FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Jan 25

Assaults on Canadian Politicians Increases Costs for Security Details

by bcurry

A recent CBC News article highlighted the fact that the cost of keeping Canada’s Prime Minister (PM), Cabinet, and members of Parliament (MPs) safe has hit a record high.  This isn’t really all that surprising given the politicization of such highly contentious issues as past COVID-related government measures and the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Fortunately, unlike the U.S., Canada has to date never seen a PM or Cabinet member assassinated.  History however has some examples of recent incidents involving lone wolves who attempted to harm a federal politician.  For example, a series of shootings occurred on October 22, 2014 at the National War Memorial and on Parliament Hill involving a lone gunman.  The gunman managed to enter Parliament, but in a shootout with Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers he was shot  and died at the scene.  In 2020, police arrested an armed man, without incident, who had gained access to the grounds at Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s official residence.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family also live on the property at Rideau Cottage, not far from where the gunman was intercepted by the officers.  In both cases, after further investigation, it became clear that the assaults involved persons with mental health issues exhibiting previously known erratic behavior.  Terrorism was ruled out as a primary motive.

More recently on January 24th at a local level, a heavily armed man fired shots and apparently threw a Molotov cocktail in Edmonton’s city hall.  At the time, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and several councillors were among the people present for an in-person meeting.  Fortunately, no one was hurt and upon receiving reports of shots fired at city hall, Edmonton Police Service officers arrived within minutes and took one adult male into custody.  The motive of the man isn’t yet known, and officials could not confirm whether or not he was previously known to police.

Since the 2014 incident on Parliament Hill, security has been greatly increased in order to provide better protection for Canada’s 338 members of Parliament (MPs).  Security on the hill involves the RCMP, local police services in Ottawa, the Parliamentary Protective Service and the House of Commons.  As reported by CBC News, during the first nine months of this fiscal year (2023-24), the RCMP spent $2.5 million (Canadian) on security for MPs.  If spending continues at the same pace, it is estimated that the cost of MPs’ security for this fiscal year could hit $3.4 million — almost double what it cost a year earlier.  Reportedly, former federal public safety minister Marco Mendicino said the rising price tag reflects a change in the “threat environment”, especially since the pandemic and the 2022 Ottawa truck convoy protest.  He further noted that there’s no doubt in his mind that the threat environment has escalated over the last couple of years, especially as result of the divisive Middle East crisis in Canada between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli supporters.

Greater harassment of the PM and members of Cabinet has certainly surfaced in recent post-COVID years, especially when they are on speaking tours.  On one occasion for example in August 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was verbally harassed outside an event in Grande Prairie, Alberta.  There was also a very recent incident during which protesters, upset with Canada’s position on the Israel-Hamas war, gathered outside Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s home in Montreal.  In addition, there has been an alarming increase in threatening or abusive emails sent to individual MPs.

In general, the PM cannot go anywhere without the potential threat of harassment by anti-Trudeau factions.  As a result, RCMP security details for the PM have been greatly increased, along with the associated mounting costs.  Given the current highly volatile political environment, costlier security for politicians — federal, provincial and local — is likely to remain the new normal.  Canada has always prided itself in terms of being a country where civility and respect predominated the political scene.  All that appears to have changed as evidenced by the mounting verbal and physical harassment associated with recent events surrounding the pandemic and the weeks long truck convoy protest in Ottawa during the winter of 2022.

Canada Extremism Extremist Groups Federal Government National Security Police Services

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Jan 20

Issues Over Privatization Of Health Care Services in Canada

by bcurry

As you know, Canada has a universal health care system, largely funded by the federal government via the Canada Health Act with services largely provided by each of the provinces under their provincial health acts.  However, in recent years, provincial governments have been considering more delivery of health care services through private outlets.  This occurrence became increasingly an issue in light of the fact that provinces have to be careful not to violate the Canada Health Act by requiring people to pay for medically necessary procedures. Otherwise, they could loose funds that they receive annually from the federal government for health care.  The issue has once again arisen as result of a severe lack of family physicians in many provinces, long wait times for some surgeries and in emergency rooms, and hospital closings because of staff shortages.  Some have described the situation as one reaching crisis levels.

