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Political and Policy Analysis
The Niagara Independent, April 12, 2019 — On April 1st the Trudeau Government implemented its carbon tax that imposes a $20 tax on every tonne of carbon emissions from any fossil fuel. This tax is scheduled to increase by $10 per year until 2022, when it peaks at $50 a tonne. Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine…
The Niagara Independent, April 5, 2019 — She was argumentatively the most able of all Trudeau cabinet ministers. Yet the remarkable drama that unfolded between the Prime Minister and his former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould has overshadowed the devastating loss that has occurred to the Government (and now the Liberal Caucus) as a result of…
The Niagara Independent, March 29, 2019 — Last week, the Government of Quebec heralded a budget with a $2.5 billion surplus and featuring increased spending in health care and education. On the other end of our country, Albertans entered into an election campaign feeling agitated about the treatment they are experiencing from the federal government…
The Niagara Independent, March 22, 2019 — It was described in many different ways. The Liberals characterized their fourth federal budget delivered this past Tuesday as a “pre-election budget designed to ease Canadians’ anxieties.” Political commentators, however, upon learning of its contents, described it as “the predicted pre-election spendathon”; “a testament to the pleasures of…
The Niagara Independent, March 15, 2019 — Finance Minister Bill Morneau will be delivering his fourth federal government budget next Wednesday, March 19. Given the news that the government ran a budgetary surplus of $300 million through the first nine months of the fiscal year, many financial analysts and political pundits are expecting the Finance…
The Niagara Independent, March 8, 2019 — While Canadians bear witness to all the sordid details of the Jody Wilson-Raybould / Gerald Butts / Justin Trudeau / SNC-Lavalin scandal (a.k.a. LavScam), our federal government is lurching from one crisis to another without any clear direction. With the scandal, there are many other issues unfolding unchecked…
The Niagara Independent, February 22, 2019 — The resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Principal Secretary Gerald Butts has sent shockwaves through the corridors of power in Ottawa. Tendered in the quiet of a long weekend, Butt’s departure from the PMO is recognized as the signal most remarkable event since the 2015 election itself. His…
The Niagara Independent, February 15, 2019 — A week is a long time in politics. For Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) staff this past week probably felt like an eternity. The alleged interference of the PMO with the Canadian judiciary process and the surfacing backstories of how PM Trudeau and…
The Niagara Independent, February 8, 2019 — Here is an excerpt from Ottawa’s Hansard, an official verbatim record of what was said in the House of Commons on Tuesday, February 5th. Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre was in a heated exchange with the Prime Minister about taxes imposed on Canadians. Poilievre questions: “The Prime Minister says that…
The Niagara Independent, February 1, 2019 — This week MPs returned to Ottawa and to the last Parliamentary Session before the Fall federal election. All eyes were on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer as they traded barbs. The Leaders were practicing new lines, sure to be folded into campaign stump speeches…
The Niagara Independent, January 25, 2019 — This week there was a stark news item from a well-respected financial firm that Canadians must brace for harder economic times. Jim Mylonas of BCA Research Inc. alerted Canadians that the country’s economy is teetering and this year will likely tip into a recession. What is disconcerting is…
The Niagara Independent, January 18, 2019 — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet shuffle on Monday contained a surprise with his appointing Nova Scotia MP Bernadette Jordan as Minister of Rural Economic Development. This new cabinet portfolio is to create and advance a rural-development strategy. The PMO’s news release stated that the new minister will work with…
The Niagara Independent, January 11, 2019 — To provide Canadians with a snap shot of our financial health as we head into the New Year, the Canadian public policy thinktank Fraser Institute published a sober assessment of the country’s current economic affairs. The key take-away from the Institute’s review is that Canada’s economy is underperforming…
The Niagara Independent, December 21, 2018 — Come the New Year, all eyes will be on Ottawa as Canadians bear witness to a parade of politicians and pollsters, all positioning and pontificating in advance of the October 21, 2019 federal election vote. We can expect dramatic headlines covering the spin and counter-spin of not only…
The Niagara Independent, December 14, 2018 — What has the Canadian Government committed to in signing the UN Global Compact for Migration? The document reads that “member states and partners will thus hold each other more accountable on their promises to deliver results for refugees and their hosts.” As detailed in last week’s column, these…
The Niagara Independent, December 7, 2018 – The longer title to the “UN Global Compact” document is the United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Canada’s Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen will sign this international document on Canada’s behalf on December 11 in Marrakech, Morocco. Though most Canadians have heard little or nothing of this international…
Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau has faced criticism for admitting the Liberals financial plan will probably lead to an indefinite number of deficit budgets. The Niagara Independent, November 30, 2018 – For months leading up to the Liberals’ fall economic statement, Finance Minister Bill Morneau indicated his statement would respond to the recent U.S. corporate tax…
Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau presented his Fall Economic Statement this week. The Niagara Independent, November 23, 2018 – In his fall economic statement, federal finance minister Bill Morneau mused: “We could have ignored the concerns of business leaders, decided not to make the investments and the changes that are part of the fall economic…
The Niagara Independent, November 16, 2018 – Parliament Hill is seized with pipeline politics. Our country’s oil and gas sector is pitted against Ottawa’s bureaucracy. Western Canadians are feeling betrayed and victimized by Prime Minister Trudeau. It’s déjà vu all over again! This drama is unfolding in the Senate of Canada where a piece of legislation…
The Niagara Independent, November 9, 2018 – Recent government announcements and news reports have provided Canadians with an accounting of how much our Canadian governments are in debt. The current federal government, spending hundreds of billions of dollars, seemingly pays no heed to the size of their annual deficits. Add the sum of all provincial governments’…