WHY HAVE AN ELECTION?!

Danish Social Democrats agree new government with right-wing opposition

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Denmark's Social Democratic leader Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday she had agreed to form a rare bipartisan government with the main opposition party, the Liberal Party, and the Moderates to form a government with her as prime minister.


General election in Denmark© Thomson Reuters

"We have set high ambitions, both in terms of ensuring higher employment, more people getting work, high climate ambitions and a fairly comprehensive reform program," said Frederiksen.

The three party leaders, Frederiksen, Jacob Elleman-Jensen of the Liberal Party and Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the Moderates, will host a press briefing on Wednesday, where they will outline the broad political ideas behind the next government.

The Moderates is a new party, established in June, and is led by Rasmussen, the previous prime minister. It became Denmark's third biggest party after a trailblazing election campaign.

The three parties have a combined 89 seats in the 179-seat parliament, which also includes four seats to lawmakers from Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

This means the new government will in practice have a majority as the North Atlantic mandates traditionally don't intervene in Danish domestic politics.

Frederiksen, 45, will start her second term as premier of the Nordic nation once the new government has been formally announced on Thursday.

Since her centre-left Social Democratic Party won more than a quarter of the votes in a Nov. 1 general election, making it the biggest in parliament, Frederiksen has dropped negotiations with traditional left-wing allies.

Instead, the new coalition, which was formed after record-long talks of more than a month, she has negotiated with opposition parties to form a government across the traditional left-right divide for the first time in more than four decades.

Frederiksen argued during her campaign that a broad government across the left-right divide was needed at a time of international uncertainty.

The new government will begin work as high energy prices and the highest inflation in four decades eat into household economies, and only two months after the sabotage of two pipelines carrying gas from Russia to Germany through Danish waters.

Some pundits have warned that forming a coalition of the traditional mainstream parties might backfire, because it could eventually strengthen the more radical parties as seen in other European countries, including France.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard, editing by Stine Jacobsen, Tomasz Janowski and Sandra Maler)

UCP MORALITY POLICE

Edmonton social issue task force unveiled by UCP, but Sohi says city was shut out

Story by Matthew Black •

Municipal Affairs Minister Rebecca Schulz speaks as Homeward Trust CEO Susan McGee, Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis, Mental Health and Addiction Minister Nicholas Milliken and Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jeremy Nixon listen on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. They are part of a cabinet task force to tackle Edmonton social issues including addiction, homelessness and public safety in Edmonton.© Provided by Edmonton Journal

The Alberta government is promising action on homelessness, addiction and public safety in Edmonton through the creation of a new task force, though skeptics remain unconvinced it will deliver as promised.

Four provincial cabinet ministers were among those to announce the creation of the Edmonton Public Safety and Community Response Task Force on Monday.

The task force aims to build on the province’s recovery-oriented system of addiction and mental health care using resources from provincial and municipal governments as well as local partner agencies.

“This is not about studying the issue. This is about actually taking action,” said committee chairman and Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis.

“This is a co-ordinated approach. We will be taking action.”

That action includes a series of initiatives including increasing addiction treatment capacity, providing addiction and mental health treatment programs in correctional centres, creating a hybrid health and police hub, expanding medical detox services, building harm reduction and recovery outreach teams and expanding access to emergency shelter space.

In introducing the task force, Municipal Affairs Minister Rebecca Schulz said it would address “the most urgent social issues” facing Edmontonians.

“We have heard loud and clear from municipalities across Alberta about the need for a collaborative approach and we are committing to that starting right here in Edmonton.”

Funding for Tuesday’s announcement comes in part from $187 million in funding towards fighting homelessness the province announced at the start of October.

The province is spending $63 million over the next two years towards increasing access to addiction services as well as $19 million towards combating homelessness.

“These initiatives are the start,” said Mental Health and Addiction Minister Nicholas Milliken.

“We are going to move quickly and we will not stop until these initiatives are operationalized.”

Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jeremy Nixon said he is “very optimistic” the task force would make progress on long-term solutions to issues around homelessness and addiction.

‘We need action’

The 12-person task force met for the first time Tuesday afternoon.

It is composed of ministers Nixon, Ellis, Milliken and Schulz as well as Chief Billy Morin of the Enoch Cree Nation and Chief Isaac Laboucan-Avirom of the Woodland Cree First Nation.

