Monthly Archives: September 2021

In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court told George W. Bush that fighting a global war on terrorism did not entitle the president to evade or ignore the requirements of the Constitution. That decision, Boumediene v. Bush, would go down in the books as one of the most significant modern rulings against wartime government power. "We'll abide by the Court's decision," Bush said. "That doesn't mean I have to agree with it."

What if Bush did not abide by the Court's decision? What if Bush said the Court was dead wrong and that his administration would not be bound by its erroneous judgment? What if subsequent presidents followed Bush's lead and ignored the Court whenever their own favored policies happened to lose?

Such what ifs are the driving force behind Justice Stephen Breyer's timely and important new book, The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics (Harvard University Press). The 83-year-old Supreme Court justice is well aware that many modern liberals want President Joe Biden to pack the Court and create a new liberal supermajority. Breyer thinks those liberal court packers are being both dimwitted and shortsighted. "Think long and hard," Breyer warns them, "before embodying those changes in law."

Court packing is a naked power grab and an attack on the independence of the judiciary. It is a tit-for-tat race to the bottom. One party expands the size of the bench for nakedly partisan purposes, so the other party does the same (or worse) as soon as it gets the chance. Breyer understands this. He also understands something else: If the authority of the Supreme Court is trashed and squandered by court packing, then liberalism itself is going to suffer in the long run.

Let history be our guide. President Andrew Jackson flatly ignored the Supreme Court's 1832 decision in Worcester v. Georgia, which ruled in favor of Cherokee control over Cherokee territory. Jackson later sent federal troops to forcibly remove the Cherokee people via the infamous Trail of Tears. The rule of law suffers when the political branches ignore the judiciary's judgment.

Breyer worries that today's liberal court packers are going to severely undermine judicial authority and pave the way for the next Andrew Jackson. "Whether particular decisions are right or wrong," Breyer writes, "is not the issue here." The issue "is the general tendency of the public to respect and follow judicial decisions, a habit developed over the course of American history." One of the biggest risks of court packing is that it will reverse that general tendency.

Just imagine what American history would look like without basic political and public support for the Court's decisions, Breyer writes. What "would have happened to all those Americans who espoused unpopular political beliefs, to those who practiced or advocated minority religions, to those who argued for an end to segregation in the South? What would have happened to criminal defendants unable to afford a lawyer, to those whose houses government officials wished to search without probable cause?"

Or take your pick of hot-button modern issues. If the court packers wreck the Court, as Breyer fears that they will, what's to stop an antigay marriage legislature from banning gay marriage, despite the Supreme Court's clear 2015 ruling to the contrary in Obergefell v. Hodges? Is that the future that liberals want?

Breyer's message is clear and convincing: The court packers should be careful what they wish for.

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Stephen Breyer Makes the Liberal Case Against Court Packing - Reason

A piece of the Liberals campaign platform aimed directly at addressing the dispute over abortion access in New Brunswick is unlikely to have an impact on reproductive health care in the province, according to a constitutional lawyer.

Its a bit of a nothing burger as far as Im concerned, said Kerri Froc, an associate professor in the faculty of law at the University of New Brunswick.

The campaign plank in question marks the latest attempt by the federal Liberals to address abortion access in the province and promises to require that all Canadians can access reproductive health care no matter where they live. They pledge to enshrine that requirement in regulations under the Canada Health Act, meaning it would only need approval by cabinet. A provinces failure to live up to their obligations would result in an automatic penalty applied against federal health transfers.

But according to Froc, the promise amounts to the Liberals pledging to give the government power it already possesses and has already used.

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The federal government has said that New Brunswick is in violation of the Canada Health Act for failing to provide meaningful access to surgical abortions in the province and deducted $140,216 from its share of health transfers earlier this year. The province refuses to fund surgical abortions performed outside of hospital and there are only three hospitals in the province that provide the procedure: one in Bathurst and two in Moncton.

The province argues it is meeting the need, citing lessening demand for the procedure after the introduction of Mifegymiso, also known as the abortion pill, in 2017.

