It’s taken a while but finally Erin O’Toole has a climate change policy to present to the voters. The most intriguing bit is his acceptance of the need for a carbon tax. He doesn’t call their effort a tax. He prefers to call it “a pricing mechanism for consumers.” (The
Continue readingAuthor: Bill Longstaff
Views from the Beltline: Survey of Western powers points toward citizens’ assemblies
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center of the four major Western powers turned up some interesting if not altogether surprising results. The goal of the study was to determine how the citizens of the four—U.S., France, Germany and the UK—feel about their political systems. The survey suggested the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: I’ll miss the mayor
I was surprised when Naheed Nenshi won Calgary’s mayoral race in 2010. The odds-on favourite, a well-known alderman, had been running for years and, due to his popularity with developers, had a huge war chest. However he failed to convince the public he had the right stuff to be a
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Biden-led U.S. to power global economy
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Covid shrunk the global economy by 3.3 percent in 2020, the worst downturn since 1980. Almost 100 million people slipped into severe poverty. The only major economy that didn’t shrink was China’s with growth of 2.3 percent. The IMF predict it will be
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Billionaires 1, Unions 0
The richest man in the world wins again. Earlier this week, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, voted overwhelmingly against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The rich person I refer to is of course Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. This is a big blow
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Alberta government fails school curriculum
To comment on the new school curriculum proposed by Alberta’s Department of Education, I’ll do something it apparently didn’t. I’ll rely on experts. Specifically, four professors who teach in the Curriculum and Learning specialization at the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education. Earlier this week they wrote an op-ed
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Biden admin getting it right on taxes
For some time, corporations have had things their way. With globalization, which was largely designed by and for them, they were able to slip the leashes that nation states had imposed on them and move wherever labour was cheapest and taxes lowest. And, in effect, blackmail governments for favours. Now
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Kim struts his stuff
Nuclear technology does more than make powerful weapons. It also makes for powerful politics. It allows Kim Jong-un, ruler of a sordid little dictatorship, possibly the most backward nation on Earth, to meet with the president of the United States, the most powerful man in the world, as an equal.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Alberta—big winner of Covid relief
The Covid pandemic has, among other things, reminded us that we are indeed “all in it together,” requiring government leadership and assistance unprecedented in recent history. According to a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, “federal and provincial governments have announced almost $600-billion in spending commitments across 849
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Mr. Kenney, take back control of the damn tax!
It’s encouraging to hear someone in the upper reaches of the Canadian establishment recognize reality. Ruling on the appeal by Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan against the federal carbon tax, the Supreme Court stated, “Climate change is real. It is caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from human activities, and
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: “U.S. democracy is in urgent need of repair”—Freedom House
“After experiencing a gradual decline in respect for political rights and civil liberties over the past decade, the United States is now facing an acute crisis for democracy.” So says a special report by democracy watchdog group Freedom House. And who, you might ask, is Freedom House? Freedom House is
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Conservatives stumble over the big issue
Hanging over our heads is one overwhelming issue. It’s not the pandemic, and it’s not the economic disruption caused by the pandemic. It’s our rape of the planet, the most immediate aspect being climate change. If a political party can’t get a grip on this issue, they aren’t of much
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: 2020—A happy year?
2020 would seem to have been a tough year for happiness. But not for the Finns. Or for most of the rest of us for that matter. The World Happiness Report is out and despite the death toll from Covid along with the economic insecurity and disruption of most aspects
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: We are all in this together … including the billionaires
We are all in this together. An expression we hear a a lot these days. And rightly so, as we depend on government to relieve the millions of people and businesses affected by global economic disruption and provide us with the security of vaccination. Perhaps it’s important to endure a
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Make America fair again?
The United States is the most unequal of the advanced countries. By far. And it’s getting worse. The ratio of the average income of the richest 10 percent to the poorest 10 percent in the U.S. is 18.5 whereas for most Western countries it’s closer to ten. (Canada’s is 9.4.)
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Joe Biden—union man
During Joe Biden’s election campaign, he promised he would be “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen.” This may be the most important promise he made, at least on the economic front. Income inequality has steadily increased in the U.S. in the last 30 years and is considerably greater than
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Lula—Brazil’s Biden?
Brazil and the United States have at least one thing in common in their recent political histories. Both had popular progressive presidents replaced by fascists: Donald Trump replacing Barack Obama in the U.S. and Jair Bolsonaro replacing Luiz Inácio da Silva (Lula) in Brazil. Both successors proved as incompetent as
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The royal soap opera takes centre stage
My goodness, why do we fuss over these silly people. Two over-privileged royals whine on TV about not being treated royally enough and the nation is all atwitter. The most titillating revelation is that apparently someone in “the firm” queried the colour of the pair’s kids. And this is of
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Shannon Phillips and the Lethbridge cops
Women in politics are routinely subjected to hate mail from assorted misogynists. Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips is no exception. According to her constituency assistant, “We used to say that if we hadn’t been called a bitch by nine in the morning, we weren’t at work yet.” It continues today, but it
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: All hands on deck to rig the oil market
The oil industry and the free market are not well acquainted. The price of oil has long been manipulated more by cartels than by free markets. Since the 1970s, the manipulator in chief has been the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its collaborators (OPEC+). The recent collapse in
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