Toronto’s 2015 Pan Am Games to Cost Taxpayers $11.6B?

In August of 2009, members of Freedom Party of Ontario (an duly registered political party in the Province of Ontario, Canada, of which I am currently leader) commenced a non-partisan No Tax for Pan Am campaign: Yes to the Games, No to using tax revenues to pay for the games. The campaign got a fair bit of attention (see the official web site: www.notaxforpanam.com ) but time and budget limitations the campaign’s reach/effectiveness. Another factor: a door to door campaign was made infeasible by the bid committee’s increasing of the geographic area occupied by the games. Freedom Party having defeated London, Ontario’s 1984 bid for the 1991 Pan Am Games, the bid committee for the Toronto 2015 games (led by 80’s era Liberal MPP David Peterson, who was also Premier in the late 1980s) spread the venues across towns spanning over 100 kilometres. Read more

Freedom School (blog edition) No. 1 – “Are free markets to blame?”

Yaron Brook, Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, California, together with his colleague, Alex Epstein, recently appeared on a local television program “to discuss the roots of the financial meltdown, and why free markets are not to blame.” Before I had watched the video, my initial response to the discussion topic was:

“why free markets are not to blame”…isn’t that the same reason that fairies are not to blame? A is A.

My initial response was misguided, as was Epstein’s. Read more

“The P.O.P”: A New Movie by Paul McKeever (trailer)

In the coming weeks, I will be releasing a full-length film (a documentary), the ‘code-name’ of which is “The P.O.P.”. It features the last three decades of the political activities of Marc Emery, who is these days most widely recognized as Canada’s “Prince of Pot” (a titled conferred upon him by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in the mid-nineties, and popularized by CNN in 1997. I today released a trailer for the film (see below). If you don’t want to miss it when it is released, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel: the movie will be available on YouTube. You can also check back here periodically, or sign-up (on the main page of my blog) to receive updates via e-mail. Read more

The Right Economic Direction for Ontario’s Government

Over at the National Post’s “Full Comment” blog today , the Post is doing its darnedest to prop up Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader Tim Hudak as someone who…is known to exist. In the second of two National Post op-eds in (has it been?) as many weeks, Hudak resorts to the tactic of criticizing the other guy but offering nothing unequivocal or unambiguous as an alternative. In the midst of a much-deserved bashing of the Liberals, the best (and only thing) Hudak can offer, in terms of an alternative is this: Read more

Democracy, Dale Goldhawk Style?

As some of you may know, I am the leader of Freedom Party of Ontario, which is an officially-registered political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. There is currently a by-election in the riding of St. Paul’s to fill the seat recently vacated by Michael Bryant, and I am Freedom Party’s candidate in that by-election.

Today, I received the following e-mail from Kelly Todd, the producer of “Goldhawk Live” (Rogers TV – Toronto): Read more

Short Note re: the Mythically Anti-socialist Conservative Party

Gerry Nicholls, former Vice President of the National Citizens Coalition, is apparently still buying the nonsense drilled into peoples heads about Conservative parties. In a Letter to the Editor today, in one of Canada’s national newspapers, the Globe and Mail, Gerry writes, in part: Read more

The Liberal Doth Protest Too Much, Methinks

Two days ago, the Chronicle Herald published a story in which they describe a taped conversation between Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and her then aide Jasmine MacDonnell.  The two women are heard discussing the issue of the radioactive isotope shortage that has resulted from the May 15th shutdown of a  52-year-old nuclear reactor (the reactor was shut down due to water leakage).  Raitt says to MacDonnell that it is “good” that Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq is avoiding media exposure over the isotope “crisis”, because it will allow Raitt to take all of the credit when the crisis is resolved. Read more

2nd Draft: A Charter for Government (feedback requested)

I begin this entry with an expression of thanks to all who took the time to read, think about, and comment upon, the first draft of the Charter for Government. In particular, I would like to thank David Odden over at ObjectivismOnline.net (in the discussion forum). He was looking for a better integration/explanation of the interaction of rights of life, liberty, and property. Most of what has been changed in the second draft (below) was inspired by his critique. Read more

Letter to Canada’s Governor General Re: Constitutionality of Senate Appointments

December 16, 2008

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Governor General of Canada
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A1

Excellency:

It was reported today that Mr. Jack Layton, the leader of the New Democratic Party (”NDP”) has provided you with a copy of his letter of even date to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It would appear that he has done so in the hope that you will refuse to appoint any Senators until after the House of Commons has, by means of a vote in the new year, expressed its confidence in the government. Mr. Layton was today quoted as having said:

[Prime Minister Harper] ducked the test, the fundamental test of his legitimacy to make these recommendations through a prorogation (of Parliament) and he’s now pretending that he has the full legitimacy to move forward. This is an abuse of his power.

Reportedly, Mr. Layton asserts that a letter allegedly signed by a majority of Members of Parliament (”MPs”), demonstrates that the government has lost the confidence of the House.

Excellency, I am writing to submit to you that Mr. Layton’s submissions are incorrect as a matter of both fact and law, and to express my concern that, were you to refuse the appointment of Senators on the ground that the government lacks the confidence of the house; or were you to refuse on the ground that the government must first demonstrate, through vote, that it has the confidence of the House; a precedent would be set that could undermine our system of Responsible Government for years to come. Read more

Hypocrisy Watch: Liberals Cannot Condemn Conservative Senate Appointments

Today, the National Post editorial board published an editorial that, in effect, argues that the Prime Minister of Canada, Conservative party leader Stephen Harper, should not fill the 18 vacancies in Canada’s 105 seat “upper chamber”, the Senate. They fear that doing so in the weeks leading up to a confidence vote on the budget might result in public discontent, and that such discontent might have the effect of breathing some air into a Liberal-NDP “coalition” that will probably otherwise die after a Michael Ignatieff-led Liberal party votes in favour of the budget. In other words: they fear that filling the vacancies might cause the Liberals to vote-down the budget in January, and trigger an election in which a Liberal leader who has not yet humiliated himself does battle with Harper.

Their fear is misplaced. The Prime Minister should fill the vacancies. At the same time, the Conservatives – and the National Post – should nip in the bud the Liberals most likely argument: the idea that the Conservative government lacks the confidence of the House such that it is wrong – morally if not also legally – to appoint Senators before the budget vote passes. In particular, they should remind everyone of a little history. Read more

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