Froc says the Liberal province in some way harms the fight for better access by suggesting that access to abortion is not already explicit in the Canada Health Act.

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They seem to imply that theres a question now and theres really not, she said. Theres really no question under the Canada Health Act. It says that if you have medical service provided by a physician then those have to be reasonably accessible, so you cant put direct or indirect barriers in front of them.

Theres no problem with the Canada Health Act.

When asked about the promise on Wednesday Liberal leader Justin Trudeau didnt directly address why the regulation was needed.

I think its clear to the vast majority of Canadians that we need to be a country that stands unequivocally for womens rights, for a womans right to choose. And thats not a theoretical right, its also a very practical right that involves being able to access reproductive health services across the country wherever they are, he said.

According to JP Lewis, an associate professor of political science at UNB, the promise looks to be an attempt to speak directly to progressive voters in key New Brunswick ridings.

The three ridings that weve been watching, Fredericton, Miramichi and Saint JohnRothesay, the Liberals are going to need to take whatever they can get, Lewis said.

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The highlighting of any progressive plank of their platform is addressing that strategic concern.

This isnt the first time Trudeau has waded into the abortion debate in New Brunswick. In 2019, during a Fredericton campaign stop, he promised to ensure that the province funds out-of-hospital abortions.

The move takes on more significance in Fredericton, where Clinic 554, a family practice that also provided abortion services that werent covered by Medicare, has become a flashpoint for reproductive health-care issues in the province. The clinic has all but closed as a family practice, opening two days a week to provide some reproductive health-care services.

The province is also facing legal action from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association that claims the province is violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by failing to provide adequate abortion access.

2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Liberal election promise would do nothing to improve N.B. abortion access: expert - Globalnews.ca

August 31, 2021 | Portman Difference

In a new op-ed for the Columbus Dispatch, Senator Portman argues that the Democrats proposed $3.5 trillion spending bill will send inflation soaring and undermine Americas long-term economic growth.

Immediately after taking office, President Biden teamed up with Congressional Democrats to jam through a $1.9 spending bill, leading to the largest price increases in more than a decade and the highest inflation rates in the past 30 years. Portman explains that if Democrats succeed in enacting their reckless $3.5 trillion tax and spending spree, the impact will be far worse. The American people can expect rapidly rising inflation, slower economic growth, and higher taxes.

Excerpts of the op-ed can be found below and the full op-ed can be found here.

'Liberal wish list' will add fuel to the inflation fire

By U.S. Senator Rob Portman

Columbus Dispatch

The increased inflation rates the Federal Reserve calls transitory show no signs of slowing, and middle-class families are feeling the squeeze.

Consumer prices rose 5.4% in July, the highest in 13 years.

Food prices are up 3.4%, and Americans are paying 42% more for gasoline and used cars than they did just one year ago. The Producer Price Index saw even higher inflation at 7.8%, the highest on record.

...

The Democrats plan to spend another $3.5 trillion on a liberal wish list of social spending priorities will make things worse, further stalling economic growth and leading to even higher rates of inflation than weve seen so far.

What makes this proposal even more concerning is Democrats want to pay for it by including the largest tax increases in history. It would increase taxes on American workers, businesses large and small, farmers, manufacturers, and much more. This increased spending combined with job-killing tax increases could lead to stagflation - low growth and high inflation - that we have not seen since the 1970s.

Instead of pursing partisan and divisive tax and spend proposals, I would encourage both parties to take a moment and remember the strong economy we had before COVID-19.

The Democrats $1.9 trillion stimulus back in March and the Federal Reserves unprecedented monetary policy intervention combined to light the match on inflation. The last thing our economy needs now is the unprecedented tax increases and massive new social spending represented in the Democrats budget resolution leading to next months reconciliation bill.

At a time when we should be working to slow inflationary pressures, the Democrats $3.5 trillion plus tax and spending spree would only add fuel to the fire.

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Portman Columbus Dispatch Op-Ed: 'Liberal wish list' will add fuel to the inflation fire - Senator Rob Portman

Liberal candidate and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the aim of green economy measures is to align the Canadian economy with broader shifts happening around the world.

