has at the moment is through accident claim data.
Over the last ten years, WorkSafeBC has paid out over $5 million in disability claims to minors under 14 years old in the workforce. All the while, 2000 more children under 14 were approved for health-care claims related to being injured while at work.
“We’ve heard from a young man who, when he was 12, was stripping autos in a scrap yard and spilled battery acid all over himself,” said one youth advocate to the CBC.
“He has a lifelong scar from that experience. That’s too high a price to pay when you’re 12.”
For a complete list of the laws surrounding age and the workforce, click here.
The youth advocacy group is fighting for changes to come sooner rather than later, asking the province to raise the minimum age of formal employment to 16, like Ontario and Alberta.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
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WATCH: Octopus attacks bald eagle in Canada
An Octopus decided to start a fight with a bald eagle off the coast of British Columbia. This is their story.
The eagle was saved when a group of fish farmers stepped in and used a pike pole to slowly peel the Octopus off the bald eagle.
“That gave the eagle just enough time to break free and swim to shore,” Aquaculturalist John Ilett told the CBC. “At the end of the day, both animals are alive and went their separate way.
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Gas company pulling $125M from B.C. project sparks words over energy sector's fate
Chevron’s plan to offload its 50 percent share of the nascent Kitimat LNG project was another blow to Canada’s energy industry on Wednesday.
The massive British Columbia natural gas facility and export hub was so crucial for the Canadian economy, the Trudeau government gave a tariff break to China last summer so the communist regime’s cheap, fabricated steel could fast-track construction.
But word that the California-based Chevron wanted to sell its Kitimat LNG interest–$125 million of book-value assets in a $10-billion write-down for the U.S. oil giant–sparked a political fight on Twitter.
Enter Conservatives’ natural resources critic Shannon Stubbs:
Less than an hour later Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan corrected Stubbs. But either way Chevron’s big write-down reveal on Wednesday morning was bad news for the domestic energy sector.
Over the past five years, a combination of discounted Canadian bitumen sales–landlocked inside North American markets by lack of new tidewater projects like the proposed TMX–along with federal policies that have chilled investment, have hampered the energy sector.
At the end of October, Canadian petroleum company EnCana uprooted its Calgary headquarters to move to Denver, Colorado, and a rebrand; the latest news is just the latest in notable capital flight from domestic energy markets that’s witnessed 175,000 jobs shed from the Alberta oil patch in less than five years.
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Former B.C. mayor heading to jail for sexual assault
Burns Lake has finally gotten some closure this week after former mayor Luke Strimbold has been sentenced to two years less a day for his crimes of sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.
All his crimes were committed on youth, under the age of 16.
The 29-year-old former mayor pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault in addition to once count of sexual interference and one count of invitation to sexual touching.
Many members of the community are unhappy with the verdict, feeling the sentence was light considering the original charge was 29 sex offences over a two year period against seven minors between 2014 and 2017.
The Crown had asked for four to six years in federal prison, however the judge ruled that Strimbold will instead serve his sentence in a provincial institution followed by two years probation upon his release. He will remain a registered sex offender until 2039.
The time period of the assaults overlap with Strimbold’s time as mayor 2011-2016.
Madam Justice Brenda Brown of B.C. Supreme Court factored that in as part of her ruling saying that Stimbold was in a position of authority. Brown also acknowledge Strimbold’s use of drugs and alcohol and that he had in fact sought out counselling for these issues prior to any charges being laid. She delivered her decision via video conference from Vancouver to the courtroom in Smithers, B.C.
Justice Brown said that Strimbold has shown remorse and is of low-to-moderate risk to reoffend.
Strimbold delivered a tearful apology to his victims at a sentencing hearing last week, according to CBC. He described them as friends and said, “I am deeply sorry to each of them and will forever be regretful.” He went on to apologize to the community of Burns Lake, saying, “I am sorry I let you down.”
Stanley Tessmer, Strimbold’s defence lawyer told the court that his client was the victim of abuse himself at a young age. Strimbold was unable to recognize that abuse and such is the reason he was unable to recognize the problem with his own actions when the originally occurred.
Tessmer also brought to the courts attention that Strimbold was a closeted gay man who was bullied in his youth which led to his substance abuse.
Tessmer asked the court for 18 months in a provincial jail.
Former Babine Lake First Nation Chief Wilf Adam was unhappy with the verdict, calling the sentence “unacceptable,” saying it failed Strimbold’s victims as well as the people of Burns Lake who’d put their trust in him as mayor.
“I just find that totally unacceptable. The system has failed the victims,” he said.
Adam was chief of Lake Babine at the same time that Strimbold held office and the two worked closely together on multiple occasions including dealing with the aftermath of the 2013 Babine Forest Products mill explosion in Burns Lake, according to CBC.
This is no doubt one of the reasons Adam felt so frustrated by the sentence saying that Strimbold’s actions were a “betrayal of trust, not just to me but to the people of Burns Lake, to the Lake Babine Nation, to the other First Nations in the Burns Lake area.”
Now a board member of the Northern Health Authority and the First Nation Health Council, Adam has been working to bring counselling services to anybody in the Burns Lake area who is seeking help. He feels the recent trial has likely brought up some painful memories for any members of the community who had previously experienced abuse themselves.
CBC reported Adam said that if Strimbold does want the community to heal than, “He needs to look at himself. He needs to make sure that he truly is sorry for what he has done – not to be forced in court, but to truly understand.”
“He really needs to help himself.” said Adam.
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Vegan chicken nuggets now available at A&W Canada
A&W is once again leading the charge when it comes to plant-based foods.
Following the success of its Beyond Meat Burger, A&W is set to test out plant-based chicken nuggets in Canada starting today.
While plant-based, A&W does note on its website that the Nuggets will be cooked with vegetable oil using the same fryers as it’s chicken items’
The nuggets will be provided through a partnership with Lightlife, a meatless product producer, for a limited in stores across Ontario and British Columbia. Should sales go well; A&W has said it would be happy to retain the item after its promotional period.
“We can’t resist our new Plant-Based Nuggets and we can’t wait for guests to taste our delicious new nuggets for themselves,” Susan Senecal, President, and CEO at A&W Canada, said, according to VegNews.
“Nuggets are fun to eat and fun to share and we think Canadians will be very impressed with our new plant-based nuggets for lunch, dinner, or any time in between.”
The nuggets will be made from peas, wheat flour, and fava beans. They will be sold for $5.99 for a six-piece or $8.99 for a 10-piece.
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