Now, this is not to say that numerous health care services are not now provided through private means.  These include such services as medical testing, drugs, dentistry, physiotherapy, audiology and optometry.  According to one expert, such privately delivered health services already make up about thirty percent of the total health services in most provinces.  They further include the supply of nurses for home care or to cover hospital staff shortages, building of new hospitals in partnerships with governments, and the operation of costly equipment like M.R.I. machines.  Some provinces, such as Ontario, have recently announced that more services will be allowed to be provided through private sources.  These would include a number that initially had been performed only in public hospitals, such as medical imaging, cataract surgeries and hip and knee replacements.  To date, most such clinics have been owned by groups of physicians, and they are relatively small businesses. The primary caveat for this expansion is that patients will continue to be covered by public health plans.  The last thing that they want to see is move to a two-tier health care regime such as exists in the U.S.

Katherine Fierlbeck, a professor of political science at Dalhousie University in Halifax, is the author of a recent report on the issue.  In it, she predicts that as the private clinic business grows, large health care companies based in the U.S. will take a keen interest in the Canadian market.  Professor Fierlbeck also notes that these American companies don’t have that much political clout, and they’re not interested in behaving aggressively.  However, if you open the door and allow these huge corporations to come in from the States, then they are going to act aggressively, the same way that pharmaceutical companies act aggressively.  As a result, you would have to fend off interests who really want to expand the parameters of private business through constant lobbying or lawsuits.

Some observers argue that allowing for more private clinics to operate could lead to more medical practitioners moving from the public hospitals to private clinics, thereby impacting on the services normally provided by public hospitals.  A further loss of staff would only increase the waiting times in emergency wards and operating rooms for patients without access to private clinics, particularly in rural areas.

All in all, the increased use of private clinics is considered as being only one aspect of dealing with the health care crisis in Canada.  It must be accompanied by increases in the number of doctors, nurses and other medical staff through more subsidized training in medical schools and facilitating and speeding up of the licensing of foreign medical practitioners.  As with other occupations, the number of medical practitioners retiring in Canada will only increase in the near future. 

Polls indicate that the vast majority of Canadians continue to support a universal health care system.  There is no doubt that both federal and provincial governments will have to be very cautious in how they deal with this politically-hot issue!

Canada Health Care Systen

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Jan 15

Increases in Canadian CEO Compensation Break New Records in 2022

by bcurry

For decades now, I’ve been following the steady increases in Chief Executive Officer (CEO) compensation among Canadian corporations.  Once again, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) is reporting that compensation for Canada’s 100 highest-paid CEOs broke every compensation record on the books in 2022.  That means that these CEOs now make 246 times more than average workers made in the same year.  According to CCPA, this is up from their previous high of 243 times the average worker wage in 2021.

To put this issue in greater perspective, the same year Canadians were hard hit by the emergence of the worldwide recession in 2008, the CCPA authored a report that indicated that CEO compensation represented 174 times more than the average Canadian wage.  While the average compensation for the top CEOs outpaced inflation by 70 percent between 1998 and 2008, people earning the average income lost six per cent to inflation over the same period.

Furthermore, the CCPA report entitled Canada’s new gilded age notes that CEOs benefit from inflation because extreme CEO pay is linked to soaring corporate profits.  It’s driven by bonuses, not salaries, and those bonuses are tied to company performance, like revenue and profits.  In 2021 and 2022 as inflation soared, so did corporate profit margins.  As a direct result, CEO bonus pay also hit all-time highs as companies profited from higher prices.

Now, there are those that will say that CEOs should be rightfully awarded for the corporations’ higher profits.  However, in numerous cases, even where a corporation did not perform up to expectations, contractual arrangements still allow for CEOs to receive their bonuses.  What is most unfair is that their workers’ wages have not kept up with inflation.  The report notes that in 2022, the average worker in Canada got an average pay raise of $1,800, or three percent.  However, prices went up by 6.8 per cent in 2022, meaning workers took a real pay cut of almost four percent compared to 2021.  On top of which, the average worker has to deal with inflationary prices for such essentials as food, heating and accommodation and recent higher interest rates affecting everything, including mortgages. 

