As Romney Evades on Tax Returns, New Report Reveals Loopholes, Offshore Havens Behind His Fortune

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is on the hot seat over where he stashes his vast personal fortune, estimated at up to $250 million. We speak with reporter Nick Shaxson, whose new Vanity Fair article, "Where the Money Lives," delves into the murky world of offshore finance and reveals loopholes that allowed Romney to skirt tax laws and store millions in foreign tax havens. The article has sparked the latest round of questions about Romney’s taxes and offshore accounts, amplified by Romney’s refusal so far to release more than one year’s worth of tax returns.

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Is local food bad for the economy?

The North American farm is experiencing a cultural renaissance, or so say the stories of urban twentysomethings swapping the comforts of the city for overalls and buckets of manure, of municipal bylaw officials debating the merits of backyard chicken coops, to say nothing of the explosion of farmers’ markets, community gardens, high-end restaurants specializing in local food, and the home-delivery services of fresh produce from nearby farms.

The push for sustainable agriculture and local food trumpeted by everyone from Michelle Obama to the Canadian authors of The100-Mile Diet seems innocuous enough as a way for us to end our dependence on a corn-based diet of junk food and soft drinks, as well as curb rising rates of childhood obesity by teaching us to appreciate how our food gets from the farm to the table.

Scientists vs. Harper

When Science-ish heard about the “Death of Evidence” protest in Ottawa today, her first instinct was to jump on a plane and join the good fight. After all, Science-ish has spent the last year carefully documenting a number of incursions and abuses on science by governments—federal, provincial, and otherwise.

Over the phone, the University of Ottawa conference organizers told Science-ish that they are disturbed by what they believe is the government’s disdain for evidence. They also provided an impressive media backgrounder, obviously prepared by science nerds with a zest for evidence and footnoting. The alleged crimes included the scrapping of the mandatory long-form census, cutting the federal funding for Canada’s Ozone Network, closing the Experimental Lakes Area, as well as the elimination of the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy and the position of National Science Advisor.

Bevilacqua’s advice for Opitz: don’t wallow and worry and remain focused on the riding as Supreme Court mulls decision

He’s in the fight of his life to keep his Parliamentary seat, but Conservative MP Ted Opitz, whose 2011 election result was recently ruled null and void by an Ontario Supreme Court judge and who is now waiting to see how the Supreme Court rules, should remain focused on his riding, not wallow and worry, and learn from this adversity, says former Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, who underwent a similar fight after the 1988 election.

“It kind of tests your character. I learned from that adversity and the following election I won by 7,000 votes and the one after that I won by 50,000 votes,” said Mr. Bevilacqua.

Cross-border policing provokes sovereignty worries - U.S. officers have powers to make arrests in Canada

When the Conservative government passed its controversial omnibus budget bill last month, it included new powers for certain U.S. law enforcement agents that critics say could have ramifications for Canadian sovereignty.

The Integrated Cross Border Law Enforcement Operations Act now makes it possible for American officers to cross the border into Canada where, as the act states, they have "the same power to enforce an act of Parliament as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police."

Growth is dead. Long live stocks

Please join us in a moment of silence, to mourn the passing of growth.

Although growth started life showing wholesome promise, it ended in a sad and confused state of greed, excess and debauchery. While it thrived in its early years with the support of savings and the sensible allocation of capital, it was destroyed in the end by obscene, debt-fuelled profligacy and political meddling.

Where savers and reasonable governments were once growth’s friends, they turned their backs on it later in life, and the void was filled with socialists and bankers. Strange bedfellows these, at least at first glance, but united in their taste for the government nipple and their disdain for good old-fashioned hard work, they destroyed growth, which withered away, spending its final years alone in a van down by the river …

Spain unveils $80-billion in new austerity measures

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced a swathe of new taxes and spending cuts on Wednesday designed to slash €65-billion ($79.8-billion U.S.) from the budget deficit by 2014 as recession-plagued Spain struggles to meet tough targets agreed with Europe.

Mr. Rajoy, of the centre-right People’s Party, proposed a 3-point hike in the main rate of Value Added Tax on goods and services to 21 per cent, and outlined cuts in unemployment benefit and civil service pay and perks in a parliamentary speech interrupted by jeers and boos from the opposition.

EI changes to hit new workers in big cities hardest, study says

People new to the workforce living in cities like Toronto and Vancouver are most likely to have to take a job they don’t want under changes to the country’s employment insurance program, a report released Tuesday says.

A policy brief by the University of Toronto’s Mowat Centresays it’s “misleading” that much of the public debate around EI reform has focused on the negative impact the changes could have in rural and Atlantic Canada, where many industries rely on seasonal workers.

There aren’t enough jobs in rural Canada for many people to be forced to take a job they don’t like under the new rules, the brief says.

NDP launches attack ads on Stephen Harper’s economic record

The NDP has released daring attack ads against Prime Minister Stephen Harper, claiming his Conservative government is responsible for the largest deficits in Canadian history and accusing the Tories of leading the country into another economic downturn.

The ads directly attack what is perceived to be Harper’s strong suit, the economy, a move made famous by Republican strategist Karl Rove. The Harper Conservatives won their first majority government last year by touting their economic management to Canadian voters.

Federal Crown lawyers reach 15.25 per cent tentative pay deal

In a move that breaches the atmosphere of restraint in Ottawa, federal Crown lawyers have reached a tentative settlement that would give them a 15.25 per cent wage increase by May 2014.

The agreement with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, is expected to go to a ratification vote in August. It would give 2,700 federal Crowns, represented by the Association of Justice Counsel, a 12 per cent increase next year alone. That includes a 10 per cent “pay restructure.”

Federal Crown attorneys prosecute drug and terrorism offences. They also negotiate civil cases.