A lot has been said in recent days, both pro and con, about the federal government’s bill on assisted dying. Just over a year ago the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Criminal Code provision prohibiting assisted dying was unconstitutional and gave the federal government one year to amend the law. For what its…
Category: equality
Lots of cake to go around
The provincial government’s decision to raise income assistance rates for people with disabilities with one hand then reduce those rates with the other has been in the news lately. Before the changes were announced, anybody forced to live on the paltry amount of $906 a month (a rate frozen since 2007) also received a free…
A tip of the hat to my old friend, Harry
Today is the 14th anniversary of Harry Rankin’s passing. Many of you may know that Harry Rankin is my hero and mentor. I know it sounds a bit corny to say it, but he really did have a heart of gold. He also had the most unbelievable work ethic, and he combined these qualities with…
Time to “tap out” TransLink’s senior managers
Most folks are surprised when I tell them that TransLink spends 10 cents of every farebox dollar on the process of actually collecting that dollar. Economists refer to this as the “friction cost.” By comparison, the collection of income tax is incredibly efficient, with a friction cost so small that it amounts to a rounding…
Let’s put HandyDART users back in the driver’s seat
As co-chair of the HandyDART Riders’ Alliance, I was scheduled to speak at the public session of the TransLink Board of Directors’ meeting in New Westminster on Wednesday. (Check out CBC Radio’s coverage of some of the points raised by my co-chair, Beth McKellar, here as well as a video clip of some of the…
How Syria’s refugees echo Second World War’s Jewish refugees
When I last blogged about the Syrian refugee crisis September 16, Stephen Harper was still in office and offering to bring in a paltry 10,000 refugees over the next three years. It was a promise he later revamped to 10,000 by year end when, closer to the election, he realized he was on the wrong…
Trans-Pacific Partnership — Free trade agreement or investors’ Bill of Rights?
There was a time when borders were wide open for people and much more restricted to capital flowing in or out of countries. Only toward the end of the 20th century did it change when significant controls were enacted to restrict people’s ability to cross borders while money could flow freely. For centuries, nation-states could…