They are joined by two representatives from Alberta Health Services and the CEO of Homeward Trust, an organization that provides support for those experiencing homelessness in Edmonton.

Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee is also on board as are Edmonton city councillors Sarah Hamilton and Tim Cartmell.

City manager Andre Corbould and Fire Chief Joe Zatylny have also been invited, pending city council’s approval.

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said while he welcomed the new efforts to battle long-standing issues, the city was not made a part of the process.

“I was not made aware of it. We were not in any way included in the creation of the task force. It is a decision that the province has made,” he said.

He said Hamilton and Cartmell were “hand-picked by the UCP government,” noting their participation was not approved by councillors, something he said would have to happen if Corbould was to be part of the task force.

Hamilton currently serves on the Edmonton Police Commission. She and Cartmell were involved in city council’s budget meetings Tuesday afternoon and were unavailable to immediately comment.

Sohi also called for more measures to ensure safe supply and harm reduction, elements not included in the task force’s initiatives.

He added the task force lacked people with “lived experience” including racialized Edmontonians and urban Indigenous leaders, a feeling echoed by Opposition addictions and mental health critic Lori Sigurdson.

“This is just another opportunity to review and we already know what needs to be done,” she said.

“We don’t need another task force. We need action.”

‘Something new we don’t have’

The new task force follows longstanding complaints about public safety Downtown, including on public transit.

The Downtown Recovery Coalition (DRC) — a group of business leaders advocating for a safer Downtown — welcomed the new task force.

“Provincial collaboration is key in solving the problems our community organizations, businesses and residents are facing throughout our Downtown core,” stated coalition chairman Alex Hryciw.

McFee said that collaborative approach would be key to the task force’s success.

“What I see here is bringing coordination to something new that we don’t have, and using all those resources … to say, ‘We’re going to tackle this differently.’”

Schulz said a similar approach could be rolled out in other centres across the province.

“There will be other communities that we’re going to do this work in,” she said.

“And we want to be nimble and willing partners at the table to address those challenges across ministries and different levels of government and community.”

mblack@postmedia.com

Twitter @ ByMatthewBlack

Privacy-first, ads-free search engine Neeva launches in Canada

TORONTO — Around 16 years into Sridhar Ramaswamy’s career at Google, he realized he was having difficulty reconciling the actions of advertisers with the needs of consumers, and their differences were often creating a negative online experience.


Privacy-first, ads-free search engine Neeva launches in Canada© Provided by The Canadian Press

It was a turning point for the senior vice-president of ads and commerce, who later left to co-found Neeva, a search engine that is making its Canadian debut Tuesday and is set on bucking the ad-hungry nature of its peers.

“Over the past 20, 25 years we have sort of fallen in love with a suite of free services … and what has happened is that slowly but surely these services have turned against us. They've become more and more exploitative,” Ramaswamy said.

“We pay for it with our attention. We pay for it with our dollars. The hundreds of billions of dollars in advertising revenue that companies like Google and Facebook and Amazon make, they're actually coming from you and me. There was never a free lunch.”

While these major tech companies earn the bulk of their profits from serving users ads and compiling data, Neeva intends to be different. It bills itself as “privacy-first” and “ads-free.”

That means it doesn’t remember your search history and is designed to keep trackers from keeping tabs on you.

“What you do with the search engine or even the browser should be between you and the party that you're interacting with,” said Ramaswamy.

“You rest easy knowing that this data is not going to be used to monetize you either by showing ads or affiliate links.”

Without ads to generate revenue, Neeva relies on a paid tier that charges users for a trio of services Ramaswamy thinks everyone needs “to be private, safe and sane on the internet”: a virtual private network to mask your location and online activities, a password manager and an ad blocker.

Canadian users who opt in to the tier will pay $7.99 a month or $64.99 a year.

Related video: Measures to secure Canadians' personal information in cloud were 'applied and monitored inconsistently': AG (cbc.ca)   Duration 1:14  View on Watch

Both paying and free users will notice that when searching for a product using Neeva, they will be more likely to see reviews for the product appear rather than just the first place to buy it. If they look for health care information, credible and authoritative resources like government websites or the Mayo Clinic will pop up instead of “a whole set of people that figured out how to be on top of Google's results," said Ramaswamy.

The company has also committed to sharing 20 per cent of its topline revenue with content creators such as news sites and publications “because we felt that it was important to have a model where we supported publishers, especially when we use their content," he said.