Stephen MacGillivray/The Canadian Press

The Liberals are putting a distinctly green lens on their plans for job creation and economic growth, with promises to accelerate the transition toward a low-carbon economy if the party forms government after the Sept. 20 election.

The party platform, published Wednesday, promises a range of new green economy measures, including a 30-per-cent tax credit for clean technology investments and $2-billion to retrain oil and gas workers. It also pledges new strategies for clean-energy home renovations, aimed at kickstarting a vibrant retrofit economy.

Other pillars of the partys economic vision include its child-care program, aimed at bringing women into the work force, and increased investments in science and innovation including a $2-billion promise to establish a Canada Advanced Research Projects Agency modelled on the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. But the core of the partys economic growth agenda is built squarely around low-carbon initiatives.

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At a news conference in Toronto, Liberal candidate and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the aim of the plan is to align the Canadian economy with broader shifts happening around the world.

The green transition is a reality in the global economy. As Canadians, the only choice we have now is, do you want to be ahead of the curve? Do we want to build a green economy so we can continue to sell things to other people? Or do we want to fall behind? And that is no choice at all, Ms. Freeland said.

The rush to net zero could hit the economy as hard as the 1973-74 oil crisis

How harnessing oceans can help Canada in reaching its climate goals

The Liberal Party is not alone in focusing on a low-carbon economy. All the major parties are promising support for the zero-emission vehicle industry, including investments in manufacturing and charging infrastructure. The Liberals say they would require 50 per cent of all new car sales to be zero-emissions by 2030, while the Conservatives would require 30 per cent by 2030.

Both the Liberals and the Conservatives are vowing to use government dollars to spur the creation of battery supply chains based on Canadian minerals. The Liberals are promising to build on their partys critical mineral strategy by doubling the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit for mining companies exploring for metals used in batteries and other clean technology.

The parties differ on some environmental questions, such as carbon taxes and subsidies for electric vehicles. However, a cross-party consensus appears to have emerged around the use of industrial policy targeted government spending on private companies to push forward low-carbon initiatives.

This is happening against a backdrop of major spending in the U.S. and Europe, where governments are using COVID-19 recovery funding to kickstart clean technology industries and build out electric vehicle supply chains. The focus on the electric vehicle industry, in particular, is aimed at ensuring Canadian automakers remain an integral part of the North American vehicle supply chain, which is undergoing momentous transition.

What they are putting forward are what our major trading partners, like the United States and the U.K. and the EU, have already committed to, Merran Smith, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, said of the Liberal platform.

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If we are not in line with their level of ambition, were going to find that our products are going to have challenges, because those countries are looking for low-carbon products like low-carbon steel, low-carbon cement, low-carbon metals and minerals and theyre talking about border carbon tariff adjustments.

A major piece of the Liberal Partys green industrial policy is the net-zero accelerator, an $8-billion fund announced last year and greatly expanded in the April budget. The fund is designed to distribute money to companies for them to use in reducing their emissions, or to invest in clean energy technologies. So far, the scope of the fund has not been clearly defined. Possible recipients could range from aluminum manufacturers trying to reduce their carbon footprints, to auto manufacturers building electric vehicle plants.

The Conservatives are promising to invest $1-billion in each of three sectors: the small nuclear reactor industry, the electric vehicle industry and the hydrogen industry. The NDP, meanwhile, is promising a range of initiatives, including a Canadian Climate Bank, which it says will help boost investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and low carbon technology across the country.

Michael Bernstein, executive director of Clean Prosperity, a non-profit focused on market-based climate solutions, applauded the Liberal platforms focus on green initiatives.

Its incredibly ambitious, and links climate policy directly to the economic strategy, Mr. Bernstein said. The one thing that I was surprised there wasnt a little more detail on was the building sector, where there could be some of the most obvious near-term and dispersed benefits.

The Liberals proposed $2-billion Futures Fund is aimed at retraining workers in oil-producing provinces who could lose their jobs in the oil and gas industry over the coming years.

