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stanfields"},{"term":"the tragically hip"},{"term":"the wooden sky"},{"term":"the worldly savages"},{"term":"tim chaisson"},{"term":"timber timbre"},{"term":"time lapse"},{"term":"time lapse movie"},{"term":"tina fey"},{"term":"tj cimfel"},{"term":"todmorden mills"},{"term":"token"},{"term":"tony taylor"},{"term":"tori's bakeshop"},{"term":"toronto raptors"},{"term":"trailer"},{"term":"transportation"},{"term":"trevor juras"},{"term":"trips"},{"term":"trish stratus"},{"term":"true blood"},{"term":"tucker and dale vs evil"},{"term":"tupper ware remix party"},{"term":"twin peaks"},{"term":"united party"},{"term":"united states of tara"},{"term":"up series"},{"term":"utah"},{"term":"valentine's day"},{"term":"vampire weekend"},{"term":"veda hilla"},{"term":"velvet underground"},{"term":"veronica zretski"},{"term":"vietnam"},{"term":"vnzma"},{"term":"w. darling"},{"term":"wannabe"},{"term":"war"},{"term":"warm bodies"},{"term":"watercolour"},{"term":"wavelength"},{"term":"we are wolves"},{"term":"we were lovers"},{"term":"webisode"},{"term":"werewolf"},{"term":"werewolves"},{"term":"wes anderson"},{"term":"westerns"},{"term":"wild nothing"},{"term":"will currie and the country french"},{"term":"willa"},{"term":"willie stratton and the boarding party"},{"term":"winter"},{"term":"wish"},{"term":"wreckless eric"},{"term":"yamantaka sonic titan"},{"term":"yoshi cooper"},{"term":"young galaxy"},{"term":"young rival"},{"term":"young-dundas square"},{"term":"yousuf karsh"},{"term":"yukon blonde"},{"term":"yves klein"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Little Red Umbrella"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":"The Little Red Umbrella is an arts magazine showcasing music, film, TV, lit, style, politics and everything else we think is cool."},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/-\/politics?alt=json-in-script\u0026max-results=7"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/search\/label\/politics"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/-\/politics\/-\/politics?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=8\u0026max-results=7"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Adam Bunch"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/07330281017966163295"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"19","src":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_qy7PSoA70ZI\/TAcUQIDT0DI\/AAAAAAAAAAs\/94cFNB23TAQ\/s1600-R\/4656161156_a76ddebcbb_b.jpg"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"77"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"7"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016075013121516936.post-3578307932058209217"},"published":{"$t":"2015-05-07T14:13:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2015-05-07T17:03:25.526-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"adam bunch"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"british politics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"british tv"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"politics"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Ten Reasons You HAVE To Watch The British Election Tonight"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-aVvbIdz3i1s\/VUuo89DEauI\/AAAAAAAALq8\/BZPbjkbpGrs\/s1600\/IMG_3740.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: .1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"200\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-aVvbIdz3i1s\/VUuo89DEauI\/AAAAAAAALq8\/BZPbjkbpGrs\/s200\/IMG_3740.JPG\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe people of Britain are heading to the polls today. They'll decide whether to kick the ruling Conservatives — and their coalition with the Liberal-Democrats — out of power. If it's anything like the last election, it'll be a fascinating one for Canadians to watch. We fell in love with British politics back on election night in 2010. So we thought we'd share ten amazing reasons Canadians absolutely HAVE to watch as the election results roll in tonight.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.pcadvisor.co.uk\/how-to\/digital-home\/3512135\/how-watch-uk-tv-when-abroad\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EBBC News\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E will start streaming their coverage at 5pm Eastern Time.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E1. It's, like, important and stuff.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E2. They make all the candidates in every riding (\"constituency,\" in British-speak) stand  on stage while they read out the results, which means that some absolutely amazing things happen. In 2010, the newly-elected Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, was forced to stand  on stage with a guy dressed as Jesus and an old dude in a big hat from  the Monster Raving Loony William Hill party. And then the new PM had to give a speech with them all standing right there behind him. The Prime Minister is the guy in the blue tie:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-WPKyOUe261M\/VUqNA1iDJSI\/AAAAAAAALqQ\/XL7oPodBRaI\/s1600\/32403_436970222925_4627264_n.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"203\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-WPKyOUe261M\/VUqNA1iDJSI\/AAAAAAAALqQ\/XL7oPodBRaI\/s1600\/32403_436970222925_4627264_n.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E3. They have a party called the Monster Raving Loony William Hill party. It was founded by Screaming Lord Sutch in 1963.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E4. This is Screaming Lord Sutch:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-QwSA-0ELB8c\/VUqOMRC1q_I\/AAAAAAAALqc\/JZCAyDmjSAc\/s1600\/screaming-lord-sutch.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"266\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-QwSA-0ELB8c\/VUqOMRC1q_I\/AAAAAAAALqc\/JZCAyDmjSAc\/s1600\/screaming-lord-sutch.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E5. All the candidates on stage wear pretty ribbons so you can tell what party they're from. Pretty ribbons!!!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E6. British candidate names are awesome. A short sample of  things that actually happened in 2010 as a result: Butt lost Tooting;  Balls, in a swing constituency, held his seat.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E7. The names of  the constituencies are also British and therefore also awesome. Some samples:  Berwick-Upon-Tweed; Brigg \u0026amp; Goole; Great Gimsby; Tooting; West Ham. And the names of the Welsh constituencies are even awesomer than the English ones: Vale of Clywd;  Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney; Islwyn; Dwyfor Meirionnyd; Ynys Môn\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E8. The accents.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E9.  The celebrities. In 2010, the BBC interviewed a drunk Rolling Stone about  Conservative policy. They interviewed two former winners of \u003Ci\u003EThe  Apprentice\u003C\/i\u003E about electoral reform. They had people I've never heard of doing lame impressions of other people I've never heard of. And, to top it all off, they interviewed what's left of Joan Collins.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E10. It's actually going to be really interesting, with lots of fascinating parallels to Canadian politics. The most recent projections have the ruling Conservatives (the blue team) neck and neck with the liberal Labour Party (the red team). Neither one is likely to win a majority. So it will probably come down to a minority government: a coalition with the balance of power held by the left-wing Liberal-Democrats (the yellow-orange team) and\/or the separatists in the Scottish National Party. Which sounds an awwwwful lot like what might happen in Canada this fall. The major parties in Britain have already started trying to control public perception of what is and isn't acceptable when it comes to forming a coalition government — with little regard for the actual law, kind of like \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2008%E2%80%9309_Canadian_parliamentary_dispute\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ewhat Stephen Harper pulled off\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E back in 2008. And the Queen has already made it clear that she doesn't want to get dragged into the mess (kind of like the Canadian Governor General was). It will be verrrrry interesting to see what happens as the dust settles at Westminster.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E-----\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003EPosted by Adam Bunch\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-small;\"\u003E, \u003C\/span\u003Ethe Editor-in-Chief of the Little Red Umbrella and the creator of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/torontodreamsproject.blogspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EToronto Dreams Project\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. You can read his  posts \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/search\/label\/adam%20bunch\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, follow him on Twitter \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#%21\/adamtbunch\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, or email him at \u003Ca href=\"mailto:adam@littleredumbrella.com\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eadam@littleredumbrella.com\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_twitter\" displaytext=\"Tweet\" style=\"margin-left: 0px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_facebook\" displaytext=\"Share\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_email\" displaytext=\"Email\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/feeds\/3578307932058209217\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2015\/05\/ten-reasons-you-have-to-watch-british.html#comment-form","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/3578307932058209217"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/3578307932058209217"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2015\/05\/ten-reasons-you-have-to-watch-british.html","title":"\u003Cb\u003ETen Reasons You HAVE To Watch The British Election Tonight\u003C\/b\u003E"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Adam Bunch"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/14112071438967577096"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-4NwYbmUd2eA\/UP8-w9wxGHI\/AAAAAAAAFvQ\/qvH9eLVmLh8\/s220\/CarmNXNEProfile.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-aVvbIdz3i1s\/VUuo89DEauI\/AAAAAAAALq8\/BZPbjkbpGrs\/s72-c\/IMG_3740.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016075013121516936.post-3140728994884028294"},"published":{"$t":"2015-03-12T15:38:00.001-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2015-03-12T15:44:55.702-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"economics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"politics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"taxaation"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"umar saeed"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Corporate Tax Loopholes \u0026 How We Should Close Them: Part Two by Umar Saeed"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-3k7KY4PfwuA\/VQHqrwn6lVI\/AAAAAAAALRo\/MI-ncKOOvPc\/s1600\/Loophole.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: .1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-3k7KY4PfwuA\/VQHqrwn6lVI\/AAAAAAAALRo\/MI-ncKOOvPc\/s1600\/Loophole.jpg\" width=\"210\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThis is part two in a series. Part one is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/12\/corporate-tax-loopholes-how-we-should.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E \u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESharing is Caring\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReforming corporate tax laws and tax treaties begins with an important step — sharing   information. In 2010, America passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA),   which asks all foreign banks to report data on American clients or else pay stiff penalties. This   has turned into a witch-hunt. America is actively pursuing Swiss banks (renowned for their money   laundering prowess), Spain is investigating football players, Italy and fashion icons, Britain and   celebrities, and so on. \u003C\/p\u003EThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has begun its work   toward a more transparent global tax system. So far, governments are picking the low hanging   fruit. Reigning in high-profile tax-dodgers increases tax revenues and wins over the public.   Information sharing isolates such delinquents, but it poses new problems. The article notes that   while America has been quick to ask for information from other nations, it has been slow to   return the favour. Some politicians may fear exposing their friends, or even themselves. Some   nations simply may not be able to share information without parliamentary or public consent.   What about security over this shared but confidential information? What’s an appropriate penalty   for not sharing? How much of this information should be disclosed to the public? Despite these   new questions, the move toward global tax transparency is promising and unprecedented. We   must embrace the problems that come with transparency. