LOCAL OPINION

Well, dear readers, we are one year away from the next municipal elections. And while that may  not immediately ring any alarm bells for you, think about those services closest to your daily lives.

They aren’t sexy and they have little Wow! Factor. I’m referring to streets, traffic lights, sidewalks,

parks, arenas, rec centres, garbage, schools plus things like the seniors centre, art gallery, and libraries.

And let’s not forget planning matters and development. We are all affected - daily - by many of

these municipal issues.

Sure, Doug Ford’s antics get plenty of air time for him and distract us from local matters. Mark Carney’s efforts to fend off US advances and weave a new trade quilt with other countries also earns lots of media coverage. Again, at the expense of local issues. 

Residents in most municipalities - including Burlington, and Halton - often-times tune out local

things, until the eleventh hour, when suddenly they just learned of a new development, change or

higher taxes...what have you. 

But now - 12 months from municipal election day - we all need to start tuning in to city council,

regional council, and our local school boards. What are they up to now? Is it big, or small? Is it a

smokescreen for something others prefer to keep hidden until it is too late for protests and change?

Councils are like an NHL team - they have some leaders, they have some followers, they have

veterans and novices. Councils continue to exists over the years and decades, to run the municipal

corporation. Which is why we need some fresh blood, some new talent, to prevent abuse. Without a regular turnover council can go down the wrong path - and keep going.

If that wrong path translates into higher than necessary tax increases, it should raise some red

flags for voters. As a journalist of many years I have covered hundreds of meetings of councils and public meetings on big things. Usually the latter are filled with emotion, tears, and frustration from voters who learned too late about that big new subdivision or new condo tower. My advice to them

is: Please start tuning in, so you know sooner. As in the Wild West, at times bad things need to

be headed off at the ‘Pass’. Burlington has only 6 wards - it would be ideal if councillors representing (note that word choice) those wards can change on a regular basis. Probably 3 of the

6 should turnover every 4 years, which would allow for 3 veteran and 3 freshman councillors.

As for the mayor, again, turnover is important. The role of mayor - until Doug Ford grafted Yankee

ways onto our Canuck system with his awful Strong Mayor Powers - has always been to chair,

to lead, to suggest, to advise, to at times cajole council members to move collectively in a direction

that was necessary for the municipal corporation but also a direction wanted by the majority

of voters. Small turnouts at public feedback events and 27% voter turnout at election time, do not

give the mayor and councillors a mandate to pick their own path and charge stubbornly in that direction. 

Our system is good: Representative Democracy, is what most expect should happen.

It’s called the Great Divide.

The ultra rich - 10% of the world’s population, who earn more than 50% of global income and control 76%. And the poorest 50% - who earn 8% of global income and own only 2%. On top of the heap is the 1% who own 47.5% of global income and led by the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, who’s worth $462-billion and soon to become the planet’s first trillionaire. So, it’s disgusting he’s starring in a new blockbuster – the Musk Chainsaw Massacre – wielding his axe to inflict pain and suffering upon the people who dare work for government or heaven forbid, receive any aid. His co-star is the Orange Monster, Donald Trump, who’s wealth is estimated to be worth close to $10-billion as he dabbles in crypto investments, and who’s the U.S. President at the helm of the longest running government shutdown in American history. The misery grows, with layoffs mounting, approved spending axed, food stamps gone, benefits cut and even aid to struggling farmers frozen.

