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Our tax code is pockmarked with costly exemptions
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
Oct. 19, 2011
… the Harper government has added many new tax expenditures to a tax system already overloaded with them. Program spending is much easier to understand, for parliamentarians, the media and the public… According to the OECD, Canada relies more on tax expenditures than almost any country… Tax expenditures also get short shrift from the Auditor-General, whose office is preoccupied with program spending rather than the “value for money” of the tax system.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
Rise of the machines: America’s jobs challenge
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
October 19, 2011
Since 1999, business investment in equipment and software has surged 33 per cent while the total number of people employed by private firms has changed little. The gap between man and machine widened even further after the 2008-09 recession, helping explain why the United States is struggling to bring down an unemployment rate stuck above 9 per cent. The revolution in information technologies is taking a deeper and deeper hold in the U.S. economy.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living, youth
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Occupy movement: It’s about time
Monday, October 17th, 2011
Oct. 16, 2011
In the 1930s, the last time capitalism failed so destructively, radical opposition movements won the day: Demanding both immediate aid for the Depression’s suffering, but also bigger structural changes in the economy… governments’ response went well beyond “stimulus.” Instead, government was given powerful, countervailing powers to offset the skewed dominance of business and wealth
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Why we must tolerate hate
Monday, October 17th, 2011
Oct. 17, 2011
A liberal, open-minded law against hate speech? That’s an oxymoron. There’s no possible reconciliation between freedom of speech and hate-speech laws, however they’re written or reformulated. A civilized, progressive society should opt for freedom of speech, period.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, multiculturalism, rights
Posted in Equality Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Economics has met the enemy, and it is economics
Monday, October 17th, 2011
Oct. 16, 2011
Theories based on assumptions of rationality, efficiency and equilibrium in the marketplace are likely to be treated with a great deal more skepticism. Homo economicus is a lot more anxious, irrational, unpredictable and complex than most economists believed. And, as Adam Smith recognized, he has a moral and ethical dimension that should not be ignored… Yet the[se models] have successfully provided a “scientific” cover for an anti-regulatory political agenda that is popular on Wall Street and in some Washington political circles.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Lisa Raitt’s trampling of union rights speeds up demise of labour ministry
Friday, October 14th, 2011
Oct. 13, 2011
Ms. Raitt is doing her best to accelerate her portfolio’s demise. The right to free collective bargaining and the right to strike have been fundamental in this country for more than 70 years. With Ms. Raitt in charge, those rights appear headed for the trash can… She vowed back-to-work legislation before flight attendants had set up a single picket line, called for a review of the long-standing federal labour code because employees twice said no to a recommended agreement (an extremely rare event), and further abused the bargaining process this week by arbitrarily referring the wrangle to the Canada Industrial Relations Board
Tags: economy, ideology, rights
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Made-in-Canada ‘Occupy’ movement makes its way home
Friday, October 14th, 2011
Oct. 14, 2011
“We had sort of a communal, ‘Aha!’ moment,” Adbusters co-founder Kalle Lasn recalled… “We started wondering whether the same kind of tools that were used in Egypt, and the sort of regime-change philosophy, couldn’t be applied to America.” The ensuing conversation eventually led to the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, an international uprising against economic inequality and corporate influence… On Saturday, it arrives in several Canadian cities, including Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
McGuinty proves father knows best
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
October 11, 2011
McGuinty stands as the transformative Premier of the last twenty five years… The massive extent of McGuinty’s policy reforms is underestimated like the politician… More importantly, they were quickly adopted as consensus with no opponent running against them in the next election… the HST… the Ontario Health Premium… phasing out coal plants to the Greenbelt… Ontario’s current education system… the Green Energy Act… Given the privilege of a third term, the lesson for the McGuinty Liberals is simple: Do big things.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology
Posted in Governance History | No Comments »
Landmark Insite decision threatens peace between judges and legislators
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Oct. 11, 2011
“The Insite ruling is a warning to the government that any of its laws or policies which restrict liberty or threaten lives or health are vulnerable to Charter challenge, if compelling evidence calls into question their effectiveness in achieving their stated goals”… the success of Charter litigation is going to hang on being able to quantify the harm that results from a questionable law… “arbitrary” and “grossly disproportionate” – will be invoked in future attacks on laws and government policy, raising the questions: Arbitrary in whose view? And grossly disproportionate to what?
Tags: crime prevention, Health, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | 1 Comment »
It’s time to reset the relationship between First Nations and Canada
Monday, October 10th, 2011
Oct. 10, 2011
… we need to move forward in new ways. The original treaties signed between First Nations and Canada speak to partnership and sharing. This is our shared heritage – both First Nations and all newcomers. We are all treaty people… In 2010, Canada endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, representing another important step forward in realizing what was always intended: partnership and mutual respect in all aspects of the relationship… the overarching [recommendation] is for Canada and First Nations to work together.
Tags: ideology, Indigenous, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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