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe more difficult part will be to eliminate corporate tax loopholes, as discussed in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/12\/corporate-tax-loopholes-how-we-should.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Epart one\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Corporations cannot be shamed into doing the right thing the way a celebrity can. They don’t   have to live in any particular place. A new global tax regime where corporations have no choice   but to pay their fair share of taxes must be one that transcends public opinion and national   boundaries. But this raises a fundamental conflict between harmonizing tax policy across the   globe and national sovereignty. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESovereignty\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECountries that promise to adopt universal tax principles may ultimately find it difficult to change   their own tax legislation. They must battle political opposition and lobbying groups. Most   importantly, they may be giving up a government’s most significant source of power: the tax   levy. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/wp.me\/p12ZQa-bY\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eis like\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E European nations having their annual budgets being reviewed and approved by a   central authority such as the European Union or the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB   would argue that, like any bank, if it is going to backstop a country’s borrowing, then it needs to   know that the proposed fiscal plan is viable and that a country is acting sustainably. How can a   country be sovereign if it does not have autonomous control over its own fiscal policy? If the   elected representatives cannot affect fiscal policy, have we then circumvented democracy? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut maybe this point of view gives governments too much credit. Governments don’t control the   global economy. Historically, bond markets change government behaviour faster than a   screaming nation. Besides, governments negotiate trade agreements dealing with taxes and duties   all the time. Perhaps a “unitary” tax system, where a higher authority calculates, collects and   distributes corporate taxes is the ideal. Participating nations would of course come up with the   formula to divvy up tax revenues.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAt the moment, nations cooperate with each other to avoid double-taxation. Tax treaties are in   place so that no person or company is left paying tax twice. But we don’t have anything to catch   the avoidance of tax. This is precisely what a unitary system could do. For example, a company   that makes all its money in the United States but is technically Irish, for tax purposes, is clearly   not paying enough taxes in the United States. With a system based on sales (for example), most   of its taxes would be owed to America. The company cannot claim that being an Irish resident   exempts it of any tax obligation. A unitary system restores balance. The consumers that buy, the   employees that sell, would be under the same tax regime as the company profiting from these   very resources.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EPolitical Prisoner’s Dilemma\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDespite the political appetite to close corporate loopholes, most of the G20 and developed   nations are mired in recessionary conditions and need to solicit businesses and spark   employment. The reason why tax havens and large tax incentives exist in the first place is   because nations compete with each other to solicit businesses and create jobs. As elections are   always around the corner, it’s hard for politicians to think of a long-term harmonized solution.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-xF6PgGhQQvE\/VQHskGXAIRI\/AAAAAAAALR0\/-bzMGCkiIN4\/s1600\/PrisonersDilemma-01.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-xF6PgGhQQvE\/VQHskGXAIRI\/AAAAAAAALR0\/-bzMGCkiIN4\/s1600\/PrisonersDilemma-01.jpg\" height=\"300\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;In the real world, politicians indeed act much in the same way as the prisoners do the classic   prisoner’s dilemma thought experiment. Each politician assumes the other is politically weak and   will renege on the commitment to close a loophole. But if the others are going to betray the   agreement, why not betray it yourself? The tragedy of the prisoner’s dilemma is that while all   parties are better off when they fully cooperate, lack of trust leads them back to square one.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EConclusions \u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECorporations have become too good at avoiding tax. Nations have treaties with each other to   avoid double-taxation, but nothing is in place to secure a minimum tax is paid. A unitary tax   solution (having a multinational or global tax authority apply a formula) could resolve this   issue. More tax revenues would be collected overall. It may introduce an element of economic   stability, as companies like Burger King may not feel inclined to move north of the border to   save on its tax bill. But will sovereign nations ever trust a process that will not guarantee them   more tax revenues?  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis may be too idealistic for now. Nations will always want to retain the ability to hike or drop   their corporate tax rates. But in the meantime, information sharing should help close some of the   largest loopholes, where companies are avoiding tax altogether. Maybe when governments start   to see all of this forgotten revenue, it may expand the political appetite for a more progressive tax   system.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E-----\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EUmar Saeed is an accomplished professional in finance and accounting. On \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.umarsaeed.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehis website (www.umarsaeed.ca)\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E,       where this post originally appeared, he writes essays to explain   the     elaborate connections between people and money, without making   your   head   hurt. You can follow him on Twitter \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/#%21\/umarsaeedca\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003E@UmarSaeedCA\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. You can read the rest of his posts at The Little Red Umbrella \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/search\/label\/umar%20saeed\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EImage \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/2014\/09\/11\/money-in-politics-amendment-ignored\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Evia\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E Consortium News.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_twitter\" displaytext=\"Tweet\" style=\"margin-left: 0px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_facebook\" displaytext=\"Share\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_email\" displaytext=\"Email\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/feeds\/3140728994884028294\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2015\/03\/corporate-tax-loopholes-how-we-should.html#comment-form","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/3140728994884028294"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/3140728994884028294"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2015\/03\/corporate-tax-loopholes-how-we-should.html","title":"\u003Cb\u003ECorporate Tax Loopholes \u0026 How We Should Close Them: Part Two\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Ci\u003Eby Umar Saeed\u003C\/i\u003E"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Adam Bunch"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/14112071438967577096"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-4NwYbmUd2eA\/UP8-w9wxGHI\/AAAAAAAAFvQ\/qvH9eLVmLh8\/s220\/CarmNXNEProfile.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-3k7KY4PfwuA\/VQHqrwn6lVI\/AAAAAAAALRo\/MI-ncKOOvPc\/s72-c\/Loophole.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016075013121516936.post-2127307571481596547"},"published":{"$t":"2015-01-29T16:57:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2015-01-29T16:58:24.114-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"adam bunch"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"canadian history"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"politics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"toronto dreams project"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Toronto history"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Sir John A. Macdonald, Drunk \u0026 In Flames by Adam Bunch"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-ll-ykdd5xhk\/VMqsEHuHSbI\/AAAAAAAALME\/tVRdtFEpiKk\/s1600\/MacdonaldOnFire-0-3.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-ll-ykdd5xhk\/VMqsEHuHSbI\/AAAAAAAALME\/tVRdtFEpiKk\/s1600\/MacdonaldOnFire-0-3.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt's one of the best-known facts in all of Canadian history: our first Prime Minister drank. Like, a \u003Ci\u003Elot\u003C\/i\u003E. Sir John A. Macdonald wasn't just a charming social drinker; he got the kind of drunk where you find yourself puking on a chair at the Governor General's residence. Or throwing up on stage during a public debate. There were times when he went on benders that lasted for days, too drunk to show up for his official duties. And on a winter night in London, England — right in the middle of the final negotiations over Confederation — it seems to have nearly cost him his life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EThis was in 1866. Canada was on the verge of becoming a nation. All the biggest politicians from the Canadian colonies had already met at two big Confederation Conferences — first in Charlottetown and then in Quebec City — to hammer out the basic framework for a new country. Drinking had famously played an important role right from the very beginning. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/history\/EPCONTENTSE1EP8CH4PA1LE.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EIn Charlottetown\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, Macdonald and his allies from Ontario and Québec showed up with $13,000 worth of champagne. Boozing and dancing and getting to know each other socially became a vital part of the nation-building process. And by the end of the meetings in Quebec City, the delegates had agreed on a list of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/history\/EPCONTENTSE1EP8CH4PA4LE.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003E72 Resolutions\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Now, all they had to do was to turn those resolutions into a Canadian constitution and get it officially approved by the British parliament. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo they headed off to England for one last big push. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThey called it \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/history\/EPCONTENTSE1EP8CH6PA1LE.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ethe London Conference\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. And it got off to a very slow start. The delegates from the Maritimes arrived in July. But the others were nowhere to be found. They were still back in Canada — delayed, in part, by Macdonald's drinking. The strain of Confederation and other political stresses were taking a toll on the man. That year, his alcoholism got worse. \"He was drinking more heavily, more continually than he had ever done before,\" Richard Gwyn explains in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.torontopubliclibrary.ca\/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM2846038\u0026amp;R=2846038\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ethe first volume of his Macdonald biography\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E,  \"at times having to grip  his desk so he could remain standing in the House.\" It wasn't until November that Sir John A. and the others finally showed up.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMacdonald was no stranger to drinking in London, either. In fact, he'd already been made an  honorary member of one of the most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in all of England. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.athenaeumclub.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EThe Athenaeum Club\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003Eis still there today, right in the middle of the city, between Downing Street and  Piccadilly Circus. Many of the most famous people in Britain have been getting  drunk there for nearly 200 years: members have included Darwin, Dickens, Churchill, Kipling, Sir  Arthur Conan Doyle, The Duke of Wellington, T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats,  Thomas Hardy, Michael Faraday, Sir Walter Scott... the list goes on and  on. It became one of Macdonald's favourite haunts on his frequent trips to the capital. And it was far from the only place where he drank when he was in town.