Thoughts on BC Politics and More

  In November of 2015, newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote an open letter to Canadians. In that letter among other promises the PM offered this: “… we committed to set a higher bar for openness and transparency in Ottawa. Government and its information must be open by default. Simply put, it is time to shine more light on government to make sure it remains focused on the people it was created to serve- you .” I believe these words that the Prime Minister wrote to Canadians in 2015 are important and must be honoured. As the Official Opposition, it is also our role to hold the Prime Minister and his Liberal government accountable for these and other promises made to Canadians. Accountability is vital. It is why, in 2006, former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper created the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) to help hold your government accountable. It should also be noted that the creation of the PBO was the result of a campaign promise made b

  Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Government of Canada is fully within its jurisdiction to impose a carbon tax on provinces, even if the duly elected governments of those provinces oppose the imposition of such a tax.   Their rationale? The wisdom of Greta Thunberg.  Judges aren’t scientists. They aren’t climate experts. Yet in this case the judges have acted like they are both. I’m surprised they didn’t quote Greta directly with a “how dare you” statement. In effect that is what they have given us. What the court did was declare that global warming – a term even environmentalists weren’t using this winter in the Northern hemisphere because we kept having cold snaps – causes harm beyond provincial boundaries. The Court rules that global warming is therefore a matter of national concern that allows the federal government to rely on its residual constitutional power, found in the “peace order and good government” clause of the constitution, to impose a t

With the vaccine rollout in full swing, the public’s attention is increasingly focused on economic recovery. In a research paper published by the Montreal Economic Institute, researchers Miguel Ouellette and Krystle Wittevrongel propose a very simple solution: a true free trade agreement among the Canadian provinces.   This publication includes among other things a ranking of the provinces and territories according to their openness to internal trade. Alberta takes first place, and Quebec comes in last.   “While the provinces negotiated an agreement in 2017, barriers to trade remain and the majority of provinces have made no progress,” points out economist Miguel Ouellette. “In fact, British Columbia now has more trade barriers than it did in 2017.”   “This is a very important debate. The elimination of trade barriers could grow the Canadian economy by 3.8% per capita with very little effort and no public spending,” continues Mr. Ouellette. “Moreover, it is the poorer pro