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Quote of the Day: “The unions might be good for the people who are in the unions but it doesn’t do a thing for the people who are unemployed. Because the union keeps down the number of jobs, it doesn’t do a thing for them.” Milton Friedman

Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood is a senior “researcher” at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Just why TheRecord continues to publish op-eds from these idiots is beyond me. Today on the Editorial Page, he tells us that: “The feds are handing out $80 billion in corporate tax breaks for the clean economy and even transferring control of big public spending projects, like the $15-billion Canada Growth Fund, to private managers.” Well, the fact that the government is actually not collecting taxes is a good thing, I guess. Far better than just dumping money down a toilet. He then suggests that: “That market-first approach might work for scaling up clean investment overall, but there’s no guarantee that workers and communities will share in the benefits. For example, it may come as little consolation to laid-off oil workers in Cold Lake or Sarnia that there are new, greener jobs available in Calgary or Toronto.”. Yes, it’s that nasty old capitalism again. Making people move to where the jobs are… Really – this nonsense is getting tiresome.

Quote of the Day: “’Deserves’ is an impossible thing to decide. No one deserves anything. Thank God we don’t get what we deserve.” Milton Friedman

Joseph Belliveau is the Executive Director of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Canada and Nadja Pollaert is the Executive Director of Médecins du Monde. On the Editorial Page today, they have an op-ed where they suggest that closing the illegal border crossing at Roxham Road in Quebec “will not stop people from seeking safety, it will only force them to take more dangerous routes.” This illegal (they authors call it “irregular”) has seen literally tens of thousands of people flood through this open gateway to Canada from the U.S. The people using this crossing are not legitimate refugees or they would have stayed in the U.S. The vast majority are economic refugees and not political refugees. Allowing these refugees to stay in Canada makes a mockery of the hundreds of thousands of other immigrants who have come to Canada through legitimate means. Contrary to the op-ed, closing this illegal entry point is good.

In his bio, TheRecord tells me that Jaime Watt is the Executive Chairman of Navigator Ltd. and a Conservative strategist. Yup – he’s a “Conservative” all right. *cough* He has an op-ed on the Insight Page today where he tells us that: “Unless we sharpen up and leverage our partnership with the Americans in aerospace to include greater defensive capabilities, we will be at severe risk. Ultimately, this Canadian victory needs to propel ambition in other areas, namely innovation and defence. Canada’s presence on this historic mission shows the power of daring to dream. I hope it can motivate our politicians to unleash our capabilities for other critical policy imperatives.” In other words, more of my tax dollars are needed to fund a bunch of pet aerospace projects. Yup – he’s a “Conservative” all right. *cough*

Noelle Allen is the Publisher of Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd., some boutique book shop in Hamilton. Today on the Insight Page she whines about a company’s President making $11.7 Million dollars as the CEO. She tells us that: “The gap between CEO pay and the pay of the average worker is the highest it has ever been. Our wealthiest CEOs now make 243 times as much as the average Canadian worker, according to a report released by the Centre for Canadian Policy Alternatives in January 2023.” Funny that the CCPA never mentions how much these CEOs pay in taxes versus the average Canadian worker. And of course, in their standard class warfare terminology, they always confuse wealth with earnings.

And finally on the Editorial Page, Mansoor Ladha tells us of his Citizenship Ceremony: “I still remember the citizenship ceremony I had to attend when I proudly became a Canadian citizen in 1975. I was with my wife and son, all dressed up in our finest, lined up with new Canadians of all backgrounds, happily showing off the Canadian flags. When the time came to sing the newly memorized national anthem, I was so emotional that my eyes welled up with tears. Every Canada Day, I still have visions of my heartbreaking citizenship ceremony experience.” He suggests that: “All Canadians and would-be citizens should protest the proposal to replace citizenship ceremonies with something tantamount to “dial a citizen” method. Becoming a citizen by ticking the “Make Me A Canadian” box from anywhere is an impolite method of becoming a citizen of one’s country.” Great op-ed.