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe London Conference was being held just a few blocks away: at the Westminster Palace Hotel, right across the road from Westminster Abbey. The delegates spent their days in a big room on the main floor, working out the details of the bill that would need to be passed by the British parliament. Macdonald, as always, led the way — one British official called him, \"the ruling genius and spokesman.\" By the end of the conference, he was a celebrity in England, getting recognized on the streets of London.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAt night, the delegates would head upstairs to sleep. Macdonald — whose wife, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Isabella_Macdonald\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EIsabella\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, had died many years earlier after a long battle with illness and an opium addiction — had a room all to himself. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo that's where he was was on a Wednesday night just a couple of weeks before Christmas, reading that day's newspapers in bed. He'd already changed into his old-timey pyjamas. A candle flickered on the night table beside him. And while there is, of course, no detailed record of just how much Sir John A. had been drinking that night, it seems very likely that alcohol helped lure him into an early sleep. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHe woke to the smell of his own burning flesh. He'd passed out while reading the paper and the candle tipped over, setting the room ablaze. The curtains, the sheets and blankets, even the pillow beneath his head and the nightshirt he was wearing were all in flames. Just months before he became the first Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald was on fire.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003ESuddenly awake, he leapt to his feet, tore the blazing curtains from the window and stomped out the flames. He ripped the burning blankets from his bed and doused them with water from a jug on his nightstand. Then Sir George-Étienne Cartier came to his rescue.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMacdonald  and Cartier hadn't always been on the same side. During \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rebellions_of_1837\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ethe Rebellions of 1837\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, Cartier had  fought with the rebels in Québec while Macdonald \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.thewhig.com\/2013\/01\/08\/the-day-sir-john-a-took-up-arms\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Estood guard\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E for the  Loyalist militia in Kingston. But now, Cartier was Macdonald's most  important ally, bringing Québec into Confederation. His room was just next door. So as Macdonald's bed and curtains smouldered, the two most notable leaders of French- and English-Canada worked together to make sure the flames were all completely smothered.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt was only then that Macdonald noticed just how badly he'd been hurt. His hair, his hands and his forehead were all burned, but the wound on his shoulder was the worst. If it weren't for a thick flannel shirt he'd worn under his nightshirt, he admitted, \"I would have been burned to death.\" Suffering from those injuries and a subsequent infection, Sir John A. would spend eight straight days in bed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut he survived. And so would Confederation. Months later, the delegates' bill was passed by the British parliament. It was called the British North America Act; it came into effect on July 1, 1867. The Dominion of Canada was officially born.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd Macdonald's battle with the fire in his hotel room wasn't the only life-saving event during his trip to London. Just a few days before the blaze, he ran into an old friend while walking down one of the most fashionable streets in the city. By the time they left London, Macdonald and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Agnes_Macdonald,_1st_Baroness_Macdonald_of_Earnscliffe\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003ESusan Agnes Bernard\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E were married — celebrations included a breakfast feast at the very same hotel where Sir John A. had nearly lost his life. His new wife would prove to be unshakeable in her quest to curb his drinking. And while, in the end, it was a losing battle — there were still plenty of benders to come — \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/cihm_00133\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eone of Macdonald's biographers\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E figures that her efforts may have added as much 20 extra years to his life. Enough time to spend nearly two decades as Prime Minster and leave a deep and lasting legacy — for better \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/thewalrus.ca\/old-macdonald\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eand\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.ca\/2012\/08\/22\/john-a-macdonald-wanted-a_n_1821628.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Efor\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/asithappens\/features\/2014\/05\/29\/sir-john-a-macdonald-prize\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eworse\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E — on the country he helped to create.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo today, 200 years after Sir John A. Macdonald was born, he's still the most famous drunk in all of Canadian history.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E-----\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EA version of this post was originally published on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/torontodreamsproject.blogspot.ca\/2015\/01\/sir-john-macdonald-drunk-in-flames.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EThe Toronto Dreams Project Historical Ephemera Blog\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. You can find more sources, links, photos, and other information there.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003EPosted by Adam Bunch\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-small;\"\u003E, \u003C\/span\u003Ethe Editor-in-Chief of the Little Red Umbrella and the creator of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/torontodreamsproject.blogspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EToronto Dreams Project\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. You can read his  posts \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/search\/label\/adam%20bunch\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, follow him on Twitter \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#%21\/adamtbunch\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, or email him at \u003Ca href=\"mailto:adam@littleredumbrella.com\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eadam@littleredumbrella.com\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_twitter\" displaytext=\"Tweet\" style=\"margin-left: 0px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_facebook\" displaytext=\"Share\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_email\" displaytext=\"Email\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/feeds\/2127307571481596547\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2015\/01\/sir-john-macdonald-drunk-in-flames.html#comment-form","title":"5 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/2127307571481596547"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/2127307571481596547"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2015\/01\/sir-john-macdonald-drunk-in-flames.html","title":"\u003Cb\u003ESir John A. Macdonald, Drunk \u0026 In Flames\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Ci\u003Eby Adam Bunch\u003C\/i\u003E"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Adam Bunch"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/14112071438967577096"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-4NwYbmUd2eA\/UP8-w9wxGHI\/AAAAAAAAFvQ\/qvH9eLVmLh8\/s220\/CarmNXNEProfile.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-ll-ykdd5xhk\/VMqsEHuHSbI\/AAAAAAAALME\/tVRdtFEpiKk\/s72-c\/MacdonaldOnFire-0-3.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"5"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016075013121516936.post-2654798242771444288"},"published":{"$t":"2014-12-07T16:16:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2015-03-12T15:46:13.067-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"economics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"politics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"taxaation"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"umar saeed"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Corporate Tax Loopholes \u0026 How We Should Close Them: Part One by Umar Saeed"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-24Wk-ryKSC8\/VITDW6COcHI\/AAAAAAAALCw\/5igBXSiOdhw\/s1600\/Loophole.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: .1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-24Wk-ryKSC8\/VITDW6COcHI\/AAAAAAAALCw\/5igBXSiOdhw\/s1600\/Loophole.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDeveloped nations have a problem. GDP isn’t growing the way it used to. Job prospects have diminished for the young and middle class. That means government tax revenues aren’t growing either. But the public still maintains a high level of expectations for government programs and services. Nations are struggling to find additional sources of revenues to bridge this fiscal gap. They know that debt only defers the tax burden — it doesn’t eliminate it. How can governments raise more money when the overall economy is struggling?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EThis struggle to find tax revenues without taxing the public further has highlighted an old and often ignored problem: corporate tax loopholes. There is a great deal of political will to eliminate tax loopholes. The public is tired of hearing about corporations reporting profits yet somehow evading taxes. This isn’t about tax rates being too high or too low. This is about the profits that form the tax base, the very thing being taxed, somehow eroding when it comes time to pay Uncle Sam. But this won’t be easy. Corporations play this game too well to simply change one rule or another. If governments want to win, we have to change the game itself.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EWhat is tax arbitrage?\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EOn 29 June 2009, despite most of its stores and revenues being in Canada, Tim Hortons had officially \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tim_Hortons\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Erepatriated back to Canada\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E for tax purposes. So at some point after former NHL player Miles G. Tim Horton started the first “Tim Hortons Doughnuts,” in Hamilton, the company grew so large that it made sense to situate itself in Delaware for tax purposes. Tim Hortons was American. That was, until 2009 when it was again advantageous to move back to Ontario. This specific strategy is simply called “inversion.” The name stems from the fact that a company’s corporate presence is inverted from its primary place of business.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EAt a basic level, we all know what these companies are doing. Once companies get big, expectations of profit go up. Even something as simple as a coffee shop, once it’s big enough, spends a lot of money hiring tax lawyers and accountants to find strategies to “create value.”\u003Csup\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/null\" title=\"It’s interesting that sometimes tax strategies can make a company look very profitable even though its core business model doesn’t work. Although companies evade tax to flow more money to its shareholders, no shareholder is fully comfortable knowing that a company’s very good at evading tax but just so-so at selling coffee.\"\u003E1\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EThe most basic tax arbitrage tenet is to recognize revenues in a country where the tax rates are low and then recognize expenses and losses in an area where tax rates are high. In other words, setup the books so the profits and gains show up in a low tax regime and losses get stuck in a high tax regime. Inversion is just one step. To go further, companies use something known as “transfer pricing.”\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003ELarge companies often structure themselves as parents with children. The parent might reside in a low-or-no tax jurisdiction. Its child will reside in a place that provides good market demand for the product being sold.  There may even be siblings. In the end, all of these children are controlled by the parent. The parent can initiate transactions that will vacuum profits from its children to itself. For example, a parent might purchase supplies for its child’s coffee shop at $1 per roll. It would then sell these cups to its children for $5 per roll. By overcharging its children for paper cups, it is effectively shifting profits from a higher tax jurisdiction into its lower tax one.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Qd-7RBtNPk4\/VQHs7EqEoaI\/AAAAAAAALR8\/VohOQ17ffqY\/s1600\/MoTax.