A plunge by Washington over the so-called fiscal cliff would hit Canadian miners and energy companies particularly hard since a slowdown in the U.S. economy would also drag down prices for base metals and oil.
TORONTO — Ontario’s cash-strapped government plans to write off at least $1.4 billion in unpaid taxes because it failed to act promptly and lacked the manpower to collect them, auditor general Jim McCarter found in his annual report.
Michigan legislators did not write the so-called “right to work” legislation that they have enacted in a mad rush of anti-democratic excess.
Corporate tax rates must be lowered in order to create economic growth: this is a key argument made by CEOs and their political allies while they push for a fiscal cliff deal. That was in the Bowles-Simpson plan, and members of Fix the Debt are pushing for that too, along with a territorial tax system.
The Wall Street Journal has news of some actual developments in the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations: this morning, it reported that President Obama will add corporate tax reform to his offer to House Republicans, in an effort to bring them along and invite a buy-in from the pesky CEOs crowding up the airwaves during most of this saga.
OTTAWA - And then there were two.
In a renewed push, President Obama is being urged to grant clemency to
the legendary Native American activist Leonard Peltier who has spent 37
years in prison. On Friday, singers Harry Belafonte and Pete Seeger will
host a "Bring Leonard Peltier Home In 2012 Concert" at the Beacon
Theater in New York City to raise awareness of Peltier’s 37-year ordeal
and plea for executive clemency from Obama. We’re joined by the
acclaimed actor and narrator Peter Coyote, a long-time friend and
advocate of Peltier. Coyote is a politically engaged actor and writer as
well as an ordained Zen Buddhist priest. He recently narrated the
recent Ken Burns mini-series, "The Dust Bowl."
Well, you can't fight a call for transparency, so why bother? I say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!.jpg)
During the holidays, the atmosphere of goodwill and mercy traditionally
extends all the way to the nation’s highest leaders, with presidents
typically pardoning more prisoners than any other time in the year. On
Friday, actors, musicians and activists are uniting to renew calls for
clemency for one of America’s most well-known and longest incarcerated
prisoners: Leonard Peltier. The Native American activist and former
member of the American Indian Movement was convicted of abetting the
killing of two FBI agents during a shootout on
South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. Peltier has long
maintained his innocence; Amnesty International considers him a
political prisoner who was not granted a fair trial. We air a
never-before-broadcast video of Peltier from an interview by German
journalist Claus Beegert.
News of HSBC’s $1.9 billion fine comes as three low-level traders were
arrested in London as part of an international investigation into 16
international banks accused of rigging a key global interest rate used
in contracts worth trillions of dollars. The London Interbank Offered
Rate, known as Libor, is the average interest rate at which banks can
borrow from each other. We’re joined by Matt Taibbi, Contributing Editor
for Rolling Stone magazine and author of "Griftopia: A Story of
Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American
History." Taibbi also comments on the departure of Republican senator
and Tea Party-favorite Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
The banking giant HSBC has escaped indictment
for laundering billions of dollars for Mexican drug cartels and groups
linked to al-Qaeda. Despite evidence of wrongdoing, the U.S. Department
of Justice has allowed the bank to avoid prosecution and pay a $1.9
billion fine. No top HSBC officials will face
charges, either. We’re joined by Rolling Stone Contributing Editor Matt
Taibbi, author of "Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the
Most Audacious Power Grab in American History." “You can do real time in
jail in America for all kinds of ridiculous offenses,” Taibbi says.
“Here we have a bank that laundered $800 million dollars of drug money
and they can’t find a way to put anybody in jail for that? That sends an
incredible message, not just to the financial sector, but to everybody.
It’s an obvious, clear double standard where one set of people gets to
break the rules as much as they want and another set of people can’t
break any rules at all without going to jail.”
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says his government's approvals of foreign investment deals are "absolutely not" contingent on giving foreign companies the green light to bring in temporary foreign workers.
A Quebec property developer who fled the province hoping to break away from industry collusion says he was left nearly destitute after refusing kickback demands from an official in small town Alberta.
The chairman of Loblaws says he’s “deeply disturbed” by allegations made by an Ontario small business owner who says the food retail giant ruined her business after reneging on an agreement.
OTTAWA—In Stephen Harper’s capital, prime ministerial press conferences are few and far between. More often than not, the prime minister’s exchanges with the media take place on the fly, in the context of an international trip. Those pro forma encounters rarely give Canadians much insight into Harper’s policy thinking.
Pets. Landlords don’t want them in their properties. Tenants can’t live without them. Unfortunately, the law in Ontario just makes it worse for everyone.
OTTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives overwhelmed NDP and Liberal opposition Wednesday to pass legislation that will force labour unions to make full details of their finances and spending public.