Friday February 19th, 2010

Summary : Health Canada is inviting Canadians to give suggestions on how to improve the food colouring labels. Until now, manufacturers have been allowed to use the general term ” colour ” for one or more food colours. The Candian Food and Drug Regulations  had also given them the option of voluntarily indicating the individual colours by name. According to many studies, however, some food colourings have been found to have adverse effects on sensitive individuals. Therefore, Health Canada aims to enable consumers to make more informed choices by raising the food colour labelling requirements.

Excerpt : “[...] certain food colour mixtures have been associated with behavioural effects in children. For these reasons, Health Canada considers it prudent to improve labelling requirements for food colours.”

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February 7, 2010

Summary: The Canadian government announced Friday that Canadian companies will be excluded from the protectionist measures within the United States’ 2009 economic stimulus plan. The ‘Buy American’ article of the U.S. stimulus package sparked immediate tensions in Canada, from those who believe economic recovery should be a coordinated effort between Canada and the United States. Though this development is undoubtedly an improvement in the bill, some argue that this measure has come to late, given the amount of American stimulus money that has already been spent.

Excerpt: ‘Canadian companies will be exempt from a protectionist “Buy American” clause in the U.S. government’s $787-billion US economic stimulus package, the federal government announced Friday.’

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February 7 2010

Summary: At the conclusion of this week’s meeting of global finance leaders, it seems clear that the Iqaluit conference has produced more questions than answers. In his closing statements today, Canadian Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty offered general goals on behalf of G7 countries to ensure that economic recovery is not only achieved, but also maintained long-term. Though Flaherty did not offer country-specific details, G7 leaders agreed to continue implementing economic stimulus funds until recovery is deep-rooted.

Excerpt: ‘While there was no shortage of photo opportunities for finance ministers and their central bankers — dogsledding in heavy parkas, or casually clad at a fireside chat — the two-day Group of Seven meeting ended with few words.’

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National Post

Summary : Prime Minister Stephen Harper intends to cancel the spring parliamentary break for the loss of six weeks during the Prorogation since Christmas. Among the MPs, there are opposing views to this decision with the opposition accusing Harper of arrogance and irresponsibility.

Excerpt : ”Stephen Harper is showing his arrogance and contempt. He shut down Parliament with a phone call and now wants to change the parliamentary calendar through an internal memo leaked to media,” said Jean-Francois Del Torchio, a spokesman for Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, late Wednesday.

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Wednesday January 27th, 2010

Summary : In the World Economic Forum taking place over two days starting on Wednesday, Prime Mnister Stephen Harper is intent on putting forth the urgency of the global health care action. On Thursday, Harper will be giving a speech sketching out the key objective of the G8 this year : maternal and child health care in developing nations. Due to Canada’s presidency in the G8 and co-presidency in the G20, Harper has a unique opportunity to influence the global agenda this year.

Excerpt : [...] Dimitri Soudas, the prime minister’s press secretary, said Mr. Harper intends to allow the G8 to focus on broad social and development goals and do it while stressing accountability and effectiveness.

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19th January, 2010

Summary: Last week, the Attorney-General of Ontario refused compensation to two men who spent 10 years in prison for crimes they did not committ. The attorney-general based his decision on the fact that while the authorities may have been mistaken, they nonetheless acted with integrity and in the public interest. The National Post argues that this is no excuse for denying compensation to those who have been wrongfully imprisoned; in such cases, compensation should be mandatory.

Excerpt: “No one needs to be blamed. Prosecutors and peace officers may still be assumed to have acted in good faith even if their actions led to an erroneous result. But innocent citizens who end up deprived of their liberty in such cases are not bad-faith actors, either. Why should they have to pay for the Crown’s mistakes?”

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19th January, 2010

Summary: The recent bail-out of major banks by federal governments is causing some to call for restrictions on executives’ pay. Those who run the Montreal Economics Institute are wary of such proposals. They believe that government inteference will reduce the effectiveness of a free market for executives.

Excerpt: “When, under pressure from those critics, governments try to replace supply and demand in setting remuneration by other arbitrary rules, they distort the most important mechanism by which firms can influence the choice of their executives and their overall governance structure.”

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15th January, 2010

Summary: Don Dewees, a professor of economics and law at the University of Toronto, believes that citizens are not paying enough for their electricity. He claims that increasing the price is the only way to promote greener energy generation as well as pay for new capacity.

Excerpt: “The bottom line is that current electricity prices do not reflect electricity’s environmental effects or the costs of Green Energy Act policies. Reforming pricing so peak period prices reflect environmental costs and the cost of new generation facilities can move us toward an environmentally and financially responsible electricity future.”

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16th January, 2010

Summary: The Canadian government has remained firm in its decision to pull the bulk of Canadian forces out of Afghanistan by 2011. Conrad Black sees this as a mistake. He believes that it would not be prudent to pull out at a time when the United States is finally deploying the forces necessary to win the conflict. Canada should remain past 2011 in support of this new American surge.

Excerpt: “Canada should remain at present strength in Afghanistan until President Obama’s proposed initiation of de-escalation in 18 months. Following that period, we would then determine our future policy, independently of the United States, but simultaneously.”

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Thursday January 14, 2010

Summary: In the wake of this week’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, the Canadian federal government has announced it is close to implementing a new humanitarian effort which would make possible the immigration of thousands of Haitians to Canada. As the first 100 Canadian citizens who were in Haiti at the time of the quake arrive at Pierre Trudeau International Airport Thursday evening, attention now turns to Minister of Immigration Jason Kenney. Prime Minister Stephen Harper indicated Thursday that although Canada’s search and rescue effort in Haiti will remain the government’s top priority, the issue of immigration will be announced and addressed in the next two days.

Excerpt: “The evacuation was announced at a news conference, along with the government’s program to match individual Canadian donations to registered charities providing relief to earthquake victims in Haiti.”

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