Quote of the Day: “Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest? And just tell me where in the world you find these angels who are going to organize society for us.” Milton Friedman

As I’ve mentioned before, I think that Donald Trump was the greatest President since Ronald Reagan – for America. He promised to put “America First” and clearly did exactly that. His political and economic achievements can’t be matched by any other President in the last three decades. Thomas Walkom in his op-ed on the Editorial page today suggests that Trump will be the Republican contender in next year’s U.S. presidential race and is well-positioned to win the presidency. But although Walkom a PhD in economics from the University of Toronto, he is really ignoring some important data when he comes up with that suggestion. Trump lost the popular vote in both elections int 2016 and 2020. People who did not vote for him in 2020 aren’t likely going to vote for him in 2024. In fact Trump almost lost the 2016 race if only 80,000 selective votes in three states had switched from an R to a D. Trump has not grown his base in the last two years – it has shrunk. He might win the Republican nomination, but he will lose the 2024 election. Walkom in wrong.

The Editorial today is really good. It talks about ongoing initiatives to reduce intimate partner violence. It talks about “…a preventive, whole-of-society approach to addressing intimate partner violence, with a particular focus on marginalized women. Prevention programs can, in fact, be incorporated into both primary and secondary school curricula, and one Ontario-based measure – the Fourth R program – has been shown to reduce dating violence years into the future.” Great Editorial and well worth the three minute read.

Quote of the Day: “Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else’s resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property.” Milton Friedman

It’s hard to know where to start on Robert Williams’ article on the Front Page today. He tells us that Kitchener Centres’ MP Mike Morrice has a tax plan that “would save hundreds of millions” if implemented. Basically, he wants to tax REITs at the same 38% rate that other corporations are taxed at. Well, two things to note right away: 1 – Mike Morrice is a socialist and therefore has absolutely no idea about general economics and how things work; and 2 – Robert Williams and his friends at TheRecord are completely enamored with Morrice and wouldn’t dare say anything critical or actually apply any critical thinking to any of Morrice’s so-called ideas. So, let’s just begin with the obvious: corporations don’t pay taxes, they just simply pass taxes (as a cost of doing business) along to consumers. Corporations and other large and small businesses see taxes as an input cost and this is factored in to their final prices structure. So, if all REITs are now taxed, they will raise rents (of whatever goods and services they sell) in unison – and therefore, rents will increase. This isn’t some wild economic theory, this is just plain economic fact. However, with any price increase, there will obviously be a decrease in demand and this drop in demand is dependent on the demand elasticity of the product being sold. This also means that there will be less profit to be distributed to shareholders as noted in the article by Williams. This then means that less tax will be paid by shareholders. How much? We don’t know. Since the personal tax rate of high earners is far about 38%, this might actually mean the less tax money will flow to the government. Of course, Morrice doesn’t mention this obvious fact and of course, Williams is too stupid or too compliant to ask about it.

Quote of the Day: “The existence of a free market does not of course eliminate the need for government. On the contrary, government is essential both as a forum for determining the ‘rules of the game’ and as an umpire to interpret and enforce the rules decided on.” Milton Friedman

On the Editorial Page today, Sean Strickland, the Executive Director of Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) has on op-ed where he states that the recent federal: “Budget a winner for trades, climate and country”. Any how many times does he mention the words “deficit” or “debt”. Zero.

On Page A16 (the Business Section, *cough*), Amanda Stephenson from the Canadian Press has an article on Canada’s competitive environment. She outlines a few areas where there is a lack of competition – and offers a few suggestions from various experts. But then she states: “Others say Canada’s restrictions on foreign ownership in some sectors, such as transportation and telecommunications, play a role in limiting choice for consumers, while others put the blame on the supply management system and its role in Canadian agriculture.” Bingo!!!

Also in the Business Section, Navneet Alang tells us that AI won’t lead to human extinction. Well duh!!! As I’ve mentioned before, Artificial Intelligence isn’t intelligent – programmers are. Combining various data points together in some method that makes sense isn’t intelligence. Alang actually has something right for a change. Good last line in his op-ed: “But the doomsaying about AI is as much marketing as anything else – just a lot of chatter about intelligence and minds from some very clever people who appear to have spent too little time thinking about what those things actually are.” Geeeessshhhh…

Quote of the Day: “The combination of economic and political power in the same hands is a sure recipe for tyranny.” Milton Friedman

Sami Pritchard, the Interim Director of Advocacy and Communications at the YWCA of Toronto has an op-ed on the Editorial Page today. She starts off her column by stating: “April 4 marked Equal Pay Day — which signifies how much longer a woman must work, on average, to earn the same as a man.” Well, if there ever was a more manipulative and unethical statistic, you just read it! (But it certainly interesting to note that 6 people (all female) made it to the 2022 Sunshine List this year from the Toronto YWCA. And why is this private organization on the Sunshine List? Because they get a huge amount of money from governments for their services…) She suggests that: “Privatization widens the wage gap, exploits workplace rights, and reinforces poverty – especially for women, racialized, and immigrant workers, who tend to be employed in lowerpaying social service jobs.” Hmmm… I wonder if the YW should return all of that privatization money that they get – seeing how it does so much harm to society.

