Author: chris.galas@shaw.ca

For Canada’s 150th, It’s Time to Patriate the Monarchy

It is time for Canada to shake off the last vestiges of its colonial past and stand up as a truly sovereign nation by patriating the monarchy and inviting Prince Harry to be King of Canada.

In 1982, Pierre Trudeau, then Prime Minister of Canada (and father of Canada’s current Prime Minister) “patriated” the Canadian Constitution. Until that time, the highest law of the land was the British North America Act of 1867, an act of the British Parliament. The Canada Act of 1982 is now the highest law of the land and, in effect, ended Canada’s status as a British colony.

There is one aspect that still reflects Canada’s colonial past. The Head of State of Canada is Queen Elizabeth II, “by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Queen, Defender of the Faith”. The low ranking of Canada in the title, where it is not even mentioned by name is clear. Continue reading “For Canada’s 150th, It’s Time to Patriate the Monarchy”

Can Raising the Minimum Wage Boost the Economy?

There has been much discussion about raising the minimum wage, with proponents claiming it will improve the lives of the working poor and reduce “inequality” and opponents claiming it will reduce employment, making the poor worse off.

Classical economic theory claims that raising the minimum wage (or instituting it where there is none) will lower employment.

Closer examination suggests that a higher minimum wage will lead to increased inflation, some job losses, increased economic growth and reduced inequality. Continue reading “Can Raising the Minimum Wage Boost the Economy?”

Canadian Values – The Limits to Multi-Culturalism

Multi-culturalism is an official policy of the Canadian Government. From an early age, children are taught that Canada is a multi-cultural country and it is contrasted to the U.S., where the policy is of a “melting-pot”.

Multi-culturalism is based on the assumption that all cultures are equal and should be treated equally. All cultures share the same basis values, so can live together peacefully. However, the rise of radical Islam puts this assumption to the test. Even the most ardent multi-culturalist, Angela Merkel, has said “multi-culturalism does not work”.

Recently, it was proposed that immigrants to Canada should espouse “Canadian Values”, either as a course on entry or as part of the immigration process. The idea fell through when nobody could define “Canadian Values”.

However, it is much easier to list what does not fit with “Canadian Values”. Continue reading “Canadian Values – The Limits to Multi-Culturalism”

Trump’s Call for Increased Military Spending by NATO Allies

It is rare that I agree with Donald Trump, but his call for NATO allies to increase their military spending is correct. In particular, Germany is the country which has the least reason not to honour its commitments to reach the 2% of GDP NATO members are supposed to spend.

Trump’s ambivalence over whether the US would honour its commitments under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty is totally unwarranted and music to the ears of the Russians and the Chinese.

Angela Merkel’s speech on May 29th acknowledged that Europe can no longer rely on its allies, naming the US and the UK specifically. This could be interpreted as the first call to set up an EU army. Continue reading “Trump’s Call for Increased Military Spending by NATO Allies”

The Galactic Diet – The No-Pain Weight Loss Program

This is a plan I have devised and used for over 6 years. It involves:

  • No calorie counting
  • No special foods
  • No special exercise regimen

I have studied at Cambridge, London, Caltech and Calgary. None of these studies were in Nutrition, but all were in Physics. If Al Gore can talk about Climate Change, I can talk about diet.

The Principles for the “Galactic Diet” are:

  • Peter Drucker’s statement “You can’t manage what you don’t measure”.
  • Losing weight is a simple energy balance – energy in is less than energy expended
  • Reduce energy in by reducing quantities eaten/drunk
  • Increase energy out by increased exercise

Continue reading “The Galactic Diet – The No-Pain Weight Loss Program”

Is the Number of Papers on a Topic a Good Indicator of its Importance?

The Wikipedia entry on “Global Cooling” dismisses the idea that it was the prevailing view in the 1970’s by showing the numbers of papers on cooling versus the number on warming. Does this truly support the author’s claim?

In this post, I describe a fictitious experiment and then draw up a non-complete list of papers that could be produced from the experiment.

I then show a real-life example of this sort of “paper-churning”. Continue reading “Is the Number of Papers on a Topic a Good Indicator of its Importance?”

America Does Not Need Smaller Government!

A familiar rallying cry of the Right is a call for smaller government. This is seen as self-evident and a “good thing” in and of itself.

However, if we look at the most successful advanced economies in the world, we see that most have more government spending as a fraction of GDP than the US (data from “Pocket World in Figures, 2015 Edition, The Economist). Continue reading “America Does Not Need Smaller Government!”

Whatever Happened to the Coming Ice Age?

“Climate Change” is now synonymous with “global warming”. However, in the 1970’s, global cooling was the major topic. Wikipedia now claims that there was no consensus among climatologists about global cooling in the 70’s and that such a consensus is just an urban myth. Is this just an example of Soviet-style re-writing of history to fit current political needs?

Having lived through the 70’s, I decided to check through my sources to see if mainstream climatologists did fret about a coming ice age in the 70’s …

I found two sources:

  • “The Weather Machine and the Threat of Ice” by Nigel Calder, 1974, published by the BBC (there was an associated TV series); 143 pages.
  • “The Cooling World” by Peter Gwynne, Newsweek, April 28, 1975.

Continue reading “Whatever Happened to the Coming Ice Age?”

Can Increasing Taxes on the 1-Percent Cover the Deficit?

In an article in the Globe and Mail, provocatively titled “Justin Trudeau lives in a fact-free world on taxes” (Dec 16, 2016) Mark Milke, says that Trudeau “claims taxing one cohort less and another more is a recipe for economic growth. Skip how all the tax talk ignores the spending side of the budget where Mr. Trudeau and prudence are mortal enemies.” A little reflection on the article shows that, in fact, it is Milke whose analysis is wrong. Continue reading “Can Increasing Taxes on the 1-Percent Cover the Deficit?”

Fair or Effective Taxes?

In a recent article in the Financial Post, Ted Rechtshaffen, (“‘Tax the rich’ may be a rallying cry, but it’s hardly a fair system”, May 15) looked at three different tax schemes:

  • Progressive Tax Rates
  • Flat Percentage Tax
  • Flat Dollar Amount per Adult

I will take these in reverse order.

Continue reading “Fair or Effective Taxes?”