News seekers will find they can customize which publishers they want to appear most prominently.

Whether tech companies should share revenues with publishers has been a hot topic in Canada as federal Bill C-18 — the Online News Act — winds its way through Parliament. The bill completed its second reading in the House of Commons in May, before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage finished considering it last week. It will soon head to the Senate for three readings and approval.

The bill aims to make tech giants such as Google and Facebook parent company Meta pay for sharing journalism produced by Canadian news organizations. The goal is to level the playing field between news agencies and social media companies, which have eaten up ad revenues while publishers have struggled to remain profitable.

But the tech giants have vehemently fought the bill. Google argued it would give regulators “unprecedented influence over news” and complained the bill doesn't require the news outlets receiving payments to follow basic journalistic standards, “creating a regime that allows bad actors and those peddling misinformation to thrive and profit.”

The opposition doesn’t surprise Ramaswamy. “There's no happy answer to how do you divide existing money or existing revenue that someone has taken for granted?” he said.

“Giving up something is not really something that comes easy to any company and you will see them fight furiously.”

Facebook has already threatened to block news in Canada if it doesn’t get its way with the bill. The company made that move after similar legislation passed in Australia last year, but a few days later it restored news content on the site when the government tweaked its legislation.

So what does Ramaswamy think will happen in Canada?

“This sort of redistribution of wealth by the government rarely goes well,” he said.

“The likely outcome is that ... Google and Facebook and others will cut some sort of backroom deal to give a small amount of money and that's the end.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2022.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

SOMETHING ABOUT PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE

Kaili feels betrayed over European Parliament stance in Qatar graft scandal -lawyer

ATHENS (Reuters) - Eva Kaili feels betrayed by European Parliament colleagues who decided to strip the Greek MEP of her role as vice president of the assembly on Tuesday after she was accused of accepting bribes from Qatar, her lawyer in Athens told Reuters.


European Parliament vice president, Greek socialist Eva Kaili, is seen at the European Parliament in Strasbourg© Thomson Reuters

The case, in which Kaili has denied any wrongdoing, is evolving into one of the biggest corruption scandals to hit the European Union.

Kaili, who is in Belgian police detention, was one of 14 vice presidents in the parliament. Belgian prosecutors have charged her and three Italians at the weekend with participating in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption.

European lawmakers acted rapidly to isolate her, concerned that the Belgian investigation could mar the assembly's efforts to present itself as a sound moral compass in a troubled world.

"I spoke to Mrs Kaili today and she broke her silence. She has expressed her complaints over the stance of her European Parliament colleagues," lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos told Reuters.

"She says she feels betrayed when they make her appear as if she had a personal agenda with Qatar and when they hint that she was taking bribes."

Related video: Qatar 'corruption scandal' rocks European parliament, Vice President Eva Kaili arrested (WION)
Duration 3:39
View on Watch

MEP Eva Kaili stripped of vice president role as Qatar corruption probe widens


In a parliamentary session on Nov. 21 to discuss the human rights situation in Qatar, Kaili defended it against intense criticism from human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers during preparations for the World Cup.

The Socialist lawmaker visited Kuwait and Qatar at the end of October and start of November and cited the International Labour Office saying Qatar had been "introducing labour rights ... and introducing minimum wage despite the challenges."

Dimitrakopoulos reiterated that Kaili has denied the accusations and added that her visit to Qatar had been approved by the European Parliament and that she was nothing more but a "recipient of European Union orders".

"Her position is that she was not accepting bribes, she is innocent, Qatar did not have a need for her, it did not need to bribe her, she had nothing to offer to Qatar," he said.

"Her decision to visit Qatar was not her personal decision, it was a European parliament decision, with the agreement" of the European Commission and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Dimitrakopoulos added.

Asked by Reuters to comment on the case, the European Parliament press service said that as a vice president Kaili was tasked with representing the assembly in the Middle East. It added: "The clear and standing instruction to all vice presidents is to represent the Parliament’s position. Nothing else."

