Increasingly, Canadians are finding happiness later in life with second spouses and second families. In these situations, professional advice may be desirable to balance the competing demands of providing for the first and second families in an estate plan. This has resulted in a host of creative solutions.
Ontario's environment took a beating during Canadian Environment Week. The Liberal Cabinet had decided to gut Ontario's Endangered Species Act. Then the ECO's annual report on climate change revealed that the Liberals will not meet Ontario's greenhouse gas reduction targets. Ontario can't afford to delete environmental protections.
Sixty years ago, Coronation Day was celebrated around the world. In Canada, it was declared a national holiday, marked with parades, concerts, and fireworks. Even in wartime Korea, Canadian soldiers marked the day by firing red, white, and blue-coloured smoke shells at a thoroughly confused enemy, followed by toasts to the Queen with rations of rum!
International trade will be a key growth driver for the Canadian economy this year and next. However, the distribution of export growth in Canada's provinces is anything but even. Some are leading the charge, while others are steady at the national pace. Others are lagging behind, some quite seriously. What are the key factors influencing the different growth patterns?
Any Canadian who has picked up a paper or watched the news in the last nine months knows Marineland has been in a lot of hot, over-chlorinated water since 15 ex-employees decided to speak out about animal abuse and neglect at the park this past August. Marineland is set to open again this Saturday. This is why we need you (yes you!) to be at the Marineland Opening Day Demonstration.
Earlier this month the Fraser Institute published a report sharply critical of one of the flagship policies of the Ontario government, namely the Ontario Green Energy Act (GEA). Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli dismissed it out of hand. What makes the Minister's response most disturbing is that it is so disconnected from reality.
Sooner or later, and usually at the most inappropriate time, some version of The Question ("Where do babies come from?") will emerge from your child's lips. Whatever the inspiration, our responses as Black Daddies tend to oscillate between evasion and deliberate vagueness ("Go ask your mother....").
Personal learnings from the Countering Violent Extremism portfolio echoed the sentiments that Justin Trudeau expressed following the Boston Bombings -- to get to the root cause to prevent future attacks. Last year I had the chance to work with the Department of Public Safety on National Security Policy, and if there's one thing that you need to focus on in preventing any kind of violence from happening -- whether it be localized gun violence or terrorism -- it's the root cause. Mind you, gun violence and extremism are two very different animals, but what they do share in common is an immature and ridiculous sense of expression through violence.
With the current economic state in Ontario, many individuals are struggling to put meals on the table each and every day. Prices are rising across the board for food staples, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find accessible, affordable, and nutritious food. Since being re-introduced to legislature, the Local Food Act has passed its first reading.
Ontario's opposition parties never miss the chance to use toll roads as a wedge issue, regardless of who is in power. Canada's roads require expensive maintenance. Tolls are an excellent way of paying for road maintenance. Ultimately, charging for congestion is the only way to get Toronto moving again, and mobility is not a partisan issue.