Yes, I’m a tax crusader, who believes you can’t spend more than you bring in, and ballooning deficits/debt cannot be sustained, especially the whopping $38-trillion owed by the U.S. But inflicting more pain on the struggling people, while the gap between the rich and the poor grows - will backfire sooner or later. And if China and Russia have their way, with their precious BRICs - America and our Western World, once the world’s economic superpower, will fall. So, watch for it: A new blockbuster – Game of Fools – as a fight to own the world’s wealth escalates into a possible all-out nuclear holocaust. On one side is BRICs, a new coalition of like-minded countries fed up with the Western World’s dominance and arrogance, and including Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, Egypt, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. On the other side is North America, Western Europe and Japan. BRICs wants its new monetary fund, the New Development Bank, to take over the Bretton Woods system of 1944, which ushered in the International Monetary Fund, making the U.S. Greenback the world currency for global trade. Insiders now claim we’re soon to get another new blockbuster – a government propaganda movie: The Invasion of the Aliens – to distract the humble people of the world from what’s really happening. Meanwhile closer to home – it’s Elbows Up, as the narcissist bully Trump takes on the world with his tariff madness, which threatens Canada’s economy and our status as a sovereign nation.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is playing Mr. Nice Guy as he tries to appease the Monster and work out a fair trade deal, which even Trump hinted Canada would like, after he slapped us with tariff upon tariff. But now Trump refuses to talk to Carney after the king of Ontario, Doug Ford, bravely aired his $75-million ad campaign during the World Series, featuring pro free trade comments by Trump’s idol, former U.S. President and Republican Ronald Reagan. Bully Trump went ballistic.

So, wait for it: The next “Big Fleecing” is coming to a theatre near you as Carney unveils his first budget on Nov. 4, and warns all Canadians will have to pay more as he bails out our struggling businesses and steers us away from dependence on the U.S.

Well, I’m sorry – but taxpayers are all tapped out, after years of average households forking out almost half their hard-earned money to total taxes, while we hear horror story, after horror story, of government waste and mismanagement. More? Canadians pay 70% more in income taxes than our American cousins. But just as in the U.S., the gap between the rich and the poor is growing, with income disparity at a record high in second quarter of 2025 and 20% of Canadian households owning two-thirds of the nation’s net worth. Meanwhile, food bank usage has doubled since 2019, as families struggle to put food on the table. Go after the ultra rich, who can afford it.

Ontario politics at the best of times is a mix of raucous and boring.

We have Premier Ford to thank for spicing up the political scene throughout his term.

We need only to think back to the sudden closure and relocation of the Ontario Science Centre.  Or what about the Highway 401 tunnel? Ontario Place rebuild, anyone? Highway 413?

And then of course there were Ford’s Captain Canada efforts after US President Donald Trump was sworn back into office in a hail of anti-Canada  and trade war vitriol.

Summer’s a quiet time though, and politicians need to stay front and centre in the public eye.  Enter the takeover by the province of five school boards this year.

Were these boards misbehaving? Yes.  Were some of the school board trustees getting carried away without nary a thought of the taxpayer?  Absolutely. Was a takeover the best solution? No.

As we now enter the 12-month run up to next year’s municipal elections - which for now includes school board elections - Mr. Ford’s administration is running up another trial balloon.  Specifically, a threat that his government will abolish Ontario’s English-speaking, public school boards.  He will not touch the Catholic or French boards.

Can Ontario’s 4,848 public elementary and secondary schools be administered by  the Ministry of Education out of Toronto?  I have my doubts.  It would be one thing if Ford held a referendum on the idea next fall during the election.  But that is unlikely. Ford has a track record of charging ahead - and often reversing course when public opposition arises.

I watched closely years back when Ontario shifted from many largely county-based school boards to the mega boards that we see today.  Note that Burlington still enjoys a county-based board.

The megaboards rolled several counties and cities into large and ungainly school boards to administer and operate schools in those regions. The result was few efficiencies and just more administrative staff with loftier titles and fatter pay cheques.

This is supposed to be about educating our young to be productive members of society.

A much better solution than the one proposed by Ford is this: All publicly-funded schools would be owned and operated by the local municipality in which they reside. Those municipalities already collect education taxes.  Divide it up by the number of students and allocate it to their schools. Give the  city the power to hire principals to: run the schools, hire staff, run the school budget. Retain the School Parent Council at each school. Both Public and Catholic schools would come under a city education department. The city already operates brick and mortar operations for arenas, rec centres, community centres, libraries, works garages, etc. No new skills needed there.

The province would set curriculum, licence teachers, run EQAO standardized testing, and inspect all schools without warning.

Municipalities could then co-ordinate growth and transit plans with school locations and future school needs.  And municipalities would be responsible to voters for the results at election time!

Once upon a time in this fair land of Canada, a finance minister listened to the people – hardworking taxpayers, who were struggling to balance their household budgets, and who were worried sick about