What’s worst is that when corporations are in the market to replace CEOs, they are forced to offer greater compensation at current rates in order to attract who they believe are the most qualified candidates.  This creates a continuing cycle in industries whereby the compensation for each new CEO starts at even a higher level than would have been the case in the past.

The CCPA rightly calls upon governments to address the rampant income inequality between the rich and the rest of us through taxation measures that both disincentivize extreme CEO compensation and help to redistribute CEOs’ extreme income to Canadians on the lower end of the income spectrum.  How much greater does the spread have to be between what Canadian CEOs now make and the average workers make before the federal government finally acts?  The above mentioned report suggests the creation of new top income tax brackets, the removal of corporate tax deductibility of pay packages over a million dollars, the introduction of a wealth tax and an increase in the capital gains inclusion rate.  Under the current circumstances, such measures would certainly appear reasonable and just!

Surely, the Canadian government is in a position to introduce certain tax measures to deal with this issue now.  There is little justification not to address the fact that 100 CEOs, who are overwhelmingly male, got paid a whopping average of $14.9 million in 2022.  This is double what they pocketed in 2008 (an average of $7.3 million), even when taking into consideration yearly inflation rates.

Canada CEO Compensation Fairness in Taxation

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Jan 9

With Industrialization, Our Sense Of Community Dissipated

by bcurry

Thinking back to more simpler times, pre-industrial for example, one cannot help but admire the nature of community as it existed at that time.  Everyone in the community had their responsibilities to contribute in some way to the general wellbeing of the community.  It was also the age of skilled artisans, each contributing and passing along their skills to the next generation.  The blacksmith forged tools and utensils.  The farmer provided grains, fruits and other foods.  The hunters provided wild game for their tables and furs for clothing.  The bakers provided the breads.  The women did most of the cooking, cared for the children and the elderly and made the clothing.  The mason helped design and build their stone houses and wooden storage sheds.  The potter created ceramic ware of clay for everyday household use.  On special occasions such as marriages, births and deaths, or the harvest, the community would gather together to celebrate.  Each member, young or old, was respected and given the reverence that they rightfully earned.  Through good times and bad times they stood together, helping one another and without expecting any kind of monetary reward in return.

The age of industrialization changed much of the sense of genuine community.  With the onslaught of manufacturing, peoples’ work became compartmentalized and relegated increasingly to assembly lines.  The true age of artisanship slowly faded away.  Community members became more reliant on outside bodies, including governments, to provide for many of their daily needs.  The young often left in search of better work and training opportunities elsewhere.  The nuclear family emerged whereby a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically live in one home residence.  Their parents and grandparents lived and were cared for separately, sometimes in institutional settings.  Their contribution to the community and interaction became limited primarily to direct family activities involving schools, religious bodies and any needs for health and social services.

Government began to play a greater role in meeting one’s needs and that of the family.  A much simpler way of living became much more complicated.  In turn, the evolution culminated in the emergence referred to by some as the “Me Generation”.  On occasion, as in the case of natural disasters, there are the rare examples of communities coming together to help one another under dire circumstances.  However, media coverage tends to stress the losses to individuals and families rather than the general impact on the community at large.  If one has home insurance or life insurance, than one’s losses are considered to be manageable.  Communities on the other hand are almost entirely dependent on governments to come to their rescue, which is not always a certain and timely exercise.

I once read that the level of community volunteer participation was about ten percent of the total population, varying from region to region.  However, numerous volunteers are involved in more than one cause, thus reducing the total level of actual volunteerism.  With the current economic situation and the inability of governments to meet peoples’ essential needs, such as housing and food, more people have become reliant on non-profits for assistance.  Indeed, local communities are being forced to meet the challenges facing many individuals and families.  Whether or not a real sense of community will return as a result is a question left up in the air?  

