Unifor Local 1996-O

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The Battle of Vimy Ridge

 

The Battle of Vimy Ridge – Fast Facts

  • The assault on Vimy Ridge, the northern part of the wider battle of Arras, began at 5:30 am on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917.
  • It was the first occasion on which all four divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked as a composite formation.
  • The Canadian achievement in capturing Vimy Ridge owed its success to a range of technical and tactical innovations, very powerful artillery preparation, sound and meticulous planning and thorough preparation.
  • At Vimy, the Canadian Corps and the British XVII Corps on their immediate southern flank had captured more ground, more prisoners and more guns than any previous British Expeditionary Force offensive.
  • Vimy Ridge was a particularly important tactical feature. Its capture by the Canadians was essential to the advances by the British Third Army to the south and of exceptional importance to checking the German attacks in the area in 1918.
  • The Canadians had demonstrated they were one of the outstanding formations on the Western Front and masters of offensive warfare.
  • Four Victoria Crosses (VC) were awarded for bravery. Of these, three were earned on the opening day of the battle:
    • Private William Milne of the 16th Battalion.
    • Lance-Sergeant Ellis Sifton of the 18th Battalion.
    • Private John Pattison of the 50th Battalion (April 10).
    • Captain Thain MacDowell of the 38th Battalion. MacDowell had also earned the Distinguished Service Order on the Somme. Of the four Vimy VCs, only Captain MacDowell survived the War.
  • The Canadian success at Vimy demonstrated that no position was invulnerable to a meticulously planned and conducted assault. This success had a profound effect on Allied planning.
  • Though the victory at Vimy came swiftly, it did not come without cost. There were 3,598 dead out of 10,602 Canadian casualties.
  • After Vimy, the Canadian Corps went from one success to another, to be crowned by their achievements in the 1918 “advance to victory”. This record won for Canada a separate signature on the Versailles Peace Treaty ending the War.

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Bell Launches All-Fibre Optic Network in Toronto

 

Bell has announced its $1.5 billion fibre project is now live in Toronto, Ontario, after first being announced back in 2015. The company says their fibre to the premises (FTTP) service can bring speeds of “up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) with symmetrical upload and downloads.”

The company says next year speeds will increase to at least 5 Gbps and in the future, to 40 Gbps and beyond.

“The Bell team is proud to light up North America’s largest fibre network right here in Toronto. Bell’s all-fibre network will deliver the best Internet, TV and business connectivity services to Torontonians while enabling Canada’s largest city to innovate and compete at a global level with next-generation connectivity,” said George Cope, President and CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada, in a press release.

The fibre project in Toronto started three years ago, with Bell working together with the City and Toronto Hydro to roll out equipment and fibre, which consists of over 10,000 kilometres, installed on roughly 90,000 Bell and Toronto Hydro poles. Underground installations are accessible via over 10,000 manhole access points.

Bell is celebrating the launch of the Toronto fibre network by putting on a blue light spectacle at the #LightUpthe6ix event at Yonge-Dundas Square, which begins at 9PM, hosted by CTV Your Morning co-hosts Ben Mulroney and Anne-Marie Mediwake, while performances by Arkells and City and Colour will also be part of the show.

http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/carriers/bell/bell-fibre-optic-toronto/

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Unifor 1996-O Scholarships – Deadline Approaching, Submission due May 31 2018

 

The deadline is fast approaching to get your application submitted.

We in Local 1996-O are concerned about the lives of our members’ families and their education.  Due to high tuition fees we recognize that post-secondary education is out of reach for many working-class. To assist, we’ve established 2 scholarships worth $1,000.00 each. One in memory of the late Brother, Milos Petrasinovic and Brother, Alwa Marcelle.

The scholarships are awarded to sons/daughters of Unifor 1996-O members in good standing.  Students must be entering their first year of full-time post-secondary education (university, community college, technological institute, trade school, etc.) in a public Canadian institution. 

These are entrance Scholarships only and are not renewable for students entering subsequent years of study.

Deadline for submitting an application is May 31 2018

The selection of candidates will be chosen no later than June 29, 2018 and will be final.

Click here to download the 2018 application.

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Unifor mobilizes to make Ontario election count

mobilize

Organizing for the Ontario provincial election campaign starts today with Unifor’s 2018 member-to-member Make it Count Ontario election campaign.

Workers in the province have built a solid foundation of political action, uniting in coalitions that have pressured the government to finally introduce a $15 per hour minimum wage and free preschool child care, and to address the chronic under funding of hospitals. All of this progress is at risk of being rolled back if Doug Ford’s conservatives take power.

“There is too much at stake in this election not to take action,” said Jerry Dias, National President. “We must stop the conservatives and show the next government that Unifor members will be heard.”

One way to be heard, said Dias and Ontario Regional Director, Naureen Rizvi is to sign the pledge to vote on the new election website uniforvotes.ca. If you’re a Unifor member from Ontario and you want to keep pushing for social justice in this province for workers and families it’s time to get active, said Rizvi

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