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Qd-7RBtNPk4\/VQHs7EqEoaI\/AAAAAAAALR8\/VohOQ17ffqY\/s1600\/MoTax.jpg\" height=\"286\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EDoes there have to be a jurisdiction?\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/leesheppard\/2013\/05\/28\/how-does-apple-avoid-taxes\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EApple, Google and others\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E have created a more convoluted and aggressive corporate structure to evade tax. They have setup their parents in tax havens, a practice that is common among hedge funds and more sophisticated offshore investing. They channel their profits to countries where income tax is low or non-existent. The dad is American and holds an investment in a foreign mother. The mother is Irish, and holds rights to royalties and international profits from its children around the world, which may be taxed mildly in Ireland. Whatever profits make it to the father are treated as investment income, which is a most favourable tax treatment in America.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EWhat is most disturbing of this strategy is that legally, the mother claims no jurisdiction for tax purposes. Irish law asks where a company is managed and controlled to determine its tax residence. U.S. law asks where the company was organized, that is, where the articles of incorporation were filed. If neither country regards a particular corporation as a resident, there is no treaty to force a jurisdiction on that company for tax purposes. This tax loophole resembles a black hole. \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EClosing the loops\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EAn estimated 44 countries accounting for 90% of the world economy are on board with \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.economist.com\/news\/finance-and-economics\/21618911-big-economies-take-aim-firms-running-circles-around-their-taxmen-transfer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ea plan\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to reform corporate tax laws and treaties. They have asked the OECD to tackle the basic issues above as well as treaty shopping (manipulating tax treaties), hybrid mismatches (double dipping on deductions in different jurisdictions) and patent boxes (favourable treatment of intellectual property income). As a big step forward, on September 20th the Group of 20 finance ministers \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.vir.com.vn\/g20-set-to-back-oecd-global-tax-avoidance-plan.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eagreed to proceed\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E with free exchange of tax information across jurisdictions. This cross-jurisdictional transparency is imperative toward understanding the extent of tax evasion in the first place. This type of exercise may lead to, “oh, I thought you were collecting their taxes.”\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EBut many remain skeptical about whether governments will actually go through with closing these loopholes. First, it brings up fundamental questions about a nation’s sovereignty. For example, shouldn’t a country and its elected leaders be in control of its most significant power — the ability to tax its own citizens? Second, politicians may not follow through on reforming loopholes because they are caught in a “\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Prisoner%27s_dilemma\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eprisoner’s dilemma\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E” with each other. Exploring these two issues may actually lead us to a different path to solve the problem at hand.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENext time, we’ll address these two issues and whether the game can be changed — for good.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EContinue reading with \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2015\/03\/corporate-tax-loopholes-how-we-should.html\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Epart two\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E-----\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EUmar Saeed is an accomplished professional in finance and accounting. On \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.umarsaeed.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehis website (www.umarsaeed.ca)\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E,       where this post originally appeared, he writes essays to explain   the     elaborate connections between people and money, without making   your   head   hurt. You can follow him on Twitter \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/#%21\/umarsaeedca\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003E@UmarSaeedCA\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. You can read the rest of his posts at The Little Red Umbrella \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/search\/label\/umar%20saeed\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003ETo read footnotes, just hover your cursor over them.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EImage \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/2014\/09\/11\/money-in-politics-amendment-ignored\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Evia\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E Consortium News. \u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_twitter\" displaytext=\"Tweet\" style=\"margin-left: 0px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_facebook\" displaytext=\"Share\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_email\" displaytext=\"Email\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/feeds\/2654798242771444288\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/12\/corporate-tax-loopholes-how-we-should.html#comment-form","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/2654798242771444288"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/2654798242771444288"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/12\/corporate-tax-loopholes-how-we-should.html","title":"\u003Cb\u003ECorporate Tax Loopholes \u0026 How We Should Close Them: Part One\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Ci\u003Eby Umar Saeed\u003C\/i\u003E"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Adam Bunch"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/14112071438967577096"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-4NwYbmUd2eA\/UP8-w9wxGHI\/AAAAAAAAFvQ\/qvH9eLVmLh8\/s220\/CarmNXNEProfile.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-24Wk-ryKSC8\/VITDW6COcHI\/AAAAAAAALCw\/5igBXSiOdhw\/s72-c\/Loophole.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016075013121516936.post-7915061468017507786"},"published":{"$t":"2014-09-30T14:06:00.001-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-09-30T19:15:07.700-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#topoli"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ari Goldkind"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"artsvote"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"damian abraham"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Doug Ford"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"fucked up"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"John Tory"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Morgan Baskin"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Olivia Chow"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"politics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"sachin hingoo"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Things That Happened At The ArtsVote Mayoral Debate 2014"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-0CnWl4Iw0aQ\/VCs5Zo-1HHI\/AAAAAAAAK48\/htGdpYU4hgM\/s1600\/ArtsVote.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: \/1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-0CnWl4Iw0aQ\/VCs5Zo-1HHI\/AAAAAAAAK48\/htGdpYU4hgM\/s1600\/ArtsVote.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith a full third of the theatre blocked off for press and the candidates staffers, Cinema 1, the largest in Bell Lightbox, has never felt smaller. As this seemingly interminable municipal election cycle enters its final throes, ArtsVote's debate between the three front-runners in the race, as well as 'fringe' candidates Morgan Baskin and Ari Goldkind, manages to draw enough people to fill both Cinema 1 as well as Cinema 2, where the debate will be simulcast.\u003C\/p\u003EDamian Abraham isn't your typical moderator. As the lead singer of hardcore band Fucked Up and the most recent and sadly, the final host of Muchmusic's recently-cancelled rock\/indie show \u003Ci\u003EThe Wedge\u003C\/i\u003E, Steve Paikin he ain't.  Genial and self-deprecating while maintaining a steady focus on the issue at hand, even as Chow and Goldkind attempt to slyly steer the debate towards transit, Abraham deftly keeps control over his charges.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe stated topics are four-fold; the role of a mayor as an arts and culture champion on Council, the creation and maintenance of affordable, accessible arts spaces, sustainable arts funding year-over-year rather than short-term, unreliable injections, and the fostering of committed partners in culture both inside and outside of downtown.  There are also some pre-selected questions, some of which are read out by 'all-stars' from the arts community, like Katie Stelmanis from the band Austra and Piers Handling, the programmer and CEO\/director of TIFF. No questions from the audience at all.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs a format it's a little rigid and doesn't leave much room for the candidates to banter back and forth. While this means a lot less bickering, it also seems to result in candidates repeating themselves often, and lots of statements go unchallenged. Morgan Baskin, who was the strongest and most sincere candidate on display here, unleashed one of only two major barbs in the debate, pointing out that Doug Ford has voted against most of the arts funding-related motions that have crossed his desk.  He laughs this off. We move on.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAri Goldkind has a lot of thoughtful points and is easily the most animated of the candidates, but a lot of his energy and time is spent exchanging with Abraham and, as mentioned, tried on at least two occasions (unsuccessfully) to bring up transit in an accessibility context and to put a green deck on top of the Gardiner. Both are ideas I'd personally support but are misplaced in a debate about the arts.  That said, his position is otherwise fairly clear: the government has a role in arts-related policy but it should take the lead from the community and profit shouldn't be the only consideration. This, of course, plays very well with the crowd.\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBaskin is the most thoughtful and passionate candidate at this debate. Possibly the biggest takeaway from her answers and statements is that she feels that art should be injected into the small places, and be considered in all or at least most of the design decisions within the city. She also hammers Doug's constant (and it is constant) references to the Austin City Limits Festival that he, Mayor Rob, Gary Crawford, and Michael Thompson \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/nxne.com\/2013\/that-time-nxne-rob-ford-and-toronto-went-to-austin\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eattended last year\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Her contention is that Toronto should be crafting its own cultural identity rather than lifting it from Austin, which is a great line and hit home for a lot of the audience — many of whom were, of course, local cultural creators and curators.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDoug Ford is uncharacteristically subdued, and has clearly been coached for this outing. He relies heavily on two points: the aforementioned trip to Austin City Limits with his brother and several councillors, and a mural he worked on with some local kids. The latter is talked about when Ford is asked about his 'most transformative experience with art' and while that answer is pandering and thin, it's better than anyone can expect from Doug at this point. The bar, folks, is pretty low.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJohn Tory and Olivia Chow both come out, naturally, as strong supporters of the arts and culture, and both provide specific ways in which funds can be allocated to these areas. There's not a ton of disagreement on these points and both advocate for stable, year-over-year funding and attainable, realistic targets. Tory has a neat-sounding idea about beautifying vacant storefronts and turning them into arts spaces. Chow calls on her experience with \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/torontoartscape.org\/about-artscape\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EArtscape\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E as well as promoting the awesome \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/toronto.theremixproject.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003ERemix Project\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd then there\u003Cu\u003E'\u003C\/u\u003Es the part you've already heard about. It plays out like the climax of Stephen King's prom-com gone wrong,\u003Ci\u003E\u0026nbsp;Carrie.