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou, Deborah Kyvrikosaios and Stamos Prousalis, editing by Mark Heinrich)

Rupen Pandya: Indigenous people key to Saskatchewan's energy future

Opinion by Rupen Pandya 

Rupen Pandya, SaskPower President and CEO speaks at a SaskPower press conference on Tuesday, September 20, 2022 in Regina.© Provided by Leader Post

2022 has been a big year. Since commissioning the Awasis and Pesâkâstêw Solar Facilities, these Indigenous-owned installations have been providing up to 20 megawatts (10 MW per facility) of clean, renewable power to Saskatchewan’s grid.

Both facilities were constructed through partnerships with First Nations owners, and these utility-scale projects are lighting a path forward on our journey of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

The First Nations Power Authority (FNPA) has played an important role in bringing these projects forward and has an agreement with SaskPower regarding opportunities for future flare-gas options.

At the grand opening of the Pesâkâstêw Solar Facility, the speakers emphasized “respect for Mother Earth” as core to traditional knowledge and Indigenous stewardship of the environment.

SaskPower believes that Indigenous partners can play a vital role in supporting the profound energy transition now underway in Saskatchewan and North America, as we move toward cleaner energy.

We need to reach a 50 per cent reduction in our carbon emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels, achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

This represents a tremendous opportunity for First Nations and Métis communities to help develop the plan, not just as consumers, but as producers of clean energy — sharing in the economic and social benefits of working together.

To get to that clean-energy future, we need to look at all the options available and make wise choices, mindful of future generations in Saskatchewan.

Wind, solar, natural gas, nuclear power and other technologies must all be considered, to ensure reliable and affordable electricity continues to flow, both day and night and in all seasons, to our homes and businesses.

SaskPower recently identified the Elbow and Estevan areas as study areas for a potential future small modular reactor. Identifying study regions early in the process — many years ahead of any decision to proceed — gives us time to consult Indigenous Rights holders in these areas.

We will seek meaningful engagement and dialogue concerning economic benefits, employment, procurement and other forms of project participation.

We recently hosted two virtual open houses on planning for nuclear power with more than 600 people registered.

Those attending heard a number of different perspectives from the municipality of Pickering, Ontario, (which is close to a nuclear plant in that province), the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, nuclear developer GE Hitachi, and much more.

I encourage everyone to go to engage.saskpower.com and sign up for a virtual session, take a short survey, ask a question and so much more.

This energy transition will require all of us to learn from each other in order to succeed.

It inspires us to see what walking together can look like — listening to each other, learning from each other and seeking mutually beneficial partnerships to protect people and the environment, while securing our energy future.

Working together, we can be confident that our future is bright.

Rupen Pandya is the president and CEO of SaskPower.

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Colombian Congress approves creation of Ministry of Equality

The Colombian Congress has approved, after several favorable votes in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the creation of the Ministry of Equality, which will be headed by the country's vice-president, Francia Márquez.


Vice President of Colombia, Francia Márquez. - CHEPA BELTRAN / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

The new portfolio of the Executive of the president, Gustavo Petro, has counted with 139 votes in favor and eight against in the House of Representatives, by the 61 who have said 'yes' and the six of 'no' in the Senate, details the radio station RCN.

"What we are building is a path of material, real equality, this ministry was clearly missing in the public administration scenario", stressed the Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, who thanked Márquez for his important participation in order for this campaign promise to go ahead.

Casa Nariño has bet on the creation of this new Ministry to implement public policies to achieve, among other things, wage equality between men and women, the recognition of work in the home as a work history, a minimum vital income for mothers who are heads of household, and benefits and property and credit rights within the agrarian reform.

The Alianza Verde representative Katherine Miranda has welcomed the creation of this portfolio as it comes to try to combat problems as "undeniable" as the wage gap that exists between men and women, or femicides.

However, for some in the opposition, the Ministry of Equality "represents more bureaucracy". This is the opinion of Uribism, which accuses the Government of not having published the costs that this new portfolio will entail for the public treasury.

Union "sickened" as Iran soccer player faces possible death sentence

Story by CBSNews • 

Paris — The world union of professional soccer players FIFPRO said it was "shocked and sickened" by the risk of Iranian player Amir Nasr-Azadani being sentenced to death in connection with protests which have shaken the country for three months. Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an "armed riot" in which three security agents were killed on September 16, Isfahan's judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari said, quoted Sunday by Iran's ISNA news agency.

Jafari said the 26-year-old had been accused of "rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine security and therefore assisting in moharabeh" — or "emnity against God" — a capital crime in the Islamic republic.

"FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women's rights and basic freedom in his country," the union wrote on its Twitter page late Monday.

"We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment."

The alarm comes after a global outcry following the execution by Iran in the past days of two young men arrested over the protests.

Nasr-Azadani, who played at Under-16 level for the national team, began his football career with Tehran team Rah-Ahan, with whom he played for the first time in Iran's top flight league.

The defender briefly played for Tractor SC under former Wales coach John Toshack and is currently at FC Iranjavan Bushehr.

Former Iranian international star Ali Karimi, a strong supporter of the protests, backed Nasr-Asadani in a tweet, saying "Do not execute Amir."

The Iranian national team took part in the World Cup in Qatar and staged their own protest by refusing to sing the national anthem in their opening match against England.

However, they rolled back to sing the anthem for subsequent matches against Wales and the USA.


© Provided by CBS News

Iran is facing protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after she was arrested by morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

According to Amnesty International, 11 people have been confirmed to have been sentenced to death over the protests and at least another nine, including Nasr-Azadani, risk being sentenced to death.

Iran calls the protests "riots" and says they have been encouraged by its foreign foes.

Prominent former international star Voria Ghafouri was arrested in Iran last month after he backed the protests and condemned the crackdown but was later released on bail.

Opinion: The likely constitutional fly in Alberta's Sovereignty Act ointment

Opinion by Special to National Post • 
By Mark Mancini, Léonid Sirota and Maxime St-Hilaire


Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Justice Minister Tyler Shandro share details on the province's sovereignty bill on Nov. 29, 2022.© Provided by National Post

There had been a great deal of apprehension about the Alberta government’s plans for a “sovereignty” law. This was followed by relief when the bill was finally introduced two weeks ago: it did not go as far as it might have. Several commentators, including legal scholars (some of them our friends), have defended its constitutionality. The bill has now been further scaled back in response to criticism.

The centrepiece of the bill as it now stands is a scheme whereby the legislative assembly, by resolution, can denounce an existing or proposed federal law or policy as unconstitutional. The cabinet can then direct individual ministers to rewrite provincial regulations (but not legislation, as in the bill’s original version) to fit the resolution. In doing so, ministers can stymie the enforcement of federal law by provincial agencies.

Defences of this scheme focus on the principle of federalism: arguing that provinces are not required to enforce federal laws or otherwise co-operate with the federal government. They also point to the legislative assembly’s involvement as a valuable democratic safeguard.

In our view, however, these arguments neglect other fundamental principles protected in Canada’s constitutional framework: the rule of law and separation of powers. Following these principles, one narrow but still significant aspect of the Sovereignty Act that has largely eluded the attention of commentators is likely unconstitutional. The bill’s overall policy may well survive judicial scrutiny, but it is nonetheless corrosive to the Canadian constitutional order for no good reason.

The specific provision whose constitutionality is most doubtful is the one concerned with judicial review of ministerial orders made under the Sovereignty Act’s authority. These orders could be called into question either because they exceed the scope of Alberta’s constitutional powers or because they exceed the authority granted the ministers by the legislature. Yet the bill provides that this review must be extremely deferential: only “patently unreasonable” orders can be declared invalid.

Rahim Mohamed: Danielle Smith's Alberta Sovereignty Act pretty awkward for the RCMP

However, a 2019 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada holds that, by virtue of the rule of law principle, compliance of these sorts of ministerial orders with the Constitution, for instance the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces, is to be reviewed for correctness. In other words, if an order is unconstitutional in the courts’ independent opinion, they will invalidate it.

On this point, the Sovereignty Act is trying to do something the Constitution does not permit, and for good reason; it would liberate ministers and administrators from constitutional constraint. Review of government acts for their constitutionality is a quintessentially judicial task, one that involves measuring these acts against the benchmark of constitutional law. When it comes to the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces, consistent interpretation of the Constitution, which the judiciary provides, is all the more important. Left without judicial supervision, each level of legislature and government would be driven by self-interest to extend its powers at the other’s expense, creating conflict and confusion for citizens.

The question of what degree of deference can be required in a judicial assessment of whether an order complies with the law that purportedly authorizes it is murkier. As the law now stands, the legislature may well be able to require considerable deference. Yet the rule of law principle and the Constitution’s provisions enshrining the role of the superior courts, such Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench, mean this deference must not be tantamount to judicial review being ousted altogether. Courts must still be able to ensure that there is some plausibility to the claim that an order is authorized by the law.