There is a real identity crisis facing all of us.  Can we really come together as a true community?  Have we become overly dependent on governments to resolve our issues?  Have modern age issues become so complicated as to be insoluble?  As in the past, perhaps people have to accept greater responsibility for the wellbeing of their communities.  This may no longer be a matter of preference, but one of necessity.  There are numerous ways in which individuals and families can become involved in their communities.  The first step may be simply to become better aware of the needs and characteristics of one’s neighbours.  The bureaucracies of government have demonstrated a failure to do so.  Without a real sense of community, many issues have been left to fester over the years.  Communities must become more self-reliant.  Just maybe, we all should invest more in promoting some elements as those reflected in pre-industrial communities.

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Jan 4

Strange Situation In Republican Primaries For Their Presidential Nominee

by bcurry

As a Canadian political observer, there is little doubt that the current situation south of the border involving the Republican Party (GOP) and their selection of a presidential candidate to run in the election later this year is all very strange.  You have former President Donald Trump who is currently under indictment in four different civil and criminal cases.  Despite this, the majority of GOP supporters continue to back Trump, with the polls showing that he is still leading the other GOP candidates by a substantial margin.  Trump’s primaries’ platform to date has reflected his desire for “personal retribution” against those who opposed him following his failure to get re-elected in 2020, and to implement an “autocratic” regime.

In addition, one of the indictments pertains to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by a violent mob and Trump’s alleged role in the conspiracy to keep himself in power by overturning the election results.  Recently, both Maine and Colorado had decisions to throw Trump off the ballot over 14th Amendment’s ban on “insurrectionists”.  Given this unprecedented situation, Trump is expected to appeal and both cases are likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.  On top of which, Trump’s main GOP primary rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, have declined to attack Trump with regards to any of the indictments for fear of upsetting Trump’s GOP base and thereby loosing their potential support.

Given his apparent continuing political support among the MAGA Republicans, Trump has declined to even participate in the recent candidate debates, something unheard of in Canadian politics.  When leadership conventions are held in Canada, current party leaders or aspiring party members to lead the party are required to present their platforms in front of party members as part of the voting at the party convention.  As well, open candidate debates are held prior to the leadership convention.  In the case of Trump, the other candidates are at a disadvantage since they cannot debate him in an open forum, subsequently being left to mainly attack each other in his absence.  Trump, on the other hand, has simply continued to carry out his usual style of campaigning in public and through media coverage, openly attacking his GOP rivals in his traditional style of vicious name calling and spiteful insinuations about their character.

What is even crazier, a new poll recently taken by the Washington Post with the University of Maryland indicated that MAGA has not only stuck with Trump on the questions of January 6th, but a few who even believed that he might have done something wrong at the time have now come back to his side.  Still, they apparently aren’t many.  However, Republicans loved Trump then and they appear to continue to love him now.  Nevertheless, there is little doubt that should Trump be convicted of a criminal indictment, the majority of American voters nationally, especially independents, would choose President Biden over Trump in the next presidential election.  On the other hand, polls indicate that Republicans don’t seem to care.  They’re even starting to warm to the idea of Trump serving from a jail cell, which legal experts believe is constitutionally possible.  This result would really be bewildering to say the least!

For this reason, NBC News reported in December 2023 that Trump’s campaign believes the January 6th trial was specifically timed to take him off the campaign trail at a crucial stage. They further believe that they can outsmart the prosecutors by wrapping up the primaries early.  At this time, much is up in the air when it comes to trial dates surrounding the indictments.  Observers also correctly believe that Trump doesn’t want the particular January 6th trial to happen anytime soon.  It’s pretty much self-evident that he really doesn’t want to be convicted, despite his lawyers’ assurances about an appeal.  Obviously, they further believe that should he win the election, Trump would simply pardon himself and be done with it.

Anyone, including myself, watching this “circus” from afar is left scratching their heads.  Democracy had taken a serious beating in light of Donald Trump’s ridiculous accusations that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Joe Biden.  His continuing attacks on the judicial and democratic processes in public forum, culminating in the terrible attack on the Capitol, have resulted in major blows to the state of American democracy.  His disposition for autocratic leanings is of great concern to other democracies, including that in Canada.  In the coming months, Canadians need to more closely watch the strange situation flowing from the GOP primaries.  One way or another, the results will affect us all!

Donald Trump Joe Biden Presidential Election 2024 Republican Party U.S. Primaries US US Politics

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