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Search results for “node/mandatory minimums”

  • Deconstructing BC’s carbon neutral government

    Besides the carbon tax, one of the most important BC government climate action initiatives has been the adoption of Carbon Neutral Government. That is, count emissions from public buildings and travel, reduce them as much as possible and pay for carbon offsets to negate the rest. As of the 2010…

  • Omnibus Crime Bill an Injustice

    This fall the Harper government will pass an omnibus crime bill that will imprison thousands more Canadians and cost billions of dollars. It will not do as advertised by the Conservatives and drive the crime rate down. It will simply incarcerate for longer the many citizens who fall afoul of…

  • The 10 Worst Corporate Lobbyists

    It’s big business to promote, defend big business interests Getting politicians to bend policy to your company’s will is a fine art. It requires a combination of charm, dogged persistence, threats – and bushels of cash. But corporate lobbyists know just which buttons to press in order to persuade politicians…

  • An Apple a Day

    We need real health care, not an illness-treatment system A few years ago, one of the Wizard of Oz comic strips showed a doctor standing outside his office glaring across the street at a vendor with a cart full of apples. “Beat it!” yells the doctor. “I’m trying to make…

  • No More Tough-on-Crime

    About 40% of the Harper government’s recent legislative agenda was devoted to crime laws. Most of these would have created new offences and mandated longer sentences. The Conservative government said this was the way to get violent, repeat offenders off the streets and to fight “guns, gangs and drugs.” On…

  • Harper’s Record on Immigration – Lawyers Weigh In

    The following is cut and pasted from an email that is in circulation to lawyers, practitioners and academics regarding the Harper record on immigration.  It does not address the rapid growth in the issuing of temporary foreign worker permits, particularly since the recession began. Harper’s record on that issue is…

  • Middle Class in Decline is the Electoral Elephant in the Room

    In the decades following the Second World War, the growth of manufacturing and the expansion of public services extended middle class job opportunities to millions of non-professionals. By the time I was a young adult looking for a job in the 1970s, the manufacturing and public sectors together accounted for…

  • Education Project

    Cashing in or Selling Out?

    OneStop Media Group and the Toronto District School Board Tonight, the Toronto District School Board is debating a motion over whether or not to extend a pilot project that currently sees flat screens being installed in four high schools across the city. If accepted, screens would be installed in 70…

  • The Real Pirates of the Caribbean

    Tax havens siphon $500 billion a year from gov’t revenues In today’s globalized world, tax evasion is occurring on a massive scale. As corporations and wealthy individuals shift their assets into offshore tax havens, the annual loss in global tax revenues is more than $500 billion. This huge revenue shortfall…

  • Youth Voices: Harper’s Crime Strategy

    Closing the Doors on Youth  On November 12th, 2010, the federal government announced an investment of $45 million to increase the number of beds in Manitoba jails. Steven Harper’s Conservative government has made it well known that getting tough on crime is a top priority. While there is evidence that…

  • On average, who knew Wednesday was World Statistics Day?

    I’ll bet I was one of the few people in British Columbia that was a little excited that last Wednesday was set aside to honour statistics. The United Nations General Assembly declared October 20th World Statistics Day.  The Under-Secretary for Economic and Social Affairs issued a statement saying: Reliable, timely…

  • The Infinite Economic Growth Myth

    Profit maximization now a fatal corporate priority While on my summer vacation, I try to isolate myself for a few weeks from the worsening global troubles that beset us all. But this year, try as I might to lose myself in light-reading thrillers and fantasies, worrisome news from the real…