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The party is also promising to spend $205-million a year on a new Clean Jobs Training Centre aimed at helping tradespeople gain skills relevant to the zero-carbon economy.

The Liberals say they will set new five-year emissions-reduction targets for the oil and gas industry, aimed at hitting net-zero by 2050. The plan relies on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology. The government was already developing a new CCUS production tax credit to take effect sometime in 2022.

The Conservative Party has promised a tax credit of its own, as part of a $5-billion CCUS package. Both parties have presented CCUS as a way to reduce emissions, while simultaneously creating new jobs developing that technology and helping the Canadian resource sector remain internationally competitive.

Alongside direct spending promises, the Liberals said they would move toward mandatory climate-related financial disclosures for public companies. Developing standardized disclosure rules is seen as an important step in the process of reallocating capital toward low-carbon industries although financial disclosure decisions lie largely with provincial and territorial securities regulators.

The Liberals have also made a new commitment to develop a net-zero emissions electricity system by 2035, which their platform promises will create green jobs alongside its environmental benefits.

That promise is similar to a commitment by U.S. President Joe Biden. Canada comes at it with a considerable head start, because the countrys electrical grids are currently far less reliant on fossil fuels than American ones. Maintaining that advantage which could be helpful in attracting manufacturers and other companies committed to lowering their own carbon footprints will likely require adding considerable new clean-power generation to meet rising demand caused by the electrification of transportation, buildings and industry.

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Toward that end, the Liberals are promising unspecified new investment tax credits for renewable energy and battery storage. They are also promising the creation of what they call a Pan-Canadian Grid Council to engage the provinces, which have primary jurisdiction over electricity policy.

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Liberals planning green economy measures, with focus on jobs - The Globe and Mail

TORONTO -- NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who has promised to immediately and permanently get rid of charging students interest on federal student loans, has accused the Liberal government of profiting off student debt.

Already, five provinces no longer charge interest rates on these loans -- British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island -- and Singh wants the federal government to do the same.

The New Democrats, who have been attracting younger voters according to polls, have highlighted affordable post-secondary education as a key area of their platform messaging. In addition to eliminating interest charges, they have also pledged to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt and double non-repayable Canada Student Grants.

Since coming to power, Trudeau has profited off of student debt, to the tune of nearly $4 billion in interest payments, Singh wrote on Twitterthis past weekend.

"It is a fact that in the six years that Justin Trudeau has been prime minister, if you look at the federal interest thats been collected for student debt, that has been a $4-billion cost for students. And the prime minister has been responsible for that," he told reporters during a campaign stop earlier this week.

CTVNews.ca digs into whether this statement is accurate or not.

This is not a new claim by the NDP, which also made the charge in 2019ahead of the last federal election. At the time, Singh said Trudeaus government was raking in billions of dollars in interest from young people and that making a profit off student loans is wrong.

Profit is defined by how much has been earned or gained after expenses and other costs have been deducted. As Investopedia defines it, the financial benefit realized when revenue generated from a business activity exceeds the expenses, costs, and taxes involved in sustaining the activity in question.

To test the validity of Singhs statement, we looked at the numbers: how much does the government spend on the program, how much it makes, and other related details.

During the previous election, the total amount of student debt at the federal level was estimated at close to $17 billion, with nearly $3 billion in interest charged since 2015. The total amount of student debt owed now stands at $22.3 billion as of July 31, 2020, according to information CTVNews.ca requested from the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

The government handed out $1.63 billion in Canada Student Grants to more than 528,000 students during the 2019 to 2020 loan year, more than double the amount granted between 2015-2016, according to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program Statistical Review. It also made loans totalling $3.45 billion to nearly 608,000 students.

When combined with the previous three years, the government issued a total of more than $13 billion in loans and about $5.6 billion in student grants. The amount spent on student grants over four years already exceeds the amount of interest the government recorded over the last five years.

