The Smart Saver Program

While I no longer subscribe to the Globe, I periodically check its online content, and this morning I read about a program intended to help poor families with the costs of post-secondary education. As described in Margaret Wente's column, the "federal government will contribute $500 for a Canada Learning Bond for any child born since Jan. 1, 2004, who lives in a low-income family. It adds another $100 every year, to a maximum of $2,000, and matches any extra family contributions by as much as 40 per cent.

Despite my antipathy toward the Harper Government, I have to give them credit for thus far not eliminating this anti-poverty measure in the name of fiscal restraint.

Sgt. Ryan Russell's Funeral

I had thought about writing a blog entry on what I perceived to be the excesses surrounding the funeral of Sgt. Ryan Russell, the police officer killed last week in Toronto. I hesitated, however, out of respect for the deceased. While his death, like all others in public service, was tragic, I do question whether anyone is truly served by the measures undertaken by both the police forces across Canada and our domestic media in honouring his sacrifice.

In the first letter of today's online Globe and Mail, the writer makes, I feel, a valuable observation.

Bill Maher On American Gun Laws

It's a cold Sunday afternoon where I live, and so the Internet is providing some much-needed insulation from mother nature. I just finished reading an article about Bill Maher on Salon.com which included an excerpt from his Friday night appearance on the Jay Leno Show. While I almost never watch the show (Leno is too bland and pays it too safe for my liking), Maher's appearance added some zest to a moribund format.

Police Brutality at the National Level

This morning, the Globe and Mail website has posted video evidence of brutality by the R.C.M.P. in Kelowna, B.C. The footage, shot by a newsman, shows the authorities pulling over Buddy Tavares, wanted in connection with careless use of a firearm. As he complies with the orders to get out of his vehicle and lie down on the pavement, one of the officers kicks him in the head, for no apparent reason. As one of Tavares' friends says in the video, he is recovering from brain surgery, and the kick could have either killed him or put him into a coma.

The sickening episode can be viewed here.

A Word of Caution About Wind Turbines

I have long been a supporter of alternative forms of energy. While the geography is not always ideal, I felt for a long time that the Ontario's pursuit of wind and solar power suggested a government with a vision for the future. Those who complained about wind turbines near their homes, were, I believed, simply examples of Nimbyism, worried about their property values, their views of adjacent vistas, etc.

However, a column by Thomas Walkom in today's Star suggests that there in fact might be reasons for caution. Bob McMurtry, an orthopedic surgeon and former Dean of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario, heads a group called the Society for Wind Vigilance, which has uncovered disturbing evidence that turbines may not be as benign as we have been led to believe. You can read the article here.

Thanks to Toronto Star, the Inept SIU Re-opens G20 Investigation

After the Toronto Star recently published photos surrounding the police assault on, and subsequent arrest of Dorian Barton, the student who ran afoul of authorities for taking pictures of police horses during the G20, the province's Special Investigations Unit, an ostensibly inept organization, has agreed to reopen its investigation into the case.

Having previously looked into the case but finding no evidence upon which to proceed, the Director of the SIU now finds himself in a situation where he and his unit can no longer gloss over at least one of the many hundreds of instances of police misconduct during last summer's summit.

At least it's a start.

A Way Out of Poverty?

In today's Star, Carol Goar writes about a fascinating anti-poverty experiment undertaken in Dauphin, Manitoba which ran from 1974 to 1978. A joint federal-provincial initiative, it was undertaken to determine if a guaranteed annual income could be effective in reducing the worst social and physical impacts of poverty.

The results are provocatively suggestive of real benefits for society if people are removed from the ranks of the poor. Unfortunately, given the current federal climate, it is unlikely that this idea will be revisited in the near future, but Goar's article is certainly worth reading.