Responding to this article in the Globe and the associated Reddit thread. “If an election were called tomorrow, the dynamics of the campaign could well push the NDP ahead of the Liberals.” The NDP is forcing the Liberals to move on pharmacare and dental care. As these programs expand (which they will, because Canadians want…
The Canadian government has just passed legislation requiring that all new vehicles sold in Canada by 2035 be emissions-free, which for all practical purposes means that they must be electric. While this is not ideal (there should be much more of an emphasis on public transportation) it is necessary. Leaving aside the climate change sceptics…
How do people feel about the carbon tax? 14 cents per litre of gasoline, about $5.60 extra per 40L tank. 17 cents per litre of diesel/furnace oil. The carbon tax is a ‘market solutions’ approach to climate change; by increasing the cost of carbon, it reduced the demand, and moves us away from carbon consumption….
We just moved to a 5% interest rate here in Canada. The reason, we are told, is to combat inflation. There certainly does appear to be inflation; prices are noticeably higher after the pandemic. But are interest rate hikes the cure? The argument is that inflation is caused by increased spending, especially on debt-funded high-ticket…
There are continued calls to legislate the BC dock workers back to work. And of course employers don’t need to negotiate; they just need to wait for the federal government to make the move. But why do we always opt for ‘legislate them back to work’? Why is it never ‘legislate the companies to pay…
This is a response to a thread on Reddit: What’s something that Canadians should work on in order to make Canada a better country? – we need to address the creeping privatization of public health care. Governments are underfunding the current system and using this as an excuse to extend private services. – housing is…
In his newsletter Scott Galloway writes the following: The only thing that’s passed for bipartisanship over the past four decades is reckless spending. Democrats want more social spending, Republicans want lower taxes. OK, let’s compromise — do both and fuck over our grandkids. He also writes: Let’s dispense with one of the most tired false…
My comment in Reddit, to the thread ‘Ottawa has changed and I can’t seem to put my finger on how’. Ottawa needs to be a city but its city council is running it like a suburb. The result is that most city functions – from policing to transit to city life – have become dysfunctional….
With all the delicacy of a sledgehammer, Doug Ford’s conservative government in Ontario has crafted an elegant solution to negotiating with public sector unions: Don’t. Instead, as a government, simply define what you want the contract to be, override any constitutional protections the union may have by using the ‘notwithstanding’ clause, and impose it on…
I’ve seen a number of these images over the last few weeks, including some on motorcyclists on Anticosti Island and on this truck pictured here. As Wikipedia says, The “thin blue line” is a term that typically refers to the concept of the police as the line which keeps society from descending into violent chaos….