I joined Jerry Agar on Newstalk 1010 in his Party for Two segment today.
1. Today is carbon tax increase day! The point of most taxes is to raise funds for the state to spend on public services. The point of the carbon tax is to punish people for consuming carbon – it aims to change your behaviour. But, to blunt the stick, the government has added a carrot: they’ll give you some of your money back. If you believe the federal government, you’ll get more money back than you paid out. If you believe the Parliamentary Budget Officer, you’ll pay more than you get back. If you have any common sense at all, you know the PBO has to be right. It’s basic math.
The problem with behaviour modification taxes is there has to be another alternative to choose. Smokers and drinkers can choose not to smoke or drink. But no one can choose not to use energy. There simply are not enough affordable alternatives available to most Canadians. Not yet.
The other problem with Canada’s carbon tax is that it increases the cost of everything – because every chair we sit on, every bite of food we eat, every medicine we consume requires energy to produce, distribute and deliver. So it’s all more expensive. Carbon tax isn’t the only reason life is more expensive, but it is a reason – and it’s the direct, intentional result of a government decision. It’s a decision that hurts people today in order, it hopes, to make a better tomorrow. The question is, how many will starve before that better tomorrow arrives?
2. Brampton mayor calls out ‘witch hunt’ in response to city audit. An internal audit of contracting in the City of Brampton found that four of 16 sole-source contracts (collectively worth $900,000) were missing documents. It also found none of the contracts included declarations of conflict of interest – which are not required under the city’s purchasing rules. Two contracts worth a total of $685,000 were issued without a competition, despite rules requiring competitive purchasing processes for contracts over $25,000.
Brampton does not have an independent Auditor General like Toronto does. Past questionable purchasing has created political scandals and Mayor Patrick Brown suggests the internally-directed audit process is often wielded as a political weapon. That is true of many accountability offices in many municipalities – especially so-called “Integrity Commissioners” who spend the bulk of their time investigating complaints from one politician about the rudeness of another.
Patrick Brown is a Big City Mayor. Big Cities have independent Auditors General who can decide on their own what to investigate. Perhaps it’s time for Brampton to hire one.
3. Video shows confrontation with Melanie Joly. No one should accost an elected official on the street. That’s just rude. If it makes the official fear for her safety, then that’s also assault. That certainly seems to be the case in the first seconds of this in-your-face encounter between a seemingly unhinged zealot seeking social media glory and Canada’s foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly. Joly strikes out at the man and bats his camera phone away. On its face, that seems an unnecessarily aggressive reaction from the minister. If you assume she knows it’s a camera. But, watch the scene again. We know it’s a camera, because we’re watching the video it recorded. She is accosted by an angry man and turns to see something being pointed at her head well-within arm’s reach of her face. Is it a gun? Is it a knife? A spray bottle? Maybe she doesn’t know. Maybe she responds instinctively in a defensive move to push the object away from her face. I’m on the minister’s side on this one. The man assaulted her. He should be investigated.
4. Veterans Affairs Canada celebrates March Holiday Season. The biggest fail of this tweet celebrating the “March Holiday Season” is that it was posted on March 29th – at the end of it! Why wait until the end of the March Holiday Season before even acknowledging it? How rude!
5. Does music play a factor in your restaurant experience? Restaurants spend money to licence canned music they play in their dining rooms. They choose the tunes carefully. Or they play radio – and the choice of station is normally dictated by management. Why? Because good restaurants aren’t just selling food. Food isn’t worth a fraction of what most restaurants charge for it. They’re selling an experience. That experience includes the food, the drink, the service and the ambience – the décor, the seating, and yes – the sound. Some restaurants pipe in crowd sounds because their patrons like to feel the buzz of a busy atmosphere. Others choose carpets or concrete to affect the way sound propagates, echoes or disappears in the space.
Of course, the music is an important part of the dining experience. Restauranteurs know this. That’s why they pay such close attention to it.
6. Canada sends troops to Jamaica. Canada has deployed 70 soldiers to Jamaica to help train 330+ troops from Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas who are scheduled to be part of an international peacekeeping force in Haiti. There is no functional civil authority in Haiti. There is no rule of law. There is only violence, death and chaos. Haitians need help. Haiti needs law and order. It needs a force to impose order so a new government can be formed. This will take many troops and a long time.
Canada, the largest, richest French-speaking nation near Haiti is the obvious choice to provide it. But, to our great shame, we do not have a military capable of doing this. Nor do we have the political will. But, we can train others who do. Our soldiers have the skills to do this. Our military has the experience – and it has a base in Jamaica to work from. Our troops will do a good job. In fact, they already have. Canadians started training Caribbean troops in Jamaica in January for this Haiti mission.
The interesting irony here is that Haiti is a French-speaking nation. Canada has sent French-speaking soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the storied Vandoos to do the training. But, they’ll be training troops from Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas – all of them English speaking. Is this a function of our cupboard running bare? Is this foreshadowing a Canadian troop contribution in Haiti? The Kenyans, who were to provide command and control of the peacekeeping force in Haiti – but is likely to renege. Will Canada step in? Can we?
7. Niagara declares State of Emergency for eclipse. In the Dark Ages, the sudden unexpected darkness of a solar eclipse was interpreted as a harbinger of Armageddon, sparking fear and panic. Today, we know well in advance when and where a solar eclipse will occur. So our fear and panic starts early. That’s progress, I guess.
The Niagara Regional government has declared a state of emergency in advance of the solar eclipse that will occur on April 8th. They deserve all the mockage that has ensued. The reason they’ve done this, though, is worthy of some consideration. A state of emergency allows – requires, in fact – disparate government departments to work together as a team, it enables efficient decision making and quick response. It facilitates rapid, effective inter-governmental cooperation and assistance. All things that are essential to manage an emergency.
Also things that governments should be able to do in normal times. It shouldn’t take a state of emergency to get governments working efficiently. We should restructure our governments so they achieve the benefits of an emergency every single day.