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003EThe bucket of blood teeters above Carrie's head, and there's a minute before it drops where you can't look away. Olivia Chow starts talking about her personal experience as an artist, and you think \"hey, that's great, that’s the one thing she brings to the table here that no one else does.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThen the bucket drops.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-1BB5F7aPgIk\/VCpBWzn_aSI\/AAAAAAAAJ9w\/9vgZ5I4ZOws\/s1600\/goldsbie.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-1BB5F7aPgIk\/VCpBWzn_aSI\/AAAAAAAAJ9w\/9vgZ5I4ZOws\/s1600\/goldsbie.JPG\" height=\"248\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-s4B-ekY1qCs\/VCpBW8yxAtI\/AAAAAAAAJ90\/PfoR3zSdJgc\/s1600\/matt%2Belliott.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-s4B-ekY1qCs\/VCpBW8yxAtI\/AAAAAAAAJ90\/PfoR3zSdJgc\/s1600\/matt%2Belliott.JPG\" height=\"400\" width=\"311\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-6Q3Ap_RDV_0\/VCo_2WfXXlI\/AAAAAAAAJ9k\/rEkzovNpd2I\/s1600\/tossell%2B1.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-6Q3Ap_RDV_0\/VCo_2WfXXlI\/AAAAAAAAJ9k\/rEkzovNpd2I\/s1600\/tossell%2B1.JPG\" height=\"160\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EChow reaches into a folder and extracts a crude rendering of Tory's admittedly-flawed transit plan. The crowd groans. That other sound you hear? The faint \u003Ci\u003Ehiss\u003C\/i\u003E? That's Chow's campaign deflating a little bit. She is, sadly, a candidate in desperation mode and clearly throwing anything at the wall she thinks will stick. As someone who walked into Cinema 1 with Chow as my first choice, it's more than a little disappointing. Chow's latest poll numbers — keeping in mind that we're still a month away from the election itself — seem to reflect a downward trend that this progressive finds disheartening.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHowever, Chow's jab at Smarttrack \u003Ci\u003Eis\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;a valid point and should be the central issue for this campaign. We have seen how the ill-thought-out haphazard election year \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.blogto.com\/city\/2011\/12\/remember_rob_fords_transportation_plan\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Etransit plan\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E can leave us in stasis we can't afford, and throwing money down a hole created by yet another scheme will necessarily take needed funds from things like the arts.\u003Cu\u003E \u003C\/u\u003EHowever, this was a mistimed stunt that shows a complete misreading of the crowd in attendance.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOn a more positive note, Baskin emerged from this debate as — while not a front-runner in this particular election cycle — someone who should definitely be watched in the next few years, as a spot on Council and possibly the mayor's office is likely in the cards. She's articulate, extremely knowledgeable, and tremendously confident. If Baskin is the future of City Council and municipal politics, well, I think we'll be okay, Toronto.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-zqiu-GWPpPM\/VCpCxlCGJYI\/AAAAAAAAJ-A\/Qu-1Y2rfGIg\/s1600\/Damian%2BTweet.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-zqiu-GWPpPM\/VCpCxlCGJYI\/AAAAAAAAJ-A\/Qu-1Y2rfGIg\/s1600\/Damian%2BTweet.JPG\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E-----\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003ECredit to @ivortossell, @graphicmatt, and @goldsbie for their tweets.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThis piece was written by Sachin Hingoo, a freelance writer when he is not working at an office job that is purpose-built for paying the bills while he works as a freelance writer.  His writing has appeared on Mcsweeneys.net, the CBC Street Level Blog, Ohmpage.ca, and The Midnight Madness Blog for the Toronto International Film Festival. He has also been featured at Toronto lecture series Trampoline Hall (which is rumored to be excellent). His mutant power is 'feigning interest'. You can read all of his posts \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/search\/label\/sachin%20hingoo\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_twitter\" displaytext=\"Tweet\" style=\"margin-left: 0px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_facebook\" displaytext=\"Share\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_email\" displaytext=\"Email\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/feeds\/7915061468017507786\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/09\/things-that-happened-at-artsvote.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/7915061468017507786"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/7915061468017507786"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/09\/things-that-happened-at-artsvote.html","title":"\u003Cb\u003EThings That Happened At The ArtsVote Mayoral Debate 2014\u003C\/b\u003E"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Sachin Hingoo"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/07011882340313854376"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"26","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-VjH0iuPQmsM\/Tlr2alIzKpI\/AAAAAAAAAZQ\/ljz6yeBET7c\/s220\/296825_49935980082_784065082_3204537_6181148_n.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-0CnWl4Iw0aQ\/VCs5Zo-1HHI\/AAAAAAAAK48\/htGdpYU4hgM\/s72-c\/ArtsVote.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016075013121516936.post-8387308898118261858"},"published":{"$t":"2014-04-10T15:57:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-04-12T15:21:42.697-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"adam bunch"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"canadian politics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"politics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"stephen harper"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Stephen Harper's War On Free \u0026 Fair Elections"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-F96oy4ZfXBs\/U0b1h1VgcvI\/AAAAAAAAJk4\/y2wWoC7K7H4\/s1600\/harper4.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: .1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-F96oy4ZfXBs\/U0b1h1VgcvI\/AAAAAAAAJk4\/y2wWoC7K7H4\/s1600\/harper4.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\"The jackasses at Elections Canada are out of control.\" Stephen Harper \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/canuckpolitics.com\/2008\/04\/18\/elections-canada-raid-conservative-party-hq\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ewrote\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E that sentence back in 2001. This was in the days before he \u003Cu\u003Ewas\u003C\/u\u003E the leader of the Reform Party. He was fundraising for the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative lobby group. At the time, he was pissed off that Elections Canada was enforcing \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/R._v._Bryan\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ea law\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E banning the publication of election results before all the polls closed. But his anger at Elections Canada extends far beyond that. One Conservative who worked with him at the time \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/politics\/a-blood-feud-beyond-ballots\/article551906\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eclaims\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E that Harper's hatred for election officials is a \"never-ending\" \"blood feud\".\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EOf course, in truth, Elections  Canada is one of the most respected electoral bodies in the entire  world. They're the people who ensure that Canadian elections are free and  fair. In fact, they're so good at it that they \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.elections.ca\/content.aspx?section=abo\u0026amp;dir=int\u0026amp;document=index\u0026amp;lang=e\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eget asked\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to  send observers to other countries — places like Iraq, Haiti and Afghanistan — to  make sure their elections are free and fair, too. But to Stephen Harper — a Prime Minster vindictive enough to compile an \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/pmo-asked-staff-to-supply-enemy-lists-to-new-ministers-1.1361102\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eenemy list\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\" and brand those who disagree with him on environmental policy as \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2012\/06\/stephen-harpers-war-on-science.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003E\"radicals\" and \"terrorists\"\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E — Elections Canada officials are simply out to get him.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo maybe it's not all that surprising that the Conservatives have been breaking election laws ever since the beginning of  Harper's rule. In the election that brought him to power, they \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/In_and_Out_scandal\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eillegally transferred money\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to and from local campaigns so they  could get around spending limits. Candidates who refused to break the  law say they were punished by the party. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMore recently, a  polling firm hired by the Conservatives \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/reprehensible-calls-about-cotler-beyond-speaker-s-power-1.1107228\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Emade phone calls\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to voters in a  Québec riding held by a Liberal MP, Irwin Cotler. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/canada\/2012\/11\/28\/tory_pollster_rebuked_for_misleading_campaign_against_mp_irwin_cotler.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EAccording to\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E the \u003Ci\u003EToronto Star\u003C\/i\u003E, \"The company’s callers suggested to constituents — falsely — that Cotler  either had or was about to quit as the Liberal MP for Mount Royal\" and asked if they would vote for Harper in  the \"upcoming election.\" But Cotler was not resigning; there  was no upcoming by-election. However, there's no law against misleading  voters about make-believe elections (unless there's concrete evidence a political party was directly responsible), so Elections Canada couldn't do  anything about it. Even the conservative \u003Ci\u003ENational Post\u003C\/i\u003E ran editorials \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/fullcomment.nationalpost.com\/2011\/12\/14\/national-post-editorial-board-lessons-to-be-learned-from-laffaire-cotler\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eaccusing\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E the Conservative Party of \"arrogance and hyper-partisanship.\" \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut  the Conservatives haven't shown much regret. When Nick Kouvalis, a  partner in the polling firm responsible for the phone calls (he's also the guy who ran Rob Ford's campaign and has now signed on with John Tory) was asked about it, he \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/politics\/dirty-tricks-against-cotler-trigger-misconduct-probe-for-tory-pollster\/article2353071\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ewasn't exactly apologetic\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. \"We're in the business of getting Conservatives elected and ending Liberal careers,\" he boasted. \"We're good at it.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-HBefSpxflnw\/U0brgvAdMHI\/AAAAAAAAJjs\/RGqQaDobvUQ\/s1600\/Kouvalis.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-HBefSpxflnw\/U0brgvAdMHI\/AAAAAAAAJjs\/RGqQaDobvUQ\/s1600\/Kouvalis.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003ENick Kouvalis\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003EIn fact, Kouvalis has co-founded a training school for Conservative  campaign managers. They bring together people like Harper's ex-Chief of  Staff, Conservative pollsters and Sun Media executives to teach those  same very techniques. In 2010, a professor from the University of Victoria (a member of the Order of Canada) attended a session. He was \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.vancouverobserver.com\/politics\/2012\/03\/07\/robo-call-scandal-origins-inside-conservatives%E2%80%99-voter-suppression-school?page=0,0\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eappalled\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E by what he saw. In one Q\u0026amp;A (which he stressed Kouvalis  wasn't there for), Conservatives openly discussed ways to make sure  Liberal and NDP supporters didn't get out to vote. That included  pretending to be from one of those parties while making rude phone  calls. \"Instructors made it clear that robo-calling and voter  suppression were  an acceptable and normal part of winning political campaigns,\" he said.  \"\"[T]he mood of the meeting was that this is war and that anything  goes\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn the last federal election, Conservatives seem to have used those techniques more often than ever before. Thousands of voters \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2011_Canadian_federal_election_voter_suppression_scandal\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ereceived misleading phone calls\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E on election day. Automated messages targeting non-Conservative voters told them the location of their poll had changed. The robocalls were reported in the vast majority of the ridings in Canada (247 of 308). In one riding alone, hundreds of people showed up at the wrong location. In some ridings where the calls occurred, the Conservatives only won by a few hundred votes. The calls have been traced back to a strictly-controlled Conservative Party database and the company whose system was used to make the calls, RackNine, held an exclusive contract with the Conservatives.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd it wasn't just robocalls and fake polling locations. Calls from live  operators were also made. People working at one call centre say they  were told to present misinformation about polling locations and to falsely identify themselves as Elections Canada employees. Another message was  recorded, pretending to be from  the Liberal Party, to be sent in the middle of the night in order annoy voters. It wasn't used, but others  were: voters say they received late night phone calls claiming to be  from the Liberal Party, along with rude phone calls, phone calls made to  Jewish voters on the sabbath and phone calls made using racist accents.\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEven Preston Manning, founder of the Reform Party, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/news.nationalpost.com\/2012\/03\/09\/robocalls-voter-scandal-rocking-canadian-politics-is-deplorable-preston-manning\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ecalled\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E the voter suppression tactics \"deplorable\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen Elections Canada began to investigate the fraud, the Conservatives dragged their feet. Party workers \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/news.nationalpost.com\/2012\/04\/16\/robocalls-probe-reaches-tory-headquarters\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ewere told\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E not to speak publicly about the issue. Witnesses \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/witnesses-stalled-robocalls-case-says-elections-chief-1.1894923\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Erefused\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to be interviewed. The head of Elections Canada said he wasn't getting the help he needed from the government. (So far, only one campaign worker has been charged — and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/kitchener.ctvnews.ca\/guelph-campaign-worker-charged-in-fraudulent-robocall-affair-1.1221286\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehe claims\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E he's being used as a scapegoat by powerful members of the Conservative party.) When private citizens took the matter to court, the Conservatives tried everything they could to kill the case. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/federal-court-won-t-remove-mps-over-election-robocalls-1.1331781\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EAccording to the federal judge\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E who heard it, Conservative MPs \"engaged in trench warfare in an effort to prevent this case from coming to a hearing on the merits...  the stance taken by the respondent MPs from the outset was to block these proceedings by any means...'\" The judge found that fraud \u003Ci\u003Ehad\u003C\/i\u003E occurred, that the Conservative database \u003Ci\u003Ewas\u003C\/i\u003E the most likely source, and that the fraud \u003Ci\u003Ewas\u003C\/i\u003E serious enough that he would have to overturn the election results if there were concrete proof of the party's involvement.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThen, the Conservative MPs \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www2.macleans.ca\/2013\/06\/24\/conservative-mps-seeking-355k-from-voters-who-launched-robocalls-court-case\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Esued the citizens\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E for more than $350,000 dollars.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-c3Alj--56XQ\/U0btVuBLxfI\/AAAAAAAAJj0\/Uo_7rwVyeoY\/s1600\/HouseOfCommons01.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-c3Alj--56XQ\/U0btVuBLxfI\/AAAAAAAAJj0\/Uo_7rwVyeoY\/s1600\/HouseOfCommons01.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EThe House of Commons\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003EIn response to the scandal, the House of Commons \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/mps-vote-to-give-elections-canada-more-power-1.1227821\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Evoted unanimously\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (238-0) in favour of a motion asking Prime Minister Harper to give Elections Canada more power to investigate the fraud. MPs asked the Prime Minister to move quickly — they wanted him to introduce a bill ensuring the next Canadian election would truly be free and fair, without the widespread fraud of the 2011 election.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat was two years ago. The Conservatives have now finally introduced a bill to change the election laws in Canada. But instead of giving Elections Canada \u003Ci\u003Emore\u003C\/i\u003E power to investigate fraud, it gives Elections Canada \u003Ci\u003Eless\u003C\/i\u003E power to investigate fraud. They've given the bill the Orwellian name of the \"Fair Elections Act.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBy all accounts, there are a few things to like about the bill. It creates a registry for robocalls. It will now be against the law to impersonate an elections official. But it creates more problems than it solves. Critics have raised deeply disturbing questions about what the new laws will mean when voters next go to the polls in 2015 — questions that suggest the Harper government is trying to rig future federal elections in favour of the Conservative Party.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENo less of an authority than Sheila Fraser, the former Auditor General who uncovered the sponsorship scandal, calls the bill \"an attack on our democracy\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHere are just 12 of the most serious concerns: \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E1. The \"Fair Elections Act\" makes it harder to vote:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EVoters will no longer be able to have other people vouch for them as a form of ID. About 120,000 people used vouching as a method of identification when they voted in the last election. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hilltimes.com\/news\/politics\/2014\/03\/06\/elections-canadas-top-dog-warns-thousands-will-be-denied-the-right-to-vote-under\/37725\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EAccording to the head of Elections Canada\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, the \"Fair Elections Act\" means that many of those people \"will be denied the right to vote\" in the next election \"even though they are citizens, qualified and perfectly legitimate.\" The change may very well be \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.slaw.ca\/2014\/02\/09\/why-the-conservatives-fair-elections-act-could-be-unconstitutional\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eunconstitutional\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Critics suggest the move targets Canadians who are less  likely to vote Conservative: for instance, \"people without fixed  addresses,  such as students, the poor and aboriginals\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Conservatives claim they're trying to crack down on fraud by individual voters, but the report they keep citing doesn't present \u003Ci\u003Eany\u003C\/i\u003E evidence of fraud by \u003Ci\u003Eany\u003C\/i\u003E individual voters. The author of the report \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/m\/touch\/politics\/story\/1.2563659\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Etold\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E the Canadian Press, \"I never said there was voter fraud. Nor did the Supreme Court, who looked at this extremely carefully... The argument doesn't have any logical, factual grounding...\" \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/author-of-elections-report-cited-by-poilievre-contradicts-minister-on-voter-fraud-1.2563659\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EAccording to the CBC\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, he says \"the government's efforts to prevent voter fraud are aimed at a non-existent problem.\" During a debate in the House of Commons, one Conservative MP claimed that he had personally witnessed voter fraud. Later, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/brad-butt-deliberately-misled-house-with-voter-fraud-claim-ndp-says-1.2550962\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehe admitted\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E that wasn't the truth. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn fact, the report the Conservatives keep citing actually recommends making it \u003Ci\u003Eeasier \u003C\/i\u003Eto vote, not harder\u003Ci\u003E. \u003C\/i\u003EIt suggests that in addition to vouching, voters should also be allowed to use the voter cards sent to them by Elections Canada as a form of ID, which was introduced as a pilot project during the last election. Instead, the \"Fair Elections Act\" will kill that program entirely. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-ESn9-9EZeDo\/U0bvP__j3sI\/AAAAAAAAJkI\/EBTwLrioQ0E\/s1600\/vote-canada.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-ESn9-9EZeDo\/U0bvP__j3sI\/AAAAAAAAJkI\/EBTwLrioQ0E\/s1600\/vote-canada.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EA good thing\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cb\u003E2. The \"Fair Elections Act\" makes it illegal for Elections Canada to encourage voting:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Elections Act currently gives the Elections Officer the ability to promote Canadian democracy by encouraging people to vote, especially \"persons and groups most likely to experience difficulties in exercising their democratic rights.\" The Conservatives are getting rid of that provision. It will now be illegal for Elections Canada to encourage voting, despite the fact that in recent elections voter turnout has reached historic lows.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Conservatives claim \u003Ci\u003Ethat's\u003C\/i\u003E why they're making it illegal: because it's not helping. But studies show that non-partisan get-out-the-vote campaigns like the ones by Elections Canada \u003Ci\u003Edo\u003C\/i\u003E help to increase voter turnout. Without them, turnout might be even lower.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOnce again, critics suggest the new law is meant to keep people who don't vote for the Conservatives away from the polls. As the \u003Ci\u003ENational\u003C\/i\u003E \u003Ci\u003EPost \u003C\/i\u003Ereports, \"Elections Canada's own data shows that youth... are likely to be on the losing end if it is forced to  cancel programs promoting civic engagement.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAccording to the Elections Officer, Canada will be breaking new ground in the muzzling of its own election officials. \"I’m not aware of any electoral bodies around the world who cannot talk about democracy,\" he \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/m\/touch\/politics\/story\/1.2562153\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Etold\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E the CBC.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E3. The \"Fair Elections Act\" makes it illegal for Elections Canada to tell Canadians when election fraud has occurred or an investigation is underway:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe same part of the bill that makes it illegal for Elections Canada to encourage people to vote also \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/o.canada.com\/news\/tories-move-to-cut-short-debate-on-new-elections-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Erestricts\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E what the officials can tell the public: they will \u003Ci\u003Eonly\u003C\/i\u003E be allowed to share basic information, like where to vote. Critics point out that it will now \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ottawacitizen.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/Fair+Elections+prevents+whistle+blowing\/9472219\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ebe illegal\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E for Elections Canada to blow the whistle and publicly warn Canadians when they believe elections fraud — like the Conservative robocalls scandal — has occurred.