The Business Section today has a ridiculous class warfare piece where Josh Rubin of the Toronto Star tells us about a raise in pay that Galen Weston received from Loblaw. Just plain obnoxious. But to make matters worse, Rubin quotes David Macdonald from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and calls him their “chief economist”. Once again, Macdonald has no formal training as an economist. He has a MA in Philosophy – that’s it. I’m more of an economist than he is. Of course, Rubin has Loblaw union reps weigh in on Weston’s salary. Of course, they compare his salary to a per hour amount. Of course, Macdonald said part of the “blame” for rising salaries goes to compensation consultants. Of course, this is a TorStar article…

Quote of the Day: “Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.” Milton Friedman

Justin Trudeau’s favourite so-called journalist, Susan Delacourt is in the Editorial space today with advice for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Next…

TheRecord gives Gleb Tsipursky, the CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts a half page of free advertising on the Editorial Page today where he tells us that: “Management by walking around is not going to cut it for any manager who wants to be successful in our increasingly hybrid world. They need to learn the skills of managing an increasingly-hybrid workforce, and accept that it’s on them to address co-ordination and alignment problems.” Next…

On the Insight Page today, we have Don Pennell tell us that: “Fitness an ally in fight against COVID-19”. Gee, who knew??? Next…

And finally, also on the Insight Page, we have an op-ed by Lawrence Gibbons who is the co-chair of the Public Interest Publishers Alliance – of Australia. I read this op-ed on Saturday in the Toronto Star. He tells us he “…read that legislation based on our own News Media Bargaining Code had passed through the House of Commons in Ottawa at the end of last year.” O.K. just once, and I mean just one time, I would like any TorStar controlled newspaper to report on the other side of this issue. For starters, go through the letter that Jason Kee, Public Policy and Government Relations Counsel at Google Canada, wrote to every MP on 30 November 2020. As I have mentioned before, Kee’s letter refutes all of TorStar’s talking points regarding Bill C-18. So much for “journalism”. Next..

Quote of the Day: “The key insight of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations is misleadingly simple: if an exchange between two parties is voluntary, it will not take place unless both believe they will benefit from it. Most economic fallacies derive from the neglect of this simple insight, from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.” Milton Friedman

Wow – a huge total of 16 pages in the print version of TheRecord today. Really???

Until the end of January this year, Heather Scoffield was the Ottawa Bureau Chief and Economics Columnist for The Toronto Star. She is now the Senior Vice President, Strategy at the Business Council of Canada. In a press release announcing her position, the BCC said that Scoffield will help “define, pursue, and achieve its strategic priorities and objectives as it works to build a better future for all Canadians.” Of course she will. Scoffield wasn’t much of an “economist” as far as I’m concerned. Along with her TorStar buddies, she never saw a government tax and spend program she didn’t like. Oh well. But today, instead of an Editorial, she has an op-ed that continues, along with her TorStar buddies, to promote the bloated, abusive and obnoxious Trudeau budget. She calls the budget “exciting and appropriate” with its view of a “green” future. All I see is a budget with a “red” future.

Former, failed Mayor of Toronto, John Sewell performs some statistical slight-of-hand to try to suggest that: “More police officers doesn’t add up to less crime”. He brings up a “famous study done in Kansas City in the 1970s” to bolster his point. Oh boy. Of course, the tells us that: “The only way to reduce random crime is to address the root causes of it, usually defined by social indicators: inequality, affordable housing, programs for young children and families.” He missed the disastrous effects that our current climate change crisis has on society. (cough) Too bad he didn’t look into our catch and release so-called justice system for some answers.

