House of cards
One of the reasons Canadians generally fared better than our U.S. neighbours when financial markets froze over in 2008 and in the recession that followed was that, relatively speaking, we didn’t have as much household debt. But while we were managing our own affairs rather ably, we neglected to watch our government as carefully—particularly our […]
Darker days
September tends to make me a bit blue—a bit more anxious. A few decades after it has lost any personal significance there remains the existential sadness that summer is over and it is time to get back to school. But it isn’t just the calendar that has me worried these days. I worry about worry—I […]
Into temptation
It will be tempting for the provincial opposition parties in Ontario to leap on the decision by B.C. voters last week to scrap the HST in that province. They must resist the temptation. B.C. voters chose in a referendum last week to get rid of a hugely unpopular tax that many felt was heaved upon […]
Remembering
What is the purpose of memory? Clearly on an evolutionary or selfpreservation basis our memories remind us what food to eat, they help us avoid the things that would like to eat us and aid us to form social connections that help ensure others see us as helpful associates rather than another protein source. But […]
Unravelling
It was another tough week for Dalton McGuinty on the energy file. First the European Union jumped on board the effort to force the Ontario government to open its renewable energy market to international suppliers. McGuinty understood all along that if his dream of wind turbines on every horizon and solar panels on every pasture […]
Principles of our parents
There are no more easy options. In fact the notion that we had easy fixes and painless solutions to over-consumption and declining competitiveness, compiled over decades, has likely contributed to the scale of the challenges financial markets are grappling with this week, and we are all likely to endure for the next couple of years. […]
Five years later
Fran Renoy called this week to say that Scott Rowand had passed away. Readers will remember Scott Rowand as the consultant hired by then-Health Minister George Smitherman to paper over Quinte Health Care’s plans (at the time) to gut the hospitals in Picton and Trenton in order to shore up resources at Belleville General Hospital. […]
One option remains
The health risk posed by industrial wind turbines is not a legal issue—it is a political one.This is what Ontarians have learned from an environmental review tribunal (ERT) decision rendered this week. Ontarians now know for certain they can’t rely on the mechanisms of the Green Energy Act to protect them or their families—if they […]
Creative financing
How does a $65 million courthouse bear a $270 million price tag for Ontario taxpayers? (see story here) Forgive me, readers, for I stray off the County this week in an attempt to understand how the province is spending your tax dollars and mine across the bridge. Let’s first describe the problem we are trying […]
Get-green-quick schemes
Leona Dombrowsky gets full marks for showing up. The Liberal candidate and incumbent for Prince Edward-Hastings surely knew there wouldn’t be many votes to be won when she attended a press conference in Milford last week called by the South Shore Conservancy. The naturalist group has been leading the opposition to the development of an […]