JUSTCAWS

  Just woke up from the screeching tires of another late night street race. Now that I’m up, I might as well write about something where everyone seems to have an opinion. When it comes to the issue of speed cameras there should be enough space for middle of the road consensus. Ontario Doug Ford says he will ban them while other politicians have put their finger in the air and banned them already - see former Provincial Liberal leader Steven Del Duca (now Mayor of Vaughan) have  already done so. They see a political winner in going against the cash grab and the surveillance state vibe cameras create. Those in favour of the cameras rightfully point out one clear fact - they work. Perhaps too well for their survival. Cities that once deployed a few in trouble spots expanded them in community zones where there was a need or a vocal neighborhood who wanted them. Here in Guelph 4 cameras became 12, but at least here we have kept them where they belong - in school zones. Other place...

  While times of crisis are something to endure and not celebrate, they do provide an opportunity for us to be reminded of what’s really important. The chaos of Trump and the economic pain he has inflicted thus far on Canada has been manageable, but the toll from the uncertainty grows each day. The threat of the tariff hurricane still looms and if our current trade deal is scrapped next year - look out. It is for this reason governments have to look at their upcoming budgets and make some tough choices. Governments like everyone else have to manage money coming in and going out. Just like many of us, they pay interest on the debt owed. When governments spend beyond their means they add to the debt and more of the money coming in from taxes is eaten up just servicing that debt. Last year the feds spent more debt payments than they did on healthcare transfers to all the provinces! To fix this fiscal mess, governments could simply raise taxes, but asking people to pay more when they ...

  An opportunity to solve many of our persistent social ills with significant funding has arrived on Canada’s doorstep. With our new PM’s pledge to dramatically increase our military spending to meet our NATO commitments - we can finally provide drug treatment and housing to all those in need. How’s that? Rather than viewing military spending as competing with social programs for tax dollars - we should look at military spending AS a social program. If viewed under that lens - a right leaning capitalist country like the United States looks much more socialist. Average citizens may have trouble getting free healthcare, but American enlistees not only get free health care, but food shelter and post secondary education as well. Now I know not everyone wants to join the military and compromise their values by putting a rifle in their hand to achieve economic salvation. But what if the military broke into two separate branches of combat and non-combat. The Canadian military already serv...

If you follow the Blue Jays like me, you probably have been trying to figure out what the heck has been happening with this team’s remarkable turnaround. It was only a short while ago that fans were lamenting another lost season that was looking a lot like last year. Good starting pitching and defense were being let down by an anemic offense. I normally like to write a column summarizing the season at the half way point. This year I had to wait to understand how the Jays had become the best team in all of baseball. To have a good season some things have to go your way, but to have a season like this - almost everything has to come up roses. So what happened? For starters, the injuries to the major offseason acquisitions of Santander and Gimenez who were struggling mightily at the time, forced the Blue Jays manager’s hand to start playing Ernie Clement and Addison Barger on a regular basis. Those two have been a major upgrade. They both strike out a lot less and both can play well at a ...

  Everything is louder during an election, but all Canadian media and politicians want to talk about Trump's Trade policies. What seems absent is more discussion about how we got here. “Liberation Day” seems as good a time as ever with the U.S. and other countries abandoning free trade in the pursuit of protectionist policies. It is worth asking why the electorate has elected leaders like Tariff Trump? Trade barriers like tariffs are used to protect domestic industries by making either trade difficult or raising the cost of imported goods so consumers will buy domestic goods and protect jobs from domestic industries. The case for eliminating these barriers is that free trade allows countries to specialize in products that they can produce cheaper or have a comparative advantage (ie. lower opportunity cost and or better quality product) over other countries.  The cost savings is then passed on to consumers. This part of the free trade deal has been partially kept.  But bu...

Many of us are still confused as to why Americans would elect a political party hell bent on cutting the size of government and turning its back on helping the world. I’ve been taken back by the change, but the voter frustration that has led to it has been building for sometime. If liberals are still wondering why their brand is under siege globally, perhaps a lesson about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can help explain. I’ve learned and taught about Maslow so many times I feel like I met him, even though he died before I was born. His premise was that humans are motivated to satisfy a pyramid of needs and that until our most basic needs are met (food, water and shelter) we won’t concern ourselves with any higher purpose. Once the basics are met then people move onto safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem and finally fulfilment. I believe the same motivation holds true for voters. Nobody will concern themselves about more progressive causes or concern themselves with...

  Wanted to follow up on a column I wrote nearly five years ago during the wake of the George Floyd murder.  It is interesting to look back at the counterproductive movement that followed and the inevitable retreat that is happening now. I appreciated the frustration at the time that society was not doing enough when people saw a live murder take place at the hands of police on their screens. What followed however, was a lack of appreciation for past progress made and the idea that everything done before was lost. Being colour blind was apparently wrong and we needed to wake up to now see everything through the lens of race. Equality of opportunity, an inspirational goal with broad support, was replaced with equality of outcomes, a concept that few believe in. So it is not surprising that the over compensation has now been rejected. You probably heard about a former President who just won an election riding the wave of anti woke sentiment. Corporations whose only allegiance is...

                                             It takes a lot to get Canadians angry, but when an economic war is declared on your country by your number one ally, feelings of betrayal can quickly turn hostile. Case in point the crowd in Ottawa booing the American national anthem at last Saturday’s hockey game. Expect more uncharacteristic actions of hostility by Canadians if this provocation continues or escalates further. Personally, I am not buying that Americans won’t care what Canadians think. Yes, they did vote in Trump, but they didn’t sign up for a trade war with their northern neighbour.  Properly calculating the American public’s response is vitally important in determining how Canada should react. It should also be remembered that this is Trump’s trade war with us, it doesn’t have broad support even among his own party. Of course they will go along with Trump,...

Due to my current occupational hazard, the one topic that I am asked most often is for my view on cryptocurrencies. I haven’t written on this before because it's not a topic easily understood or explained. By this point however, I believe most people have an underlying understanding, or at least have soundbite they can repeat so they sound like they know what they're talking about. Perhaps before getting into what crypto is, it is best to explain what it isn’t. One thing to remember is that crypto currency is virtual, there are no actual physical coins or bills being circulated. When you see an image of Bitcoin (the most popular of the crypto currencies) used in a news story, it is used for visual purposes only - to quote Getrude Stein “there is no there there”. Its value is entirely determined by what investors are willing to pay for it, and the only way to make money is to sell it to someone else at a higher price. If that sounds like any other investment, there are some key ...