Charbonneau

CHARBONNEAU – Trying to slow the exodus from Canada’s big cities

January 22, 2021 // 0 Comments

CANADA MORTGAGE AND HOUSING Corproation (CMHC) is attempting to curb the outflow from big cities. Toronto saw a net loss of 50,375 last year as people moved to surrounding [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – Donald Trump’s big-tent coalition of the deluded

January 15, 2021 // 0 Comments

PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS ASSEMBLED a ragtag rabble of misfits into “Trump’s Army”. The disgraced president was able to unite marginalized groups in a way no other president [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – Young people have suffered much from the pandemic

January 8, 2021 // 0 Comments

YOUNG CANADIANS HAVE BEEN BLAMED for being irresponsible during the pandemic for going to parties and bars. But there’s more hype than truth to these accusations. The [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – The death and rebirth of sun at Christmas is solemn occasion

December 26, 2020 // 0 Comments

CHRISTMAS IS A TIME OF WONDER; a time for festivity and lights; a time for gathering together with friends and family in celebration. In the shelter of our warm houses, the [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – Drug prohibition was a mistake but decriminalization not an answer

December 18, 2020 // 0 Comments

HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE because of a half-baked idea from a century ago? It all started at the turn of the 20th century when concoctions of opium were commonly found [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – Future generations will regard TMX as a curious monument

December 11, 2020 // 1 Comment

THE TRANS MOUNTAIN PIPELINE may be redundant. If it remains empty, future generations will wonder why it was built. It’s a distinct possibility that the TMX pipeline, [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – Shared delusions in Lee Creek and the U.S.

December 4, 2020 // 0 Comments

IT’S AMAZING WHEN TWO OR MORE PEOPLE share the same delusion. You have to wonder how that’s possible. Look at what happened in Lee Creek. Police were called to the small [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – Language and mood of second COVID-19 wave have changed

November 27, 2020 // 0 Comments

THIS SECOND WAVE of the pandemic feels quite different than the first. In the Spring, shoppers emptied store shelves of toilet paper –a curious indicator of what’s [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – Face masks should be worn but not mandated

November 20, 2020 // 0 Comments

IT’S TEMPTING TO CHANGE BAD BEHAVIOUR through mandates. The reasoning is that citizens will stop doing bad things if they are told not to. The problem with mandates is [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – Our PM has more power than a rational U.S. president

November 13, 2020 // 0 Comments

LET’S COMPARE THE POWERS of our prime minister and the U.S. president under the assumption that rational persons occupy the positions. Our P.M. has more powers than the [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – Raising taxes not the way out of debt created by COVID-19

November 6, 2020 // 1 Comment

The COVID-19 PANDEMIC has created a huge government debt. There are traditional ways of dealing with debt: by slashing spending, raising taxes, or a combination of both. [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – I was wrong about the Site C dam

October 30, 2020 // 0 Comments

DESPITE WHAT I SAID EARLIER, Site C is a mistake. The massive dam is being built in the Peace River region of northeastern British Columbia. Dams are not a mistake. [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – One-time handout to the homeless reduces social costs

October 23, 2020 // 0 Comments

IT MAY SEEM counterintuitive to give cash to homeless people. Didn’t their poor money skills get them on the street in the first place? The University of British Columbia [Continue]

CHARBONNEAU – A reliable postal system is an indication of a country’s democracy

October 16, 2020 // 0 Comments

I’VE FOUND THAT YOU CAN determine how well a country functions by how well its postal system works. When I lived in Australia, I could count on letters getting back to [Continue]