NightOwl

The government’s intervention in the rail dispute is especially troubling for a number of reasons.

For starters, this was an employer lockout imposed in an effort to extract concessions that rail workers argue will make both themselves and the broader public less safe.

Larry Hubich, former president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, in fact argues that the rail employers, along with other companies who are members of FETCO (Federally Regulated Employers – Transportation and Communications), were trying to cause enough economic disruption through the lockout to force the government to curtail rail and federal workers’ rights to strike. It seems the government largely obliged.

Kan’ani said any claim regarding sales of Iranian missiles to Russia is unfounded.

“I am again clearly reminding the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Any claim that Iran sells ballistic missiles to Russia is false,” he said.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon met both the company and the union on Thursday. Both sides are still far apart on the question of wages.

MacKinnon has broad powers to tackle disputes and last month intervened within 24 hours to end a stoppage at the country's two largest railway companies, Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National Railway.

Air Canada says this set a precedent. But while Ottawa has intervened several times in labor disputes over the last few decades, it has only done so after stoppages have begun, not before.

"We are not going to interfere, we are not going to take action before it really becomes very clear that there is no goodwill at the negotiating table," said Trudeau.

The Business Council of Canada, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a joint statement on Friday calling on Ottawa to intervene to prevent a strike before it began.

There are important geopolitical and cultural factors that influence Canadian support for Israel and help explain Saini's hostility to divesting, as the university recently did with fossil fuels and Russia. But the most pressing element is a remarkably empowered victim narrative.

"Jews at McGill: 'We feel alone'", blared the cover of Saturday's National Post, linking to a two-page spread that included the spurious claim students organized a "Kristallnacht-themed rally" in November. (73 Postmedia outlets reportedly ran the story). The New York based Jewish Forward published a similar commentary headlined "For Jewish students at McGill like me, our return to campus is filled with dread".

On Friday McGill students organized a walkout and some ripped up the grass where the encampment was demolished. Those who see little problem with destroying everything in Gaza were outraged grass had been damaged.