Pages

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Daycare con game

This past week Statistics Canada released a report entitled Child care: An eight year profile alleging that "the proportion of children in child care has increased significantly." Daycare lobbyists, funded primarily by – you guessed it – taxpayers, were quick to jump on this report as further evidence of a growing daycare crisis in Canada. They are demanding that the spigots be opened and that Canadian taxpayers foot the bill for their dream of an expansive, national daycare system, run by – you guessed it again – the daycare lobbyists. The only problem is that the Statistics Canada report says no such thing. If anything, the numbers suggest the opposite.

Ronald Reagan and the scariest nine words in the English language

Ronald Reagan used to say that the scariest nine words in the English language were: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” The line was delivered with his trademark hint of humour, a trait that was at once charming and disarming, making it one of the most versatile and effective items in The Great Communicator’s toolbox. But Reagan’s humour could also obscure the importance of his observations with the result that his aphorisms were – and still are – cited more often as examples of his wit rather than the expression of fundamental principles that they almost always were.

Monday 3 August 2015

Income inequality charade

With a federal election imminent in Canada and presidential primaries looming in America, we are likely to read and hear a lot about the "scourge" of income inequality in the coming weeks and months. Income inequality and the growing gap between the rich and poor in our society is a common theme in politics these days as politicians from both sides of the ideological spectrum strive to demonstrate that they care more about poverty than their competitors.

The spectacle would be funny if it wasn’t so misguided.