The world that made Don Drummond

In his opening paragraphs to the 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Karl Marx noted that people "make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past."

It is one of the most basic and fundamental insights into the way our society, its politics and its mass thinking work, and yet its meaning is often forgotten or ignored.

We, as people exist in a context, and that context shapes the way we think and the way we act. That context is sometimes of our own making, in part or in whole, but regardless, it is inescapable and it frames the way we think, react and act as a society, often imperceptibly.

This social discourse evolves constantly, and the actions of politicians and political advocates help to shape what becomes the essential framework of their day.

The citizens of Ontario have come under a kind of full-frontal ideological assault recently, delivered to them by an agent of their own provincial Liberal government, the former TD Bank economist Don Drummond. His commissioned report has recommended deep cuts to programmes that millions depend on. It disgracefully calls for the imposition of user fees on things like school buses (as one small example), massive cuts to health care, farcical ideas such as ending all-day kindergarten or cutting access for seniors to medication. It seeks to undo the little that the Liberals can claim as their attempts to reconstruct an inclusive civil society in the wake of the Harris years.

Head of Cabinet’s strategic operating review looks to private sector to employ public service layoffs

Treasury Board President Tony Clement says he is confident that Canada’s private sector will be able to absorb thousands of job cuts from the federal government as the governing Tories’ remain committed to eliminating the deficit within the next three years.

“I think our economy is performing well,” Mr. Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) told media following Question Period on Feb. 14, crediting the federal government’s handling of the 2009 recession for enabling the feds to begin scaling back stimulus spending while maintaining low tax rates. “We campaigned on, and have been acting on the belief that we have to continue to create new jobs in the private sector for our economy to expand and grow, and that includes being a low tax jurisdiction that spends within its means.”

Since the Conservatives formed their first majority government in the spring of 2011, much of the debate in Ottawa has focused on fiscal policy. The government plans to eliminate its $32.3-billion deficit through a combination of $11-billion in spending cuts over the next three years and increases in tax revenues as economic growth rebounds.

As Greece Erupts, BBC’s Paul Mason on "The New Global Revolutions" over Austerity, Inequality

Greece is bracing for protests after eurozone finance ministers concluded a deal that will provide a $170 billion bailout in return for another round of deep austerity cuts. The bailout is opposed by several unions and left-wing groups in Greece over new cuts and layoffs imposed on public sector workers. We’re joined by Paul Mason, economics editor at BBC Newsnight and author of the new book, "Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions." He has just returned from Greece. "What makes the headlines are, of course, the riots," Mason says. "What doesn’t make so many headlines is what is happening to real people... We are living in a time where the world has, in the last couple of years, erupted in a way that many people thought they would never see again since the 1960s... The underpinnings of this new global unrest are that...people are sick of seeing the rich get richer during a crisis."

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Source: Democracy Now!
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TTC chief Gary Webster fired

TTC chief general manager Gary Webster has been relieved of his duties, following a vote during a special meeting of transit commissioners Tuesday.

In a motion describing termination "without just cause," the transit commission voted 5-4 to fire Webster, who has worked at the service for 35 years, just two weeks after he expressed open defiance to a subway plan championed by Mayor Rob Ford. His ouster comes a year before he was set to retire.

"This was not how I expected this to end — certainly not how I wanted it to end," Webster told reporters shortly after his termination. "But clearly the choice has been made to replace me as chief general manager and I accept that."

TTC chair Karen Stintz, a vocal supporter of Webster's, thanked the outgoing senior manager for his years with the commission.

Stintz told reporters she was left cold by the decision to sack a manager that many councillors defended passionately as a trusted public servant who, for years, ran the third-largest transit system in North America.

Ottawa water rates to jump over next decade

Taxpayers in Ottawa should prepare for a big jump in water and sewer rates after the city's environment committee approved a long-term plan to replace pipes across Ottawa.

The plan to invest $2.1 billion over 10 years will see the average annual rate in Ottawa to jump to more than $1,000 by 2020-21, a 74 per cent increase over a decade.

The city said it needs to raise rates for a number of ongoing projects, including the replacement of all pipes on roads where construction work is being done.

Councillors said they wanted to avoid a situation like last year's Woodroffe Avenue water main break, with some suggesting if the city did not pay now, they would pay later.

The plan calls for a six per cent increase in 2012, raising the average annual rates this year to $668.19.

Rates would rise seven per cent in 2013 and 2014, six per cent in 2015 and 2016 and then five per cent in the foreseeable future after that.

