When Erin The Tool (sorry, that should be O’Toole) entered the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race in January 2020, he took aim at his primary opponent, Peter MacKay, by asking: “Do we go back and be the mushy middle party?” I wish. I would be happy to have a mushy middle party to support.…
Unsurprisingly, as a government car insurance monopoly, MPI’s history is marked by politics
Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) is in updating its computer programs and associated practices. Through an estimated multimillion-dollar effort, MPI plans to provide its customers with online services. With MPI’s long-needed revamped technology, licensed drivers and vehicle owners will be able to select insurance options and pay MPI bills without even conversing with a broker. Yet…
The idea that we can easily tax rich people with impunity is not supported by the evidence
Since the last federal election campaign, the NDP has been continually beating the drum for a wealth tax. The party’s latest push comes in its supplementary report to the 2021 budget consultations. Their case for the tax, however, is based on significant economic errors. First, the NDP claims that a wealth tax has been recommended…
We naturally tend to rationalize taxes on others. However, the arithmetic is undeniable: we can’t solve our problems by soaking the rich
Eat-the-rich rhetoric is good politics but bad policy. The wealthy minority contribute precious investment and much-needed employment, but no good deed goes unpunished. The spectre of a wealth tax, which hangs over Canada, epitomizes infantile, self-defeating governance. Last autumn, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh introduced a motion in the House of Commons calling for a…
If Singh is the problem, who is there on the meagre parliamentary bench to replace him?
For the past 90 years, Canadian politics has been influenced by a genuinely left-wing political party. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) emerged in 1933. It demanded nationalization of essential industries, universal public pensions, health care, family allowances, unemployment insurance and workmen’s compensation. Its Regina Manifesto boldly asserted, “No CCF Government will rest content until it…
No prime minister in Canadian history has used identity politics more than Justin Trudeau
In a famous 60 Minutes interview in 2012, Mike Wallace asked actor Morgan Freeman how to get rid of racism. Freeman instantly responds by saying it’s easy: stop referring to him as a Black man and he will stop referring to Wallace as a white man. Freeman says only by removing racist labels will we…
Students learn best when they develop strong personal connections with their teachers. We need to stop dwelling on worst-case scenarios
One thing we’ve learned this year is that global pandemics have a big impact on teaching and learning. In mid-March, regular kindergarten-to-Grade-12 classes across Canada were suspended and instruction moved online. While schools in some provinces partially reopened in June, this doesn’t mean things are back to normal just yet. Students gained limited access to…
For business, an ideology-driven agenda – whether from the right or the left – doesn’t create favourable conditions for investment
Common sense is not so common, observed the 18th century French writer Voltaire. Sadly, he could be talking about politics in Alberta today. Albertans have been whipsawed by two back-to-back political parties that govern more by ideology than common sense. The NDP governed from the ideological perspective that the state should tax more and use…
Closing politics and public life to those who are religious leaves us with a less tolerant society that brings fundamental freedoms into question
Disagreement is normal, if not necessary, in a healthy democracy. Being intolerant and disrespectful toward those with whom we disagree, however, is fatal to that democracy. Historically, Canadians have had the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (and the Bill of Rights before it) for protection. That’s especially important for racial, religious, political or sexual minorities,…
A coalition partner could have been exactly what the prime minister needed to show Canadians that he needs a majority to do his job properly
After the Oct. 21 federal election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would continue his progressive agenda despite his Liberals losing 20 seats and falling 13 seats short of a majority in Parliament. A coalition government was widely expected, with the NDP opening the door to talks. However, a strong left-wing, progressive presence in…