JUSTCAWS

  Everything is louder during an election, but all Canadian media and politicians want to talk about Trump's Trade policies. What seems absent is more discussion about how we got here. “Liberation Day” seems as good a time as ever with the U.S. and other countries abandoning free trade in the pursuit of protectionist policies. It is worth asking why the electorate has elected leaders like Tariff Trump? Trade barriers like tariffs are used to protect domestic industries by making either trade difficult or raising the cost of imported goods so consumers will buy domestic goods and protect jobs from domestic industries. The case for eliminating these barriers is that free trade allows countries to specialize in products that they can produce cheaper or have a comparative advantage (ie. lower opportunity cost and or better quality product) over other countries.  The cost savings is then passed on to consumers. This part of the free trade deal has been partially kept.  But bu...

  Years ago when Pierre Trudeau died I wore a red rose on my lapel to mark the sombre occasion. I say this so the following comments are not taken as some partisan rant, but an objective assessment. I last voted for Justin Trudeau back in 2015 with the hopes of his government offering a breath fresh air in electoral reform. Instead the air blown in our face was pot smoke. That being his signature accomplishment compared to his Dad’s string of a achievements, it’s little wonder that his party has been in minority status ever since. Like his Dad, Justin believes in an activist government and likes the spotlight. So while my small government leanings don’t gel with either, I admired Pierre’s courage and integrity and lament Justin’s lacking. Justin’s divisive approach during and since Covid show a Prime Minister that is more concerned with exploiting division to maintain power than risk alienating his base to unite. Now in the twilight of Justin’s reign, the departure from his Dad’s p...

So here we go again. More self - inflicted pain felt most by the working poor. Right on the heels of the pandemic where the less important delivered food to the too important to go out crowd. Now we have record food and gas prices.   I am not going debate the merits of our covid lockdown response here - but it is rather clear suffering was not evenly felt. The line "we are all in this together" - became a punchline rather than a rallying cry.  Covid was the threat and we were told to shut down.  Now the climate crisis is back on the front burner and it’s the existential threat we must extinguish. Yet again, we are asking the working poor to do most of the heavy lifting.  To combat climate change progressive leaning governments have targeted fossil fuels and the oil industry. Oil isn't just a dirty substance, it's now a dirty word.  Any exploration, development and production are to be curtailed.  One of Biden's first acts was shutting down the Keystone...

Florida Parents Bill of Rights Law - aka Don't Say Gay Law has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. One would hope there would be some professional discretion allowed on behalf of educators to follow age appropriate curriculum in discussing  matters with students. Unfortunately, too many parents have lost faith in educators south of the border to be professional and impartial.  Heavy union involvement has politicized the profession and moved teachers beyond educational awareness to blatant indoctrination of social causes. Just read the political posturing of teachers on social media for examples of bias and professional misconduct. Whether that bias leaks into the classroom or not (I know my parental experience and comments from others  it sadly does) the perception of impartiality is lost. Why any teacher union promotes, let alone allows teachers to take grievances to social media is beyond me.  The poor conduct of members in the public square is terrible public r...

Click  HERE  for the published version. With so much time on our hands, it is only natural that many have turned to social platforms to offer their two cents on how our governments are responding to the COVID – 19 crisis. So let me chime in, with my nickels worth of observations. I have nothing but praise for the way our governments has handled this difficult, unprecedented situation. In fact, I believe Canadian leaders of all political stripes have done an admirable job of maintaining a balance between trying to protect public health and the economy.   This is evident if you dare enter the arena of social media. Here you have people posting that governments are overreacting, causing too much economic damage to our economy and impoverished. While the other side believes government is not doing enough to protect the public health of the most vulnerable.   To tick both sides off governments have obviously achieved some sort of a middle ground. Unfortun...