City council is expected to approve the plan Wednesday.

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Source: CBC
Author: cbc

Montreal doctors accused of taking bribes

Two Montreal cardiologists are facing disciplinary action over allegations they received hefty kickbacks to push patients to the top of the waiting list, the Quebec College of Physicians says.

The college's investigation uncovered at least two doctors who were allegedly taking envelopes of cash in exchange for providing faster service, Dr. Charles Bernard told CBC News.

"It's awful," said Bernard, who heads the college. "It's unacceptable … Usually, physicians have a good job, a good pay. It's very difficult for me to understand that."

The investigation was triggered 14 months ago, when a Montreal woman told the news media she had paid a $2,000 cash "incentive" to have her mother bumped to the top of a waiting list.

After the investigation, the college said two cardiologists from Montreal would face a disciplinary hearing later this year in connection with such incidents. Bernard would not discuss the details of the cases, as nothing yet has been proved.

B.C. budget aims for fiscal prudence

The B.C. government has tabled a tough, stay-the-course budget intended to cap spending, sell off "non-strategic assets" and rein in the deficit with very few handouts to taxpayers or businesses on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said the "fiscally prudent" budget would limit overall spending increases to two per cent in coming years and keep the government on track to balance the budget by 2013/2014.

Falcon said the government would finish the current fiscal year with a $2.5-billion deficit, which would be cut to $1 billion in the 2012/2013 fiscal year.

Former deputy minister and political commentator Bob Plecas told CBC News he thought the budget was "the toughest budget we've had since '83."

Key to the government's plan to reducing the deficit is the sale of $700-million worth of what Falcon called "non-strategic surplus assets," including its monopoly on wholesale liquor distribution and unused land held by the government, health authorities and school boards.

B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair immediately criticized the sell-off, saying it was the equivalent of paying your mortgage by selling your home and living on the street.

Shameful firing of TTC manager widens gap between Ford and councillors

Turning a grey transit official into a popular hero is quite a trick, but that is just what the administration of Mayor Rob Ford has accomplished by firing Toronto Transit Commission chief general manager Gary Webster.

As Mr. Webster walked into a special TTC gathering on Tuesday to meet his fate, cheers broke out in the public gallery. Supporters were handing out “I (heart) Gary Webster” buttons. When the 5-4 vote to sack him was announced three hours later, the audience shouted “shame.” Even Bob Kinnear, the sharp-tongued transit-union leader, came to Mr. Webster’s defence.

What explains the extraordinary reaction to his firing? Mr. Webster is hardly the first official to be replaced by his political masters. The TTC is not the most popular institution these days, and the axing of its manager would normally cause little distress to most people.

But there is something different about this. Mr. Webster is being fired just days after a public meeting in which he spoke his mind, in the most calm and respectful manner, about his views on the best way to expand Toronto’s transit network. Those views differ sharply from the mayor’s.

Iran says it will pre-emptively strike anyone who threatens it

As pressure mounts over Iran's nuclear program, a top Iranian general warned Tuesday that the nation will pre-emptively strike anyone who threatens it.

The statement by General Mohammed Hejazi continues the defiant tone Tehran has taken in its confrontation with Western countries that claim it is developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

“We do not wait for enemies to take action against us,” said Gen. Hejazi, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. “We will use all our means to protect our national interests.”

Gen. Hejazi heads the military's logistical wing.

The U.S. and Israel have not ruled out strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran also said Tuesday that a visiting UN team did not plan to inspect the country's nuclear facilities and will only hold talks with officials in Tehran.

B.C. budget raises corporate taxes

British Columbia is dropping out of a decade-long race with its chief provincial rivals to attract corporate investment with low tax rates, tabling a budget on Tuesday that proposes the first corporate-tax hikes since the B.C. Liberal Party came to power in 2001.

With a provincial election just 15 months away, the B.C. Liberals are taking on the challenge of rising program costs amid muted economic growth. In doing so, B.C. is setting out the stark choices facing other deficit-ridden provinces.

Finance Minister Kevin Falcon’s answer is to forfeit corporate-tax bragging rights so he can put his government’s target to balance the budget next year within reach.

Posting a surplus in 2013 as required by B.C. law is key to maintaining the province’s fiscal credibility, Mr. Falcon said in his budget speech in the Legislature. “Around the world, the landscape is littered with governments that have forgotten the importance of managing spending and taxation prudently.”