Yet the Sovereignty Act makes judicial review of ministerial orders difficult if not impossible. This is because it does virtually nothing to circumscribe the powers ministers can exercise upon the passage of legislative assembly resolution. The limits come not from the bill itself, but from the resolution at issue.

This is a problem. Judicial review is concerned with whether government complies with the law, yet a resolution of the assembly is not law. It is a statement of opinion, unlikely to be drafted with the precision with which laws usually are, and as such can hardly provide the controls necessary on executive discretion, further complicating the courts’ task of review.

But the Sovereignty Act’s unusual and partly unconstitutional distortion of judicial review of government action is only a symptom of its broader tendency to bypass the courts in favour of political institutions. As we have seen, in addition to restricting judicial review of ministerial orders, the bill calls upon the legislative assembly to determine whether federal laws or policies are unconstitutional. This compromises not only the rule of law but also separation of powers.

Canada’s constitutional system, like those of other federations, relies on an independent judiciary upholding the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces. This is because the Constitution is a legal instrument ― indeed, the “supreme law of Canada” ― and its interpretation is a legal, rather than a political, question.

Such questions should be decided by legally trained and independent judges, not politicians. If Alberta’s government doubts the constitutionality of a federal law, it already can refer this question to the Alberta Court of Appeal. If unsatisfied with that court’s decision, it can appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. And if it loses there, as it did in relation to the constitutionality of the federal carbon tax regime, it must accept the loss ― subject to seeking a constitutional amendment.

Even an analogy with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ notwithstanding clause cannot shield the Sovereignty Act. Of course, there is no equivalent provision allowing legislatures to “override” the constitutional division of powers, and rightly so. An optimistic interpretation of the notwithstanding clause is that it allows legislatures to impose their own answers to the complex questions of morality and policy at stake in disputes about rights. Whatever the validity of this view in relation to rights, it is simply inapposite to the purely legal disputes about the Constitution’s division of powers provisions.

The great Victorian constitutional scholar A.V. Dicey, who popularized the phrases “parliamentary sovereignty” and “rule of law,” had a warning that the proponents of Alberta’s Sovereignty Act would do well to heed. “A federal system,” he wrote, “can flourish only among communities imbued with a legal spirit and trained to reverence the law.” Without these, it collapses in political recrimination.

But Dicey warned, also, of the danger that a supreme court entrusted with interpreting a federal constitution will “be swayed by political feeling and by reasons of state,” for “the moment that this bias becomes obvious a court loses its moral authority.” Each of us have criticized Canadian courts vehemently when they have gone astray in this way, and we must all be alert to this peril. This is not the place to discuss whether such improper considerations have affected the Supreme Court of Canada, for example, in its opinion on the carbon tax. Suffice it to say that those who defend judicial authority need also to be alert to this peril. But this is no reason to dilute or oust judicial review altogether.

Special to National Post

Mark Mancini is a PhD student at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia.

Maxime St-Hilaire is Associate Professor at Faculty of Law of the Université de Sherbrooke.

Leonid Sirota is Associate Professor at the School of Law of the University of Reading.

IRONIC

Belmarsh prison authorities prevent Assange from attending Sakharov award ceremony

Wikileaks has denounced Tuesday that the authorities of Belmarsh prison, where activist and founder of the organization, Julian Assange, is imprisoned, have prevented him from participating in the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize award ceremony, an event scheduled for Wednesday.

Image of Julian Assange projected onto a building in Leake Street, London, on the occasion of his arrest at Belmarsh Prison. - 

Victoria Jones/PA Wire/dpa

The organization has indicated in a brief statement that the prison authorities have not granted the relevant permission to the also journalist and programmer, and has confirmed that, instead, his wife, Stella, will participate telematically.

Thus, Assange will not be able to participate in the events prior to the ceremony, such as seminars and press conferences, despite the fact that "more than 40 MEPs chose him as a candidate to receive the award this year", as Wikileaks has stressed.

"Julian's nomination is a sign of the support he has from human rights groups around the world, as well as recognition of his work for peace and justice," said Stella, who will deliver a message on behalf of Assange.

