Archive for the ‘Governance Debates’ Category
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It’s time for Canada to ban handguns
Monday, April 22nd, 2019
… semi-automatic rifles that can accommodate large magazines ought to be banned in Canada. The same can be said of handguns. They have no place in a peaceful society. Handguns are designed to be concealable and deadly. They are semi-automatics; shooters can fire a round with each pull of the trigger without having to manually recock their weapon. They can be legally purchased in Canada with a nine-round magazine, which means they can do a lot of damage quickly, just like a semi-automatic rifle, although without the same accuracy and firepower.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, rights
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NDP revives Tory bill curbing taxpayer-funded partisan ads in bid to embarrass Ford’s government
Wednesday, April 17th, 2019
NDP MPP Taras Natyshak is tabling private member’s legislation identical to a bill introduced by Tory MPP Sylvia Jones two years ago that would revive the auditor general’s powers to veto commercials deemed to be politically partisan… “Voting against this bill would be the height of hypocrisy,” he said, noting Jones and much of Ford’s cabinet strongly endorsed the measures in 2017.
Tags: budget, globalization, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, tax
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Did Jody Wilson-Raybould understand her role as attorney-general?
Wednesday, April 17th, 2019
Politically accountable oversight in ensuring that the public interest is properly taken into account isn’t anathema to the rule of law. The attorney-general’s power to superintend prosecutions is an integral part of our justice system… The DPP is expressly mandated to notify the attorney-general if a case “raises important questions of general interest.” … the attorney-general appears to have reflexively deferred to the DPP and abdicated her responsibility for vigorous and independent oversight.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, rights
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The Ford government is trying to make itself less accountable
Tuesday, April 16th, 2019
… this is the government that made itself less accountable to the public by firing the independent watchdogs for children, francophones and the environment. Now it appears to be cutting off another avenue of accountability by introducing legislation that critics say would make it harder to take legal action against the government by increasing the threshold necessary to proceed with litigation… there’s one legal challenge the government can’t avoid. That’s the one coming from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association if the legislation is passed.
Tags: budget, ideology, rights, standard of living
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The legal advice Wilson-Raybould should have taken
Saturday, April 13th, 2019
… the prime minister tried to persuade her to hire a lawyer to give her further legal advice in an attempt to find a solution to the standoff between them. He proposed the most distinguished lawyer in Canada, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Honourable Beverley McLachlin. Not a bad offer. She refused… I think I know what advice she might have gotten from McLachlin. And that explains why she didn’t want, and never accepted, that offer of legal advice.
Tags: crime prevention, economy, ideology
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That unexpected taste in Ontario’s budget? It’s austerity-lite
Saturday, April 13th, 2019
… even before Doug Ford was elected Premier, already had the lowest per-capita spending of any Canadian province. Tenth out of 10… Spending on… health, which claims roughly 40 cents on every government dollar, is budgeted to rise by just 1.6 per cent a year over the next three years. That’s less than the rate of inflation, and only about half the rate of inflation plus population growth… The government also plans to increase education spending by just 1.2 per cent a year over the next three years – while cutting post-secondary spending by 1 per cent a year and lowering spending on children and social services by 2.1 per cent a year.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, standard of living
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Omnibus bill shows it’s still politics as usual for Trudeau government
Wednesday, April 10th, 2019
… this year’s was less than half the length of last year’s 800-plus-page opus magnum. But, as has become the custom with both Liberal and Conservative governments, it rolls together numerous pieces of legislation touching a wide range of issues that have little to do with the spending of government money… With proper planning, the government could have dealt with… separate pieces of legislation well in advance of the budget bill coming out and steamrolling over informed debate.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, standard of living
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How Billionaires and Big Pharma Battled Canada’s National Drug Plan
Monday, April 8th, 2019
Batt found powerful players — including insurance and drug companies — profit from the current system. And that they had unleashed a major, expensive lobbying, PR and public campaign to fight a national pharmacare program… It’s time Canadians enjoyed a common sense pharmacare plan built to provide coverage for everyone, control costs and keep prices down. It’s time to do what’s right for the public’s health and the country’s economy.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living, tax
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What people are getting wrong about this entire silly affair [SNC-Lavalin]
Friday, April 5th, 2019
… the option to Canadian prosecutors to impose a fine rather than lay a criminal charge is legitimate and sensible and the media and opposition should stop referring to it as a sleazy, partisan escape hatch for the naughty corporate friends of the Liberal Party… The argument that Trudeau had no right to review the case is spurious: he has an absolute obligation to discharge the duties of his office.
Tags: crime prevention, economy, globalization, ideology, rights
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Conservative lies about the carbon tax need to be called out
Thursday, April 4th, 2019
Perhaps the most prevalent deceit is the common conservative lament that the federal carbon tax is regressive and hurts the country’s poorest citizens most. Nothing is further from the truth. Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission estimates that 80 per cent of families will receive rebates greater than their carbon costs under the federal program… what’s really immoral is being a leader of a political party in this country with no plan to help fight climate change.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | 2 Comments »
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