by Stephen Kimber
Last week, lawyers for Darryl Dexter's NDP government were in court arguing, in a bureaucratic, tone-deaf, legally proper but morally questionable way, to exclude parts of the complainants’ affidavits in the Coloured Children Home case, on technical criteria.
from Inside Queen's Park Vol 26, No12
Premier Kathleen Wynne and Finance minister Charles Sousa celebrated the passage of Budget 2013 with gleeful hugs. When, however, they crossed the floor to acknowledge the crucial backing extended by Andrea Horwath’s NDP in return for auto insurance premium cuts and other budgetary concessions, the exuberant moment on the Speaker’s right hand quickly melted away into decidedly un-exuberant hand-shakes on his left-hand side.
by Bill Tieleman
"What is it about being old and infirm that you can be treated with indignity?"
– Independent MLA Vicki Huntington on the $25 monthly wheelchair rental fee
The provincial election is over. Now it’s time to force elderly disabled people to pay the price for the BC Liberals’ promise to balance the budget this year. Starting September 1, both the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal Health authorities will charge seniors a $25 monthly “maintenance” fee for use of a wheelchair in public extended care facilities.
by Ricardo Acuña
Somewhere at Edmonton's city hall there is a document that everyone in Edmonton should read. The document is called Southeast to West LRT P3 Business Case and it was prepared by the city's administration. Within it is the detailed financial and risk analysis for Edmonton's new southeast LRT line, which is to be built as a public-private partnership (P3).
P3s come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but in the case of the southeast LRT it means that a private for-profit company or consortium will be handed responsibility for all aspects of the project, from design and building to operation and maintenance, for a 30-year period.
by John Baglow
A great Canadian is dead. I first met Henry Morgentaler in 1964, when he spoke at the founding meeting of the McGill Humanist Association. The next time was 1970: the Abortion Caravan, which had traversed the country to protest restrictive and dangerous abortion laws, pitched up in Ottawa. They and their local supporters trooped into the House of Commons for a speech session in, if I remember rightly, the Railway Committee Room.
from the Ontario Environment Commission
TORONTO, June 5, 2013 — Ontario's Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller says the government's long-term energy policy could wipe out some of the gains that have been made in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
by Bill Tieleman
"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.'"<
US President Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919
Canada owes Senator Mike Duffy an enormous debt of gratitude — and I'm not kidding. Who else but excommunicated-Conservative Duffy could single-handedly put the issue of reforming or abolishing the Senate at the top of the national agenda?
by Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
The demise of the National Council of Welfare, announced in the 2012 Budget, would have punched a huge hole in Canada’s social policy database. The Council’s annual Welfare Incomes and Poverty Profile reports had for decades provided invaluable information on welfare and low income. Rather than simply lamenting this potential loss, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy is acting to rescue this important data by taking over its preparation and distribution.
by Samantha Power
Two of Alberta's largest treaty groups were taken by surprise when a new consultation act was introduced into the legislature this past session and became law on May 27. "We were dismayed at the introduction," says Victor Horseman, the grand chief liaison with Treaty 8 of Bill 22: The Aboriginal Consultation Levy Act. "This doesn't show good faith."
from Inside Queen's ParkVolume 26, Number 11
The NDP delivered last week on its promise to back a revised Budget 2013 “that will make people’s lives better and government more accountable”. Forty-eight Liberals and 17 NDPers voted in favour, for a total of 65 "Ayes". The Progressive Conservatives turned out en masse to cast 36 "Nays." [48 + 17 + 36 = 101.]
