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Wednesday October 10, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 10, 2018

Minister confident police in Canada ready for cannabis legalization next week

Police forces across Canada should be ready for legalization of recreational marijuana next week because the federal government has provided funds, training and approval of drug-screening technology ahead of the big deadline, says a federal cabinet minister.

January 13, 2016

Bill Blair, minister of border security and organized crime reduction, says the government provided up to $161 million one year ago for police training in how to detect the presence of drugs in drivers. In August, it also approved the use of roadside drug screening equipment to identify those driving while high.

“For the first time ever, the police have been given the training, the tools and the technology to actually detect and deter,” he told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning Tuesday.

In the last 18 months, there has been a 60 per cent increase in the number of police officers trained as drug recognition experts in Canada, he said. There are now more than 880 police officers in Canada trained to recognize drug-impaired drivers.

August 13, 2018

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, however, has said there should be 2,000 trained to fulfil the government’s push to crack down on drug-impaired drivers.

Blair said police forces have access to the new Dräger DrugTest 5000, which tests saliva for cocaine and THC, the main psychoactive agent in cannabis. The device, which includes an “analyzer” and cassettes, received approval from the federal Department of Justice.

“People are already and have been for years driving under the influence of drugs and police have never had the ability to detect it,” he said. (Source: CBC News) 

 

Wednesday July 12, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday July 12, 2017

Bank of Canada may hike interest rate for 1st time in 7 years

After almost a decade of warnings that never came to pass, it appears as though the Bank of Canada is ramping up to hike its benchmark interest rate — possibly as soon as next week.

July 16, 2015

On July 12, Canada’s central bank will announce its latest decision on where to place its trend-setting interest rate, which has an impact on the rates that Canadian borrowers and savers get for their bank accounts, mortgages and other products.

Eight times a year, the bank’s board of governors meets to assess the latest economic indicators and decide whether Canada’s economy needs a shot in the arm from a rate cut, or a pump of the brakes by way of a hike.

And for the first time in 54 such meetings, it’s looking like the latter is in order.

It’s not like there haven’t been warning signs. By the time Stephen Poloz was named to replace Mark Carney atop the bank in 2013, the central bank had already been on the sidelines for more than two years, its benchmark interest rate set at one per cent.

May 13, 2010

But even as the bank kept loans cheap coming out of the financial crisis, the messaging from the top came early and often that Canadians should be forewarned — rates have to go up eventually.

As far back as 2014 Poloz warned Canadians that rates would rise “soon” — before oil’s plunge in 2015 caused the bank to lose its nerve. Instead, the central bank moved in the opposite direction, cutting rates twice that year to bring its rate to 0.5 per cent, where it currently sits.

At the time, those hikes were described as a temporary measure to help a Canadian economy that had been waylaid by an oil price that lost more than 70 per cent of its value in a matter of months. But in recent weeks the bank has started leaving clear signals that despite oil still being in the $40-per-barrel range, those temporary conditions are over and it’s time for a return to normalcy. (Source: CBC News) 

 

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Wednesday August 11, 1999

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 11, 1999

Yeltsin Protecting Entourage in Shuffle Russia

Political analysts see Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s nomination of Russia’s fifth premier in 17 months as an act of desperation aimed at protecting the interests of his entourage and not of the country.

The choice of security boss Vladimir Putin, with roots in the Soviet-era KGB, also boosts the threat of “unconstitutional” measures like declaring a state of emergency that might derail a general election scheduled Dec. 19, they said.

Earlier yesterday, Yeltsin fired Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, just three months after appointing him to the post, and named Putin acting premier. He also declared Putin his preferred candidate in next summer’s presidential election.

The move coincides with rising political tension triggered by the formation of a powerful new bloc uniting popular Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and regional leaders and by fresh conflict in the unruly North Caucasus — a development that could provide the grounds for declaring a state of emergency in Russia.

“Putin is tougher than Stepashin and has the support of the security organs, ” said last week’s edition of the Moskovskiye Novosti newspaper, which accurately predicted Putin’s appointment.

Other “unconstitutional” scenarios rehearsed in Russia’s mass media include bann ing the main opposition Communist party, in the name of fighting political “extremism” and dissolving the legislature to allow Yeltsin to rule indefinitely by decree.

Yeltsin’s naming of Putin as his preferred heir did not impress analysts.

“Putin is not a public figure, ” said analyst Andrei Piontkovsky of the man dubbed the Grey Cardinal for his secretive, behind-the-scenes style.

Putin’s taciturn expression is also unlikely to appeal to Russian voters.

“But Putin is the best candidate (as prime minister) if The Family is preparing a non-constitutional scenario for holding on to their power and privileges, ” Piontkovsky added.

Politicians and analysts from across the spectrum were unanimous on one point — Putin’s appointment had nothing to do with protecting national interests or helping the economy.

“This could jeopardize the (economic) recovery we have seen, ” said Peter Westin, economist at Russian Economic Trends.

“Yeltsin is just showing the only means of power he has, hiring and firing. It is becoming fairly ridiculous.”

Putin, whom Yeltsin also named as first deputy prime minister yesterday, must now be approved by the State Duma. If the opposition-dominated chamber rejects him three times, Yeltsin must call an election.

Analysts were divided over whether deputies, who in any case face the voters in December, would accept Putin.

Some said deputies would quietly nod him through, as they did Stepashin, to hold on to their privileges until their mandate expires. (Hamilton Spectator, C4, 8/10/1999)