Saturday October 20, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 20, 2018

At least one robocall poll suggests a divisive LRT project has turned Hamilton’s mayoral election race into a statistical dead heat.

An automated telephone survey by Forum Research of 1,556 residents showed 39 per cent support pro-LRT incumbent Fred Eisenberger while 38 percent back anti-LRT challenger Vito Sgro. Other respondents either said they will choose another of the 15 mayoral candidates (12%) or were undecided (12%).

October 13, 2018

Respondents – a majority reached by landline – were similarly divided when asked how they felt about the contentious $1-billion light rail line, said Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff. Half said they opposed the project, while 46% were supportive.

And when those residents were specifically informed about the positions of both candidates on LRT and asked to choose between them again, the support split at 43 percent each.

“It is so close, the numbers are almost identical,” said Bozinoff of the survey, which claims a margin of error of 2.48%, with total sample results considered accurate 19 times out of 20. “What it means – because municipal voter turnout is not great – is that it is important for both sides to get out their vote on Monday.”

August 14, 2018

Forum Research was not paid for the survey and plans to release the results publicly Friday, said Bozinoff. The firm periodically conducts polls and offers the results for free to drum up clients.

Bozinoff noted light rail transit was also an issue – but not the top priority – for voters polled in a paid Forum survey conducted for The Spectator during the 2014 election.

This time, fully a third of respondents called LRT the top issue that would influence their vote.

By contrast, 17 percent chose taxes, 15 percent chose infrastructure/roads and nine-percent chose public safety. “Often, the top issue is taxes,” Bozinoff said. “Clearly, people feel very strongly about this (LRT) issue.”

Interestingly, the majority of respondents who offered an opinion about LRT feel passionately about the project, one way or another. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Friday October 19, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 19, 2018

Premier Doug Ford’s cap-and-trade move will cost treasury $3B over four years

Premier Doug Ford’s move to scrap Ontario’s cap-and-trade alliance with Quebec and California will deal a $3-billion blow to the treasury, according to the province’s financial accountability officer.

September 29, 2018

“By cancelling the cap-and-trade program, the province’s annual budget balance will worsen by a cumulative total of $3 billion over the next four years,” Peter Weltman warned Tuesday.

“The province’s budget balance worsens because the loss of cap-and-trade revenue from ending the auction of emission allowances is greater than the savings achieved from cancelling cap-and-trade-related spending programs,” said Weltman.

Environment Minister Rod Phillips, who will unveil a replacement climate-change plan later this year without any taxation component, insisted the $3-billion hit was anticipated.

“That’s $3 billion back in the pockets of Ontario taxpayers,” said Phillips.

July 11, 2018

“We committed to the orderly wind-down of this program that was killing jobs, that was regressive, and we will follow that through. It’s a promise we made, it’s a promise we’ll keep,” he said.

“Yes, that means less money for government — that’s more money for families.”

NDP MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto-Danforth) countered that “Ford is hurting Ontario’s environment, and he’s charging all Ontarians extra to do it.”

“The direct result of Ford’s favour to big polluters will be $3 billion in costs piled onto the backs of the people of Ontario. That means ripping $3 billion right out of folks’ bank accounts, or cutting $3 billion from things like health care,” said Tabuns.

November 22, 2016

Green Leader Mike Schreiner said “Ford’s anti-climate agenda is bad for the environment and bad for business.”

“Today, we learned that the premier’s reckless actions are a $3-billion boondoggle that will dig a deeper fiscal hole for the province,” said Schreiner.

Greenpeace’s Keith Stewart said the FAO report proves axing cap-and-trade “is bad for the budget and worse for our environment.”

Beyond any environmental impact of withdrawing from the climate accord, Ontario will now be subject to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s forthcoming federal carbon-pricing scheme that could be more expensive.

It was exempt from that while it was part of the two-year-old cap-and-trade accord with Quebec and California. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

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Thursday October 18, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 18, 2018

Liberal government to waive fee, waiting time for pot pardons

The Liberal government will waive the fee and waiting period for Canadians seeking a pardon for a past conviction for simple pot possession.

March 7, 2013

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale announced today that the government intends to table legislation to expedite the pardon process for those with a criminal record for pot.