The average Canada Student Loan balance at the time of leaving school in the 2019-2020 academic year was $13,549, according to figures provided by the ESDC. Over the last 10 years, on average, it took a little less than six years for a student to pay off their Canada Student Loan, while 25 per cent paid off their loans within three years, the agency added. That loan average jumps to $28,000 at the end of an undergraduate or masters degree, according to a Statistics Canada surveypublished November 2019, and the figure cited by the NDP.

But the government also writes off hundreds of millions of dollars in loans each year for a number of reasons, including bankruptcy, extreme financial hardship, and settlements. The majority comes from loans that have not been paid or acknowledged for six years, the Canada Student Loans Programannual reportfor 2018 to 2019 states. For the 2020-2021 fiscal year, $185.5 million in Canada Student Loans were written off, according to figures provided by the ESDC. In 2018, Ottawa wrote off more than $200 millionin outstanding student loan payments.

These figures also do not account for other costs incurred by the government, such as their repayment assistance plans, which gives some borrowers a reprieve from repaying the loan until they have earned a certain minimum amount. This means the government covers the interest portion, or may contribute toward both the principal and interest, depending on the various factors.

In addition, the government has suspended the accumulation of intereston Canada Student Loans for two years, starting from April 2021 and ending March 31, 2023. Prior to this, the government had already lowered interest rates with the variable rate set to prime, instead of prime plus 2.5 per cent, and the fixed rate set to prime plus two per cent, from prime plus five per cent.

The interest also does not accumulate on the loans while the borrower is in school, or even during the first six months after they leave. Meanwhile, the eligibility criteria to qualify for loan forgiveness was also expanded so that more students with severe, permanent disabilities may be eligible.

These are all costs incurred by the government. Throw in administrative expenses, thats another $137.1 million in 2018-2019. In the annual report for that year, loan expenses totalled $2.66 billion, while interest revenue was $841.4 million.

That year, the government also gave $492.3 million to Quebec, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories to support their own financial assistance. These three jurisdictions do not participate in the Canada Student Loans Program, which uses a single application process for students looking to receive federal and provincial aid for post-secondary schooling.

What about the $4 billion figure Singh used? If we add the amount in the Interest on Canada student loans line from the Public Accounts of Canadafrom the last five years (2016-2020), the total amount of interest collected comes to $3.63 billion. If we include 2015, the total is $4.25 billion.

However, that figure is the total amount of interest charged or recorded on the student loans, which, according to the ESDC, is different from the amount that is actually collected by the government. Since 2015, only $1.87 billion or an average of $373.7 million each year -- in interest payments were actually received or collected from borrowers on student loans, the ESDC told CTVNews.ca. That works out to less than half the amount that is recorded on paper.

Interest is recorded as revenue the moment is it owed by a borrower However, some interest never gets paid by the borrower for different reasons, Saskia Rodenburg, a media spokesperson for the department, said in an email.

Some interest is waived/forgiven through measures such as the Repayment Assistance Plan, the Severe and Disability Benefit, loan forgiveness for family doctors and nurses, or in the case of the death of a borrower. Also, some interest is written off once all measures to collect on a loan have been exhausted.

Finally, the amount the government receives in interest is put back into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the ESDC says, and is not allocated to any area. All funds paid to the federal government are held in this central account at the Bank of Canada. Trudeau and the Liberal government do not benefit from the interest collected.

While the government does collect a very hefty amount in student loan interest each year, it is already significantly less than what it spends on student grants which has also increased. Even excluding grants, the amount the government spent on bad debt, borrowing expenses, interest subsidies, repayment assistance programs, administrative costs, totaled more than $1.1 billion for the 2018-2019 loan year. Thats higher than the $841.4 million it charged in interest payments or the actual figure collected.

[Its] hard to make the case that the government makes money, Kevin Page, the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa and Canadas first Parliamentary Budget Officer, said in an email.

Whether student loans should incur interest is its own issue, but it is clearly false to say that Trudeau, or the Liberal government, is profiting from that interest.

Edited by CTVNews.ca Michael Stittle

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Are Trudeau and the Liberal government profiting off student debt? - CTV News