The Criminal Code makes it illegal to do anything with the intention of alarming the Queen. I’m not sure our courts have ever found someone guilty of violating this law, but regardless, Canadians are expected to treat Her Majesty with a certain minimum standard of decency. The same is true
Smoking is under attack by governments and public health officials. In order to try to minimize the terrible health effects of cigarettes among the small but stubborn portion of the population that keeps lighting up, many experts in the field are now suggesting extreme tactics, including banning smoking for anyone
Sign me up! I want $10/month high-speed Internet too. Canadian prices are out-of-whack and too high. At least, that’s what the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — ACORN, for short — is telling us. They are asking the CRTC to mandate that $10/month high-speed Internet be made available
When it comes to free trade, Canada has done a fairly good job of signing agreements with other countries. Yet when it comes to trade between the provinces, we have a shameful record of protectionism. But now, there’s a ray of hope. “The Liberals have been quick to jettison a
The Court Challenges Program of Canada was effectively kaput by the time I took over as executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation. It was the Conservative government of Stephen Harper that stopped the arms-length federal program from accepting new cases in 2006, though the program was partially restored two
How do you explain the demise of Goodwill in Toronto, when similarly situated organizations are apparently thriving? The success of at least two other local thrift-store charities — one run by the Salvation Army and one run by Goodwill in Hamilton — makes the question perplexing. In 2010, I wrote
This is exciting: the column I wrote earlier this week on the folly of forcing immigrants to settle and stay in Atlantic Canada generated a headline with my name in it. Granted, the headline was, “Dear Marni Soupcoff: go soak your head.” But still. You don’t get your full name
At court on Monday, I was not surprised that Justice Earl Wilson of the Court of Queen’s Bench granted an injunction to Steam Whistle, an Ontario brewery, temporarily preventing the government of Alberta from collecting a discriminatory tax on its beer. The tax was imposed on Oct. 28, 2015, on
A company called Canadian Plasma Resources is hoping to set up a clinic in Saskatoon with a controversial plan to pay donors for their blood plasma. If the Saskatchewan experience follows that of the rest of Canada, the union representing employees at Canadian Blood Services (which has a government-granted monopoly
