Fundamentally, I don’t disagree with the idea of usage based billing for bandwidth on the internet. In a free market, the consumer of this service should pay an amount that is set my the free market price mechanism. The cost of providing the service includes infrastructure, maintenance, operations and upgrades and expansions. I disagree with …
Category Archive: Canadian
Dec 21
Ayn Rand, Futurist
Normally, I don’t like to post blatant “I agree” posts that simply point to someone else’s blog, but this time I can’t resist: (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12 Dec 201) Earlier this month, responding to a shortage of chemotherapy drugs in Minnesota, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) wrote to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg asking that the FDA …
Oct 26
Say NO to Pigouvian Food Taxes
The National Post, today, covers an urging by the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s expert panel that the government should impose taxed on sugary drinks and fatty foods as a disincentive to obesity. There is this ridiculous statement: Its lead author insists, however, that the soda-tax and other proposals do not represent nanny-state intervention into diet …
Oct 13
A bad science decision by Canada’s Government
Today, the Government of Canada has added bis-phenol-A to the list of toxic substances, after deciding that the American Chemical Council had failed to: …bring forth any new scientific data or information with respect to the nature and extent of the danger posed by bisphenol A. The problem of course being that there is almost …
Jun 21
Ignatieff decides to give up on Alberta
So Michael Ignatieff has decided to give up on Alberta when it comes to elections. He is taking a stand against oil tankers of the BC coast, proposing a ban on such tankers. The Liberals clarified: Ms. Murray indicated the Liberals are against large supertankers and not the many other ships that sail B.C. …
Jun 11
Really, Mr. Flaherty?
Nothing like destroying the incentive to work hard and save for your own retirement… In Victoria Friday Mr. Flaherty fanned the flames further when he told executives that citizens who have saved enough for retirement will eventually be asked to help those who haven’t. So, what you are saying is that if I save lots …
Jun 10
Flaherty is wrong on CPP
Jim Flaherty, the Canadian federal finance minister, has posited in a letter to his Ontario counterpart, that perhaps the premiums that all Canadian workers (and their employers) pay should be increased to increase the amount of money Canadians are saving for retirement. This is a very bad idea. First, increasing payroll taxes is a known …
Jun 08
Sole-sourcing military hardware is OK
The Government of Canada is proposing to purchase 65 F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft from Lockheed-Martin, to replace the now 30 year old CF-18 fleet. Boeing, who lost the Joint Strike Fighter competition (their X-37 was rejected by the Pentagon when compared to Lockheed-Martin’s X-35), is trying to sell us the now 15 year old …
Jun 08
You can’t work in this province…
Yet another example of interprovincial trade restrictions that exist for no reason other than to prevent competition and create work for government bureaucrats. Contemporary Security Canada, which also provided private security for the Vancouver Olympic Games, was selected by the RCMP to provide approximately 1,100 private security guards to screen pedestrians throughout the summits in …
May 13
Parliament is wrong on expenses
All the parties in Canada’s Parliament are wrong on whether to let the Auditor General do a performance audit of MPs expenses. First because the A-G office has in the past performed such audits (1980 and 1991), but because we know from other jurisdictions (the UK being the most recent and egregious), an awful lot …