The fee for normal record suspensions is $631. The waiting period to apply is usually five years for a summary offence or 10 years for an indictable offence.

Goodale said it will “shed the burden and stigma” and break down barriers to jobs, education, housing or volunteer work.

But he could not give a timeframe for when someone could apply and obtain a pardon, noting that the “critical point” is getting the legislation tabled and passed in Parliament.

September 28, 2012

He said legalization represents a “fundamental transformation” of a legal regime that’s been in place for over a century.

“That is not a singular event. That is a process,” he said.

A record suspension does not erase the fact that you were convicted of a crime, but keeps the record separate and apart from other criminal records.

The NDP is calling for the expungement of criminal records, which would erase the criminal conviction entirely.

NDP Justice critic Murray Rankin called the pardon plan a “half-baked measure” that won’t remove the existing barriers the criminal record presents for travel, housing or volunteering. People who are asked on a form if they have a criminal conviction will still be required to answer “yes.”

“If you call that an expungement, then you will completely solve the problem that I think will, continue to exist,” he said.

Goodale said the government did not adopt that approach, because it is for cases where there has been a “profound historical injustice,” such as when a charter right was violated. (Source: CBC)  

 

Wednesday October 17, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 17, 2018

Canada becomes second country to legalise recreational marijuana

The nationwide market for cannabis opened Wednesday at midnight amid lingering questions about the impact on health, the law and public safety.

Preparations included mailings to 15m households detailing the new cannabis laws and public awareness campaigns.

But there remain concerns, including about the readiness for police forces to tackle drug impaired driving.

Canadian provinces and municipalities have been preparing for months for the end of cannabis prohibition.

Provinces and territories are responsible for setting out many of the details for where cannabis can be bought and consumed within their jurisdictions. 

This has created a patchwork of legislation across the country as jurisdictions choose more or less restrictive frameworks for selling and using cannabis.

Shops in the province of Newfoundland, the most easterly time zone in Canada, opened as midnight struck for the first legal sales of cannabis in the country.

There remain unanswered questions on some key issues around how legal cannabis will work in Canada.

A number of analysts are predicting a shortage of recreational marijuana in the first year of legalisation as production and licensing continues to ramp up to meet demand.

And the marketplace itself is still in its infancy.

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, will only begin opening retail stores next spring, though residents will be able to order cannabis online.

British Columbia, one of the provinces with the highest rates of cannabis use, will only have one legal store open on Wednesday.

Until retail locations are more widely available, some unlicensed cannabis retailers, which have flourished in the years since the law was first proposed, may stay open.

It is unclear if police will crack down on them immediately, or if they will turn a blind eye. (Source: BBC News) 

Tuesday October 16, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 16, 2018

Worried You Reek Like Weed? Prelam Has An ‘Odour Eliminator’ For You

The makers of Just’a Drop odour eliminators are stepping into the recreational cannabis market when it becomes legal October 17. Prelam Enterprises will launch the LUKY8 spray that day, which it claims will eliminate, and not just mask, the odour that comes with marijuana smoke.

June 22, 2018

“My goal was to give privacy to those people who will want to experiment because it’s legal all of a sudden,” said Prelam co-founder Luc Jalbert. “I figured there’s going to be millions of people trying it. There’ll be a lot of people buying it in the store because it’s legal, but they don’t want to advertise it, they don’t want their kids to know they had a puff.”

Jalbert said people who don’t traditionally use the substance may want to try it, including Baby Boomers. But as most people know, marijuana has a distinct smell that many may find too strong and obvious.

“Sometimes I’ll be in line at a bank or something and I can smell the cannabis on the guy behind me, it’s like, ‘wow, that’s a very distinct smell’,” Jalbert said. “My objective was to remove that taboo feeling that you could have a joint but you don’t have to advertise it.”

Jalbert said the LUKY8 is unlike other odour elimination sprays in the market because it “encapsulates the molecule [that creates the odour] and actually knocks it out.”

He used a formula aimed at the agricultural sector, he said. The product was researched, designed and manufactured in Moncton.

Users of the product just need to spray the air around them, their clothes or their furniture after consuming marijuana. Once sprayed, the LUKY8, which is safe for pets, will leave a light berry scent. (Source: Huddle Today)