JUSTCAWS

I am heartened to see many videos and images this morning of Police joining with peaceful protesters in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. While racism in society is pervasive and progress toward true equality moves at a frustratingly slow pace, the relationship citizens have with those sworn with a duty to protect them is at the core of this anger. I am not a police officer and I have no family connection to law enforcement. However, like many of us I know many and some very well. I have heard their stories and have nothing, but respect for the job they do. Many of the officers I know are also black. I have deep admiration for these heroes because I would imagine their sense of duty to their communities comes with an inner battle that must be won before they join that group and don that uniform. So I am careful not to suggest solutions in policing, or offer changes to law enforcement structures that I don’t understand.   I am a member of another professional tribe an...

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...

To commemorate black history month I am posting my first column published this month 28 years ago.  In pursuit of this goal I spoke with a number of professors and scholars including Duke University's John Hope Franklin. I also traveled to the University of Guelph  and meet with Dr. C.J. Mumford. I was able to have a sit down meeting with the Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario.  The column did build awareness around the issue and I am pleased to see that Western now offers this course. I hope a diverse group takes this class. So what now... I continue to advocate for a strong, diverse public education system.  Learning in a diverse setting that has a deep respect for human rights, builds a strong foundation of perspective and understanding. And in the future... Many of our culture wars and petty political squabbles are inconsequential in a global context. Our biggest global problems will only be solved with a global mindset. We must embr...

In our last lesson we showed you how to easily put aside a portion of your paycheque into a high interest savings account. While you enjoy seeing that money grow, we can now focus on making your walking around cash last. Tracking your spending indicated how much money you need to get by on between pay periods. Whatever that amount is, go to your bank’s ATM and take it out in cash. I told you to use a debit card before — so that you could track where your money was going over a month’s time. We’ve done that — so now we can start using cash to make our purchases. There are many reasons to do this — but a key one is that you will spend less money using cash to buy things instead of debit. Why? You will control your own spending because you will always know how much money you have left. If your bank has provided your account with overdraft protection, you have the option of going into debt if your account balance goes below zero. You pay fees and interest every time you use this dangerous ...

Ah, April, that beautiful time of year when the snow melts away and things are supposed to warm up. April is also tax season for Canadians. With that in mind, this lesson in finance will examine income taxes from a teenage perspective. For the 2018 tax year, the basic personal tax exemption is $11,809. If you earn under this amount, then you don’t have to pay federal income taxes. Some employers, however, will deduct income taxes from students’ paycheques if the gross pay they earn, pro-rated for the year, is greater than the exemption limit. Many students who only work during the summer months are in this situation. If, for example, a student earns $2,000 a month during July and August — but does not work the rest of the year — their employer will deduct income taxes from their paycheque even though they are earning below the exemption limit. To the employer, the student’s monthly earnings equate to $24,000 (12 months times $2,000). This amount is above the exemption limit, and theref...

OK, time for a little review. We began our first lesson telling you to get a job. Then you were told how rich you are right now and the need to keep track of where all your money is going. Finally, you were given some motivation to start saving your cash now for the tsunami of bills that are coming your way. Now we can move forward. This lesson is all about saving your money with ease. To begin taking charge of our money, we must use the tools out there that make spending our money easy to do. The great thing about this plan is it is flexible to accommodate a wide variety of income scenarios. It can be used no matter how much you make, just as long as you have money coming in on a regular basis — either through an allowance or paycheque. The amount of money can also vary from one paycheque to the next. There are numerous saving products offered by the banks. Unfortunately, many, such as savings bonds or Guaranteed Investment Certificates, require that you have money already saved up be...

If you are a high school senior your inner desire for independence is beginning to emerge. Your ability to move out of your parents’ shadow and be your own person is going to be tied with your financial independence. If your folks are still buying everything for you or giving you a steady allowance, they are stunting your financial growth. It’s time to lay claim to your own financial independence. If you don’t have a job yet — get one. You are never going to be able to manage your own money if you don’t have any of your own money to manage. Many young people shy away from working because they or their parents feel it will hurt their marks at school. As long as you are not involved heavily in extracurricular activities you should be able to handle up to 15 hours a week. From my research and observation teaching high school students, academic performance begins to suffer around the 15 hour per week mark depending on the student. Some students can push it, but go 20 hours or m...

I told my friend the other day that I think the Olympics has become a sham. He said,   “When did you get so cynical”? Well, I can tell you it didn’t happen yesterday. The Olympics have marked the passing time of my once innocent youth, to becoming a cynical, but wiser adult.   Growing up as flag waving American, I remember watching the U.S. hockey team win gold with the 1980 “Miracle on Ice”.  I was inspired by this underdog team and reveled in watching sport and patriotism being celebrated in unison.  In 1984, I fell for Mary Lou Retton and marveled at the circus like routines all the gymnasts performed. Four year later however, I found my innocence slipping away.  The myth of America was beginning to fade for me and with that I found myself cheering with the rest of my Canadian school mates for Ben Johnson in the 100 metre dash.  Early on, when Johnson claimed that he had not taken steroids – I believed him. I was naïve to believe that some p...