Archive for the ‘Governance’ Category
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Alberta not obliged to translate laws into French, Supreme Court rules
Alberta has no constitutional obligation to translate its laws into French, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Friday… “Clearly, a province may choose to enact its laws and regulations in both French and English,” the majority said… “But one cannot simply infer a guarantee of legislative bilingualism that would override this exclusive provincial jurisdiction absent clear textual and contextual evidence to support an entrenched right.”
Tags: jurisdiction, rights
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Time to give credit where it is due [Harper Gov’t.]
They made training in the skilled trades a priority… They made departmental spending reviews the norm in Ottawa… They made life easier for families with disabled members… They refrained from slashing provincial transfers… They steered Canada through the 2008-2009 recession with minimal damage… On the negative side of the ledger, the Harper government turned Ottawa into an increasingly impenetrable bastion, weakened democratic institutions, divided Canadians into friends and foes and enacted harsh, punitive laws.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, disabilities, economy, ideology
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How the Liberals can pay for their platform
The first is to clean up the tax credits, deductions, exemptions and deferrals (known collectively as “tax expenditures”) that cost Ottawa billions of dollars. The Conservatives brought in at least 70 of them… A second alternative is to stop spending money on… jailing young offenders for drug possession and other non-violent crimes… building mega prisons… buying top-of-the-line stealth fighter jets; or airing prime-time government ads. A third choice is to terminate, or substantially scale back, corporate subsidies.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Trudeau begins to reverse Harper’s ugly legacy of over-reaching legislation
Given the growing number of court challenges to these laws, the Liberals should fix what’s wrong, as speedily as possible, then turn their attention to other issues… Here are a few places to start: Bill C-51… Citizenship… Sentencing… Refugees… On Harper’s watch Canadian law grew ever more heedless of civil rights, contemptuous of the judiciary, unreasonably punitive, and unfriendly to minorities and refugees. Canadians voted for something better on Oct. 19.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, featured, ideology, immigration, multiculturalism
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The Liberals’ taxing challenge
The Liberals, had they been willing, could have proposed raising the GST back to 7 per cent, and had plenty of money to pay for their middle-class tax cut, offsets for low-income earners and spending in whatever configuration they chose. Economists would have cheered, but not likely the voters… what is sorely needed: a group outside government examining the Canadian tax system that is now shot full with distortions.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, tax
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An Antidote to Cynicism in Canada
… for a majority of Canadians, Mr. Trudeau and his cabinet symbolize a renewed sense of national identity rooted in diversity, in humane and inclusive social policies at home and in humanitarian service overseas. The thrill of the moment may be fleeting, but it is invaluable for awakening new generations to public service and as an antidote to the cynicism about politics that has sadly become the norm in established democracies.
Tags: disabilities, economy, ideology, multiculturalism, participation
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Tall order for Finance Minister Bill Morneau
Balance the budget in 2019-20 while “continuing to reduce the federal debt-to-GDP ratio throughout our mandate.” / Implement a promised middle-class tax cut by raising taxes on those earning more than $200,000. / Cancel “income-splitting” for families while retaining it for seniors / Bring in a new and enhanced Canada Child benefit / Enhance” the Canada Pension Plan / Mount a massive 10-year infrastructure program / pare back the Conservatives’ boutique tax credits…
Tags: budget, child care, economy, featured, ideology, Indigenous, pensions, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Trudeau makes public his ministerial mandate letters — their marching orders for four years
All 30 “mandate letters” were publicly posted on the prime minister’s website as part of Trudeau’s promised “plan for open and transparent government for Canadians.” It is a first for the federal government, and included a signal that the ministers will be held to a higher ethical standard, with the caution that “the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny… the government has “expanded or strengthened” rules, including guidance on non-partisan use of departmental communications resources and the new code of conduct for exempt staff.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, economy, featured, Health, ideology, multiculturalism, participation, philanthropy, rights, standard of living
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Justin Trudeau won by redefining what ‘good government’ can mean
… Trudeau often wasn’t speaking merely of skilfulness or efficiency. He meant morally good. Virtuous. Right. It was a little shocking to hear. It echoed the language of an earlier generation before the relentless Conservative assault on the size, scope and nature of democratic government impoverished our speech and slackened our hopes… it dramatically evoked the notion of a Canadian body politic with a conscience — and a national economy with a human purpose.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, Indigenous, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living, tax, women, youth
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First fix for the Conservatives — their psyche
The Western tradition therefore looks for ways to limit and disperse power, to contain and channel it — whether by the rule of law, the scrutiny of Parliament and a free press, the dictates of convention, or the competitive discipline of the market… these can be a starting point for a conservative conversation, not because liberals do not also believe in these things, but because conservatives will have their own particular way of expressing them — and because parties in opposition are always bound to be more interested in limiting power than parties in government.
Tags: economy, ideology, rights
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