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOne former Elections Canada lawyer \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ottawacitizen.com\/news\/Election+changes+could+muzzle+report+probe+into+robocalls+lawyer+warns\/9546031\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ebelieves\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E that Harper's law may, in fact, keep investigators from \u003Ci\u003Eever\u003C\/i\u003E being able to tell Canadians what they've discovered during the robocalls investigation.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMeanwhile, when there is an investigation into election fraud underway, Elections Canada \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ottawacitizen.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/Fair+Elections+prevents+whistle+blowing\/9472219\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ewon't be able to tell anyone\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E without the consent of the people they're investigating. If a political party is being accused of election fraud and they don't want to the public to know about it, Canadian election officials won't be able to tell them.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E4. But they \u003Ci\u003Ewould\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/i\u003Ehave to tell the person they're investigating: \u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhile Elections Canada won't be able to alert Canadians when an investigation is under way, the \"Fair Elections Act\" \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/o.canada.com\/news\/tories-move-to-cut-short-debate-on-new-elections-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ewill force\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E them to alert the person they suspect of committing fraud. So, anyone who commits election fraud on behalf of a political party will be warned when an investigation begins, potentially giving them the chance to cover their tracks and hide the evidence. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-1_Dr1BEbZXw\/U0bvU4whRNI\/AAAAAAAAJkQ\/2QHagvG0Q1Q\/s1600\/RCMP.jpg\" style=\"clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-1_Dr1BEbZXw\/U0bvU4whRNI\/AAAAAAAAJkQ\/2QHagvG0Q1Q\/s1600\/RCMP.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EThe RCMP\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb\u003E5. Election officials will need the government's permission to investigate the government:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EUnder the proposed law, if election officials suspect the government has committed election fraud, they will have to get \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/election-bill-draws-furious-debate-at-house-committee-1.2535555\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ethe government's permission\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to investigate. In the past, Elections Canada has been able to hire the RCMP or retired police officers as \"consultants\" to conduct investigations. Now, they will need the approval of a cabinet minister — the president of the Treasury Board — to hire those investigators.\u003Cb\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E6. The Commissioner of Elections will answer to the party in power instead of to parliament:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn the past, the Commissioner of Elections — the person responsible for investigating and prosecuting\u0026nbsp; elections fraud — has been part of Elections Canada. They're appointed by the Chief Electoral Officer, who answers to Parliament. And so, fraud investigations are ultimately overseen by all of the MPs elected by all Canadians.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe \"Fair Elections Act\" will \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/politics\/ottawas-new-bill-forbids-electoral-officer-from-encouraging-voters-turnout\/article16718186\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Echange that\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. The Commissioner will now be \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ottawacitizen.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/Fair+Elections+prevents+whistle+blowing\/9472219\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eappointed\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E by a civil servant and will be accountable to one of the government's own cabinet ministers (the Attorney General). So they won't answer to the entire Canadian Parliament, but instead to the party in power.\u003Cb\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E7. It will take longer to punish politicians who break the rules:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf, after all of this, a Member of Parliament \u003Ci\u003Eis \u003C\/i\u003Eactually found to have violated election laws, the \"Fair Elections Act\" will allow them to delay the time of their punishment. In the past, they've run the risk of being declared ineligible to sit in the House relatively quickly; now, MPs will be able to stay in Parliament while they appeal the ruling. That can take years. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/o.canada.com\/news\/tories-move-to-cut-short-debate-on-new-elections-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EAccording to \u003Ci\u003ECanada.com\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, \"critics say some MPs could break the rules getting elected and then drag out lawsuits to hold their seats.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E8. The \"Fair Elections Act\" won't fix the robocalls problem:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ottawacitizen.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/Fair+Elections+prevents+whistle+blowing\/9472219\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ethe \u003Ci\u003EOttawa Citizen\u003C\/i\u003E points out\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, the Conservatives' new law would do nothing to fix the problem the act was supposed to fix: \"nothing in the Bill would hold a political party to account  for the unauthorized use of its database by those who have access to  it.\" Andrew Coyne agrees \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/fullcomment.nationalpost.com\/2014\/02\/07\/andrew-coyne-what-problems-are-the-conservatives-really-trying-to-solve-with-bizarre-fair-elections-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ein the \u003Ci\u003ENational Post\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E: \"Frustrated  by the slow progress of the investigation into the robocalls  scandal the chief electoral officer had asked for greater powers... The act gives him none of  these, responding instead by hemming in the powers of investigators on  all sides...\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-QA5AkOauikQ\/U0bwBnwqM3I\/AAAAAAAAJkY\/gIjYcg7VpIo\/s1600\/money.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-QA5AkOauikQ\/U0bwBnwqM3I\/AAAAAAAAJkY\/gIjYcg7VpIo\/s1600\/money.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\"Democracy\"\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cb\u003E9. The \"Fair Elections Act\" will increase campaign spending and the maximum donation limit:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn recent elections, there have been strict limits on the amount of money political parties can spend on their campaigns — including the money they spend on fundraising, which is a big part of the current expense. The \"Fair Elections Act\" would raise the limit by 5%. And it would \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/o.canada.com\/news\/tories-move-to-cut-short-debate-on-new-elections-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eexempt fundraising\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E from the total: parties will be able to contact anyone who has given them money in the past (at least $20 in the last five years) without having to count it. That way, they will be able to spend \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/fullcomment.nationalpost.com\/2014\/02\/07\/andrew-coyne-what-problems-are-the-conservatives-really-trying-to-solve-with-bizarre-fair-elections-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Emillions of extra dollars\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E on their campaigns. As it stands now, that would give the Conservatives an advantage since they raise more money than the other parties. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENot only that: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.timescolonist.com\/former-elections-watchdog-pans-proposed-back-door-boost-to-campaign-spending-1.814645#sthash.oF4jQjW6.dpuf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eaccording to the \u003Ci\u003ETimes Colonist\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, it's unclear how Elections Canada would even be able to enforce the new rule. Political parties aren't forced to disclose the names of people who give them less than $200 — so there's no way of knowing who falls under the $20-over-five-years rule and who doesn't. In fact, the Chief Electoral Officer \"has repeatedly asked for that power but the new bill does not offer it.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe \"Fair Elections Act\" will also allow wealthy donors to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/o.canada.com\/news\/tories-move-to-cut-short-debate-on-new-elections-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Econtribute more money\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to political campaigns. The limit on private donations will go up by 25% — from $1200 to $1500. And it will also allow donors to donate more often. This, too, seems designed to give the Conservatives an advantage: they currently receive more donations in the maximum amount than the other parties do.\u003Cb\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E10. But it won't oversee the parties' elections spending:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELocal candidates in federal elections are forced to file public reports about the money they spend. But \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/o.canada.com\/news\/tories-move-to-cut-short-debate-on-new-elections-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eaccording to \u003Ci\u003ECanada.com\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, the money spent by the national political parties — which is a much bigger budget — isn't subject to much public scrutiny at all. In fact, the head of Elections Canada \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/politics\/ottawa\/two-issues-to-watch-as-the-election-reform-argument-heats-up\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Epoints out\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E that federal parties still won't be required to submit \u003Ci\u003Eany\u003C\/i\u003E invoices or receipts in order to prove their claims are accurate. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E11. It will be harder for new candidates and independent candidates to seek office:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/independents-could-face-even-tougher-battle-under-new-election-rules-1.2530748\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ethe CBC points out\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, the changes to the spending cap would also hurt independent candidates — as well as any candidates with a new political party. While preexisting parties will have preexisting donors to contact, new parties won't. \"Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand warned that such an exemption could  raise questions about ensuring a 'fair, level playing field' for all  electoral contenders... A new party coming in, new candidates coming in would not likely have  any contributors from the past, so immediately, they face a gap...\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIndependent candidates would also face another disadvantage: while political parties can spend money at any time, independents will only be able to spend money once an election has been called and the candidate has been officially registered. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-nYu3QqBbZNA\/U0bw5uH0ttI\/AAAAAAAAJkg\/tBMhtpw3CI4\/s1600\/PoolSupervisor.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-nYu3QqBbZNA\/U0bw5uH0ttI\/AAAAAAAAJkg\/tBMhtpw3CI4\/s1600\/PoolSupervisor.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EPool supervisor, very different thing\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb\u003E12. Political parties will get to appoint poll supervisors:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn the past, poll supervisors in all ridings have been appointed by Elections Canada. The \"Fair Elections Act\" would make it so that the party who won the riding in the last election will get to pick the poll supervisor for the next one.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It's completely inappropriate in a democracy,\" \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/elections-bill-would-give-incumbents-too-much-power-expert-warns-1.2555498\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Esays the expert\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E who wrote the report the Conservatives keep citing (he's the former chief electoral officer of British Colombia). In fact, his report recommends that political parties have \u003Ci\u003Eless\u003C\/i\u003E input into the staff at polling stations, not more. He says that most errors at polling stations are already made for partisans reasons and the \"Fair Elections Act\" could make it worse. In his words, it could \"tilt the balance\" of the election.