No one doubts that Canada needs tax reform. But there’s filleting and then there’s butchering
With its filleting knife in hand, the Trudeau government in July 2017 announced changes to income splitting, passive investment and capital gains that had farmers, small business owners, doctors and lawyers howling. The good news is some of the proposed changes won’t happen. The bad news is some of them will – and fast. “Most…
There’s never been a better time to have a free-trade, investment and work-permit regime between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore
As international trade deals devolve – or disintegrate – new opportunities should present themselves. Britain is leaving the European Union. Canada may be forced to leave the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if President Donald Trump’s conditions for Canada’s membership become too painful. Several other nations are in unsatisfactory trade and investment treaties, and…
Where perceived slights are personally avenged, and the law is supplanted as the final arbiter of justice
It’s truly astonishing that no other national political figure beat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to an apology to the LGBTQ2+ community. In 2008, his predecessor Stephen Harper was first to offer an apology for Indian residential schools. And Canadians have hardly been spared from endless variations on the theme over the past decade. Similarly, the British…
If governments hadn’t protected Indigenous children, they would have faced lawsuits for failure to honour their commitments to those children
The Alberta government is working with the ’60s Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta to hold “engagement” sessions with Indigenous adults who were placed as children in non-Indigenous homes. It seems likely that after an apology is officially made, discussions will immediately turn to compensation. The federal government established a precedent by apologizing and announcing monetary…
When we consider the source of electricity, the invasive nature of copper mining for batteries and components, and other factors, the jury is out
In the push to normalize electric vehicles, many forget it’s not the end of the road as far as environmental impact is concerned. Presumably, those using electric vehicles or hybrids are motivated by a desire to improve the environment, especially by reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Many owners of these vehicles derive satisfaction and…
The senator has enabled all of us to take the first step in honestly discussing race and culture
Sen. Lynn Beyak was recently removed from the Conservative caucus for saying and publicizing things that many people think are true. This has emboldened her opponents, and some Indigenous activists are now suggesting that Beyak be thrown out of the Senate and investigated for thought crimes. A year ago, Beyak had the audacity to assert…That's hardly a good reason to legalize marijuana but the federal government is pushing ahead anyway
By Maxwell DeGroat Research Associate Frontier Centre for Public Policy Health Canada’s consultation with Canadians on the regulation of marijuana is down to its final days. But what exactly does the government wants us to comment on? Do officials want us to question the stated objectives? Or perhaps they want us to ask why they’re…The concept of rape culture was invented by feminists to tar all men with the brush of the worst of them
Accusations of rape made by students against other students or staff members have caused great concern in universities and beyond. Female students at McGill University, according to individual and in-class conversations, frame rape as a result of “rape culture.” But their definition of “rape culture” doesn’t fit with what’s usually meant by “culture.” In order…
While there’s great diversity in Canada – regional, urban-rural, French-English and ethnic – it’s encompassed within the framework of Canadian culture
The view that ‘‘There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada,’’ put forward by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is incorrect. Notwithstanding Canada’s official multiculturalism policy, Canadian culture is firmly based in western civilization. The main Canadian political structures are derived from western civilization: Language is a foundational substructure of culture, and Canada’s two official…
The bad experiences at residential schools have been well documented. But we can't forget that there were good experiences as well
Sen. Lynn Beyak was finally expelled from the Conservative Party caucus because “she allowed” racist posts to be placed on her website. More significantly, she refused to remove the offending material when ordered to do so by the Conservative leader. I’m one of the people with an email message posted on her website. In the…