Have I ever mentioned before that not a single one of my Letters to the Editor (LTTE) have ever made it to print? Why, yes I have. Many times, I believe. And that’s why I usually don’t comment on LTTE – they are hand picked to supplement a TorStar Editorial talking point. Today, we have three interesting LTTE. First up is George Burrett of Kitchener who quotes David Johnston in his book Trust: “An uninformed citizen is a voter who can be manipulated into voting for some strange things without even knowing that their vote is being exploited.” (There is a punctuation mistake in the letter but let’s not be Karen’s about it.) But an excellent point by Johnston. Maybe Mr. Burrett should read every last Editorial and op-ed on these pages over the last few years and count the number of times Trudeau and his corrupt government have been praised while condemning any and all conservative viewpoints. Next up is Eldon Killen also of Kitchener. His LTTE is almost an exact copy of the one he wrote on 04 May 2022. He talks about the Ontario health surtax on individuals making over $20,000 and why it isn’t indexed to inflation. And finally, Mark Boughan of Cambridge has just a devastating letter where he sends Karen Littlewood, President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation to the Principle’s Office for a brutal math error in her op-ed last Tuesday. Way Too Funny…

The Bridge Column’s formatting is messed up again. Seriously, doesn’t a single Editor play cards at TheRecord??? Annoying.

Quote of the Day: “I think that nothing is so important for freedom as recognizing in the law each individual’s natural right to property, and giving individuals a sense that they own something that they’re responsible for, that they have control over, and that they can dispose of.” Milton Friedman

On Page A3 today, Liz Monteiro reports that the Region of Waterloo staff wants to give the K-W Symphony and the TheMuseum a total of $385,000 from taxpayers. And why, you ask? The Region’s Director of Cultural Services Helen Chimirri-Russell says that the last few years were “…a challenging time for cultural organizations who faced multiple closures and restrictions on audience members”. What she didn’t say is that the public isn’t interested in buying what the Symphony and the TheMuseum are selling. I have two suggestions: 1) save taxpayers the $385,000. 2) fire Chimirri-Russell and save taxpayers $160,846 (from the Sunshine List).

Yesterday, we had Susan Delacourt sing the praises of Trudeau’s massive deficit budget. Today, I see it’s Thomas Walkom’s turn. He tells us that: “…as the Liberal budget this week demonstrates, [Trudeau} is willing to run deficits forever if he can come up with a plausible reason for doing so. Some call this reckless. I find it rather charming.” Walkom uses the word “charming” to describe the bloated disaster. He tells us that Trudeau: “He made a half-hearted promise to balance the books during his first term in office. But it was obvious that he didn’t mean it.” In other words, Walkom tells us that Trudeau lied. I guess this is also this “charming”. Pathetic.

Quote of the Day: “The key insight of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations is misleadingly simple: if an exchange between two parties is voluntary, it will not take place unless both believe they will benefit from it. Most economic fallacies derive from the neglect of this simple insight, from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.” Milton Friedman

Toronto Star publisher and owner Jordan Bitove made a speech at a Canadian Club luncheon in Toronto yesterday and Josh Rubin from TorStar just happened to be there and reports on the speech on Page A11. Rubin tells us that Bitove made an “impassioned plea Thursday to Canadian corporations and governments to step up and support journalism, arguing that it is essential to democracy and that smaller communities are being starved of essential information”. Of course Bitove made the same old and debunked arguments that: “…big tech companies including Google and Meta have drained crucial advertising revenue from media companies, endangering journalism’s business model and indirectly, democracy itself.” Yes, Google has “drained” revenue from newspaper’s broken business model. See – this is Google’s fault – not the fact that businesses would rather spend their advertising budgets where they believe they get the most return. All advertising dollars rightly belong to Bitove and his newspaper buddies – just like it was 100 years ago. Idiot.

Susan Delacourt, who constantly brags about her close relationship with Justin Trudeau, has on op-ed in place of the Editorial today. The words “deficit” and “debt” aren’t mentioned once in her column. Nonsense.

Christina Jennings is founder, chairman and CEO of Shaftesbury. This company sells “content known for innovative storytelling and building successful brands” according to its website. It appears that they sell a majority of this brilliant content to the CBC. In an op-ed on the Editorial Page today, she tells that without the CBC, then this just oh-so-wonderful programming wouldn’t be available to us lowly Canadians. How terrible. Oh, by the way, have you looked at the Nielsen TV Ratings for Canada recently? Have to counted the number of CBC shows in the top 25? A blind carpenter has more fingers on one hand than CBC programs in the top 25… Idiot.