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo, at very least, the \"Fair Elections Act\" clearly raises some serious questions that need to be thoroughly discussed and  debated. In fact, in the past, when Canadian governments have changed election rules, they have traditionally consulted very closely with the public, the other parties and the experts at Elections Canada. It makes sense that everyone should agree that Canadian elections are truly free and fair. \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut this time, the Conservatives haven't consulted with anyone. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/election-bill-draws-furious-debate-at-house-committee-1.2535555\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EAccording to the CBC\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, the Chief Electoral Officer has complained that \"he wasn't  consulted before the bill was drafted, and asked why there was no  consultation with Canadians before the bill was tabled.\" Instead of giving Canadians time to explore the new rules,  the Conservatives have been ramming the bill through Parliament as  quickly as possible. They cut off debate in the House of Commons. Then, they tried to cut off the debate in Committee, too — ending the meeting right in the middle of an answer to a question by the NDP. And they \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/news.nationalpost.com\/2014\/03\/06\/harper-vote-overhaul-would-destroy-campaign-spending-limits-chief-electoral-officer-tells-house-of-commons\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Escheduled votes\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E in the House of Commons for exactly the same time the Chief Electoral Officer was scheduled to give his presentation to a House of Commons committee (though he \u003Ci\u003Ewas\u003C\/i\u003E eventually given his time to speak).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEven Stephen Harper thinks Stephen Harper's methods are undemocratic. Back in 1996, when the Liberals were in power, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.leaderpost.com\/news\/Harper+used+believe+need+consensus+time+study+electoral\/9720642\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehe argued\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E that \"using time allocation for electoral law, doing it quickly and without the consent of the other political parties is the kind of dangerous application of electoral practices that we are more likely to find in third-world countries.\"\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: \u0026quot;Times New Roman\u0026quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E    \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn the face of overwhelming public opposition, the Conservatives have said they might be open to the possibility of changing some of the most controversial aspects of the bill. But instead of acting upon that suggestion, they've doubled-down, making \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/news.nationalpost.com\/2014\/04\/08\/conservative-cabinet-minister-poilievre-accuses-elections-watchdog-of-wanting-more-power-bigger-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Epersonal attacks\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E on the head of Elections Canada, claiming he wants more power — the very thing parliament unanimously agreed he should be given.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis all certainly makes it seems as if the Harper government is using its power to rig the next election in its own favour — and to settle old scores with Elections Canada. As \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/fullcomment.nationalpost.com\/2014\/02\/27\/john-ivison-exclusion-of-opposition-from-ukraine-delegation-shows-a-lack-of-statesmanship-from-the-harper-government\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EJohn Ivison writes\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E in the \u003Ci\u003ENational Post\u003C\/i\u003E, \"The Harper government has no concept of magnanimity — the Prime  Minister and his entourage are apparently unable to forgive an insult or  injury; seemingly incapable of acting without vindictiveness.\" \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/fullcomment.nationalpost.com\/2014\/02\/07\/andrew-coyne-what-problems-are-the-conservatives-really-trying-to-solve-with-bizarre-fair-elections-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EAndrew Coyne echoes him\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E in his own column: \"it fits with the broader Conservative theme, heavily  reinforced to its own supporters, that Elections Canada is just another  of the seemingly limitless list of agencies, institutions and  organizations that are out to get them.\" Even Harper's own former Communications Director \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/mindbendingpolitics.wordpress.com\/2014\/04\/08\/former-harper-communications-director-calls-fair-elections-act-vengeance\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ecalls\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E the bill an act of \"vengeance\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs a result, according to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/insight\/2014\/02\/28\/canadians_believe_tory_election_act_settling_scores_delacourt.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ea recent Angus-Reid poll\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, nearly two thirds of Canadians believe the Conservatives are using the \"Fair Elections Act\" to settle scores with Elections Canada. The percentage is even higher among those who are familiar with the bill.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo when Canadians go to the polls in 2015, it may very well be that everyone except the Conservative Party agrees: Canadian elections are no longer truly free and fair. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E-----\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003ERead about Stephen Harper's War on Science \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2012\/06\/stephen-harpers-war-on-science.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003EPosted by Adam Bunch\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-small;\"\u003E, \u003C\/span\u003Ethe Editor-in-Chief of the Little Red Umbrella and the creator of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/torontodreamsproject.blogspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EToronto Dreams Project\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. You can read his  posts \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/search\/label\/adam%20bunch\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, follow him on Twitter \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#%21\/adamtbunch\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, or email him at \u003Ca href=\"mailto:adam@littleredumbrella.com\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eadam@littleredumbrella.com\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_twitter\" displaytext=\"Tweet\" style=\"margin-left: 0px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_facebook\" displaytext=\"Share\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_email\" displaytext=\"Email\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/feeds\/8387308898118261858\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/04\/stephen-harpers-war-on-free-fair.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/8387308898118261858"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/8387308898118261858"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/04\/stephen-harpers-war-on-free-fair.html","title":"\u003Cb\u003EStephen Harper's War On Free \u0026 Fair Elections\u003C\/b\u003E"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Adam Bunch"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/14112071438967577096"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-4NwYbmUd2eA\/UP8-w9wxGHI\/AAAAAAAAFvQ\/qvH9eLVmLh8\/s220\/CarmNXNEProfile.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-F96oy4ZfXBs\/U0b1h1VgcvI\/AAAAAAAAJk4\/y2wWoC7K7H4\/s72-c\/harper4.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016075013121516936.post-2691483256516534704"},"published":{"$t":"2014-03-28T13:26:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-03-28T13:26:59.823-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"adam bunch"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"politics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"rob ford"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"toronto politics"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Best Rob Ford Interview Ever"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-EaEXlwKn648\/UzWuCcAdSTI\/AAAAAAAAJhQ\/d7KmvOWy5g8\/s1600\/MetroMorning-RobFord.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: .1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-EaEXlwKn648\/UzWuCcAdSTI\/AAAAAAAAJhQ\/d7KmvOWy5g8\/s1600\/MetroMorning-RobFord.jpg\" height=\"200\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERob Ford, as we all know, has been known to smoke some crack cocaine. But that's faaaar from the only problem with his time in office. Even if he were stone cold sober, he would still be a terrible TERRIBLE mayor. He is a man pretty much completely untethered from reality. He makes wildly false claims about even the most basic aspects of his job. He invents make-believe statistics. He spreads misinformation at a breathtaking pace. In one 16-minute speech, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/torontoist.com\/2014\/01\/on-thursday-at-the-economic-club-rob-ford-lied-several-times-every-minute\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003E\u003Ci\u003ETorontoist\u003C\/i\u003E counted\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E more than 50 \"lies, half-truths, and instances of disingenuous spin.\" That's an average of more than 3 every minute.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/p\u003EAnd yet the people he allows to interview him have pretty much entirely let him off the hook. While they get caught up on the drug use, they miss the other issues, allowing Ford to repeat his false claims about his policies and \"achievements\". And it's not just the Jimmy Kimmel types. Even Peter Mansbridge, one of the most respected broadcasters in Canada, totally dropped the ball. Many Torontonians have been anxiously looking forward to the day when Ford would have to answer questions from someone who knew the relevant information and wouldn't let the Mayor off the hook with lazy lies and misleading \"facts\". And finally — finally! — it happened this morning on CBC Radio. Metro Morning's Matt Galloway had  the Mayor in his studio for a 15 minute interview. And while Ford still manages to sneak through a few false facts, it is, hands down, the best interview of Ford we've seen since he took office.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EYou can watch it on the CBC's website \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/rob-ford-i-m-not-a-criminal-1.2589820\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E-----\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003EImage via the CBC.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ci\u003EPosted by Adam Bunch\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-small;\"\u003E, \u003C\/span\u003Ethe Editor-in-Chief of the Little Red Umbrella and the creator of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/torontodreamsproject.blogspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003EToronto Dreams Project\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. You can read his  posts \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/search\/label\/adam%20bunch\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, follow him on Twitter \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#%21\/adamtbunch\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Ehere\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, or email him at \u003Ca href=\"mailto:adam@littleredumbrella.com\"\u003E\u003Cu\u003Eadam@littleredumbrella.com\u003C\/u\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_twitter\" displaytext=\"Tweet\" style=\"margin-left: 0px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_facebook\" displaytext=\"Share\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"st_email\" displaytext=\"Email\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/feeds\/2691483256516534704\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/03\/the-best-rob-ford-interview-ever.html#comment-form","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/2691483256516534704"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/1016075013121516936\/posts\/default\/2691483256516534704"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.littleredumbrella.com\/2014\/03\/the-best-rob-ford-interview-ever.html","title":"\u003Cb\u003EThe Best Rob Ford Interview Ever\u003C\/b\u003E"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Adam Bunch"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/14112071438967577096"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-4NwYbmUd2eA\/UP8-w9wxGHI\/AAAAAAAAFvQ\/qvH9eLVmLh8\/s220\/CarmNXNEProfile.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-EaEXlwKn648\/UzWuCcAdSTI\/AAAAAAAAJhQ\/d7KmvOWy5g8\/s72-c\/MetroMorning-RobFord.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}}]}});