The sky-rocketing costs of gasoline at the pumps have become an unfortunate reality for Canadians, particularly for our community in Windsor. As an auto-city in which almost every family relies on the utility of a vehicle to get from one point to another, we know first-hand the impact of the mismanagement of gasoline prices.
On May 2, 2011, several voters across the country raised the issue of receiving fraudulent phone calls purporting to be from Elections Canada indicating that their polling station had been changed. The issue resulted in complaints that have been under the investigation of the Commissioner of Canada Elections. The story has sparked a significant level of national attention amongst voters.
Recently, the Conservative government cancelled its $400 million eco-ENERGY retrofit program two months ahead of schedule. The program, which was renewed last year, offers Canadians up to $5000 to make their homes more energy efficient.
On February 14, 2012, Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, introduced bill C-30 to the House of Commons, also known as the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. You may have already heard this bill being referred to as the “lawful access” bill, or the “online spying” bill. This is due to the fact that the bill is actually a compilation of three bills that were introduced in the 40th Parliament, which were met with serious criticism from citizens, Privacy Commissioners, and expert and civil society groups across the country.
On January 26, 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a formal address to members of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He suggested, as a result of a broader “social transformation”, that the Canadian retirement system would undergo significant changes. Following his speech, the Conservative Government stated that the retirement system under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is ‘unsustainable’. There has been significant speculation that the government will seek to enact changes to the Guaranteed Income Supplement/Old Age Security regime since.