In addition, he will attend the ceremony of delivery of the Sarajev this Wednesday at 12.00 following the invitation sent by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

Wikileaks has taken the opportunity to recall that "Assange remains in custody in a UK maximum security prison, where he has been held since he was arrested in April 2019." "He has been indicted in the United States for disseminating information about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and torture programs. He faces up to 175 years in prison," the organization lamented.

In this regard, it has stressed that the governor of the prison in question has denied the requests of MEPs and political groups that "requested Assange's presence via telematics for the Sakharov ceremony." "The governor has prevented his presence on the grounds that it is not included in the official visiting regime," the text states.

COMMENTARY: Economists and Canadians are not on the same page

Opinion by globalnewsdigital •

Canadian dollar "loonie" coins.© THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Bayne Stanley

Majority of Canadians worry they won’t have enough money to feed their families: Poll

There is a growing divergence between the macroeconomic indicators that economists examine and the microeconomic realities that Canadians say they are facing.

Economists are telling Canadians that we’re closer to the end of the interest rate-raising cycle than we are to the beginning of it. They’re telling us that the inflation rate is starting to edge lower, and that we’re still trending for a “soft landing.”

They’ve pegged the chance of recession somewhere around 50 per cent, depending on whom you speak to. And there’s even good news: unemployment rates remain low, although this is a double-edged sword as a tight labour market means higher wages, which add fuel to the inflation fire.

None of this aligns with what Canadians themselves say they’re experiencing. Ipsos polling for Global News has shown that Canadians’ financial anxieties are rising faster than interest rates.

Read More

Majority of Canadians fearful about feeding their families as economic anxiety grows: poll

Since October, more Canadians are now concerned that they might not have enough money to feed their family (+9 percentage points), that they might not be able to afford gasoline for their cars (+13 points) and or that they might get in over their head with holiday spending (+15). The concern among parents with kids in their household is even more pronounced. We don’t often measure such significant shifts in public opinion over such a short period of time.

Moreover, there is growing concern (and a general consensus among Canadians) that Canada will face an economic recession in the next year. Four in 10 (42 per cent, up nine points since October) are worried that they may lose their job if the economy does not improve. This is a lot of job anxiety.

We could not be looking at two more different realities: that which is studied by economists and that which is lived by Canadians. It’s true that individual Canadians may not be as informed about the macroeconomic situation as economists.

But they do know their own household, and given interest rate increases and inflationary pressures, they’ve noticed that they have less money left over at the end of the month. This is particularly true for younger Canadians, women and parents, who are feeling especially squeezed.

Regardless of what economists are saying, many Canadians believe we’re already in a recession and are altering their behaviour accordingly.

Ipsos poll finds close to half of Canadians prefer a charitable gift this holiday season over material items

Consumers are cutting back on dining out (52 per cent) and on entertainment (46 per cent). They’ve started looking at flyers for sales (50 per cent) or are couponing (31 per cent). Some have even had to dip into savings to make ends meet (24 per cent). Others are buying fewer fruits and vegetables (26 per cent) or not renewing or fulfilling a medical prescription (nine per cent).

The thing about economics is that it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy: if Canadians already believe we’re in a recession, and are acting like it, then it is more likely to cause a recession. This is rational behaviour based on one’s own perceptions, but it could exacerbate the economic challenges already facing Canada.

The trouble with a recession is that by one definition, we don’t know we’re in one until six months after we’ve entered it, making the declaration of a recession itself a lagging indicator. How helpful is that in the moment? In contrast, public opinion is a harbinger of things to come and acts as a leading indicator. Even though we’re technically not in a recession — yet — Canadians are already feeling and acting like we are.

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Do we need a term for this phenomenon? Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter called it a crisis of confidence, which was then called the "malaise." Maybe it’s something plainer, like “recession perception”? Whatever we call it, the feeling is real, acute, and it impacts Canadians’ behaviour in profound ways.

Who has the nerve to tell Canadians that things are getting better? Or that they’re wrong, their concerns are overblown, feelings unfounded, and they can relax a little bit? Hopefully nobody. Instead, understanding and empathy are key – both from government and businesses, many of whom are being accused of price gouging disguised as inflation.

Governments and policymakers should be paying closer attention to the perceptions and anxieties of Canadians — and reacting in ways that provide relief. Instead, many concerns of Canadians are falling on deaf ears.

Sean Simpson is senior vice-president of Ipsos Public Affairs in Canada.