in the news

They take us for fools

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I am by Canadian standards low-income. I try to live simply here on my secluded, rural property on a modest pension income, supplemented by a relatively small amount of money from self-employment.money

I’ve always worked hard, and always will, for as long as I can. In that respect I daresay I’m the same as the vast majority of people in the world, especially these days.

And like most Canadians I’ve always paid my taxes. Now that my 2015 income-tax return is done I have a small amount to pay to help support the cost of government, including the projected $29.4 Billion federal, economic-stimulus budget.

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Many Canadians nearing retirement age facing hard times

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Many thousands of “boomer” generation Canadians are facing a hard financial future with “wholly inadequate” funds set aside for their retirement, says a report made public earlier this week.

The Broadbent Institute report, titled An Analysis of the Economic Circumstances of Canadian Seniors, made me think right away of the Ontario Association of Food Banks’ Hunger Report 2015. It noted an alarming, and unexpected, 35 percent increase in the number of Ontario seniors using food banks last year compared with 2014. Continue reading →

Underground water shortage a growing factor in world turmoil

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What with all the other tragic, troubling and thought-provoking events going on in the world in the aftermath of ISIS terrorist attacks, especially in France, another important though less sensational story may have flown under the radar of public attention; or at least not received the attention it deserves.

Unfortunately that’s often the way with reports of scientific studies published in academic journals, however ground-breaking and important they may be regarding the future of humanity and life on earth.

The operative word here is “under,” as in underground, where water is stored in vast quantities, from relatively shallow to very deep. Continue reading →

A chance meeting, a warm welcome for refugee family

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(Phil here, with an update before I post this November, 2015 “counterpoint” column to this blog: in November the new Liberal government had yet to amend its plan to bring 25,000 refugees to the country by the end of 2015. The plan changed when it became apparent it couldn’t be done. Instead, an amended plan aimed for 10,000 by the end of the year, and a total of 25,000 by the end of February. In mid-February it still appeared that was going to happen.)

 A few months ago a friend of mine was visiting family in London, Ontario and, as she loves to do on such occasions, had taken her two grandchildren for a walk to a nearby park where there’s a playground.

She wasn’t the only one. A man was there with his several young children. And, as is the way with little ones who have not been spoiled by the prejudices of the adult world, the boys and girls began to play together.

My friend, who loves children and has an open, welcoming heart, included all the children in her enjoyment of the moment on that pleasant summer day. The father wanted to express his appreciation. Newly arrived in Canada, he spoke little English. But he managed to say, “I from Syria.” Continue reading →

Capital Punishment Doesn’t Work

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A recent editorial in this newspaper under the heading “10 reasons to oppose the death penalty” listed the names of the 10 Canadians who have been cleared of murder convictions because of miscarriages of justice or are still trying to clear their names. Some, possibly all, of them would have been executed by now if the Canadian government hadn’t outlawed the death penalty in 1976, and re-affirmed that position in 1987 despite polls that showed most Canadians favoured capital punishment. Continue reading →

Candidate Meet for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Riding

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Well, nothing like a dose of cold reality to bring one’s feet down to earth.

Just a few days ago it was easy enough to be fooled into thinking it was still summer, that the possibility of frost and even snow was still somewhere in the future. But a couple of mornings ago I looked out the upstairs window of this old farmhouse and saw the cold, brisk east wind blowing the clouds in the wrong direction – always a bad sign; and the need to take certain steps to batten down the hatches for the winter, and so on, suddenly seemed urgent. Continue reading →

Call it prayer, or not, but make it worthy of the times

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Many years ago – as I often say these days – I had occasion to be sitting in the Press Gallery at the Ontario Legislature.

I was kept busy covering the local controversy surrounding Niagara Escarpment development control in the early 1980s.

That’s by way of background to explain why I was in the Legislature’s Press Gallery one day in 1981 – if memory serves – looking down on that venerable seat of power and authority in Ontario. I believe it was because a local petition was scheduled to be presented to the Legislature.

But after all these years the one thing that still stands out clearly in my mind’s eye is how little the formal opening of the session that day, with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, meant to the vast majority of the MPPs. It meant even less to members of the Press Gallery.

There I was sitting alone, wondering why just two or three MPPs had taken their seats though the time had come for the session to begin. The Speaker was in his chair, and so were members of the Legislative staff in their formal attire Continue reading →