All students deserve a learning environment that is free of political indoctrination
If you’ve been around for a while, you probably remember the phrase “politically correct.” Being called politically correct was not a compliment. Instead, it meant that you had an unhealthy obsession with not offending anyone, even if you had to say some rather silly things in the process. For example, instead of saying husband or…
Almost 24 per cent now cutting back on food purchases, almost 70 per cent of whom are women
While inflation is showing signs of dissipating, food inflation appears to be on a totally different path. Food inflation has outpaced our general inflation rate for over 12 months now. Statistics Canada just announced that the food inflation rate for retail was 10.8 per cent and 7.4 per cent in food service. Canada ranks third…
Both sectors face inflationary pressures but are being dealt with very differently
As anyone who has ever spent time in the kitchen knows, when a pot is boiling over, you do not put a lid on it. You lower the heat. Adding a cover does nothing to reduce the cause of all the excess bubbles and steam. In fact, increasing the pressure within the vessel generates an…
No. The need to broaden access and expand government contributions is urgent
The risk of recession is now in clear sight. But as the Bank of Canada pursues a course of aggressive interest rate hikes designed to wrestle inflation to the ground, the potential cost is hundreds of thousands of jobs. The August labour force survey is already revealing a worrying increase in the unemployment rate. At…
Canadian workers will pay the price of this silly political posturing
Hundreds of people who pull wrenches for a living have a unique point of view on Ottawa’s new luxury tax. Most of us might not be too bothered by a tax on super cars and private jets, and even the rich might not lose much sleep over paying a bit more for a yacht or…
Increases to the Marginal Effective Tax Rate taking even more of your hard-earned money
New Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is correct when he says governments discourage work with taxes and clawbacks. The Marginal Effective Tax Rate (METR) measures what government takes from each new dollar earned in taxes and clawbacks of income-related government benefits. In his leadership acceptance speech and an August 19 video called “Make work pay,” Poilievre…
Many won’t survive
After a slew of confinements and closures, restaurants are still not out of the woods. Far from it. Over the past year in Canada, restaurant closures outpaced openings by a whopping 43 per cent. The industry is still shrinking. Inflation-adjusted food service sales will be around 11 per cent below 2019 levels by the time…
There is no place for the state in the kitchens of the nation
During the current campaign in Quebec, one political party recently proposed a protein shift in the public cafeterias and institutions by offering a menu made up of 50 per cent plant-based protein meals. In the same vein, the party also suggested that 70 per cent of food products served in public institutions be local. Local…
Canada has to step up to the plate and help its allies
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s recent visit to Atlantic Canada was an opportunity for a serious long-term strategy to address several different aims: European Union (EU) energy security, East Coast economic development, Canadian energy industry growth (and higher federal tax revenue), and the likely-alarmist crusade to lower carbon dioxide emissions. The result of his visit, unfortunately,…
Not to do so hurts us, our allies and the environment
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently completed a trip to Canada to discuss, among other things, Europe importing Canadian natural gas. With the invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions that followed, Germany, which imported 55 per cent of its natural gas from Russia in 2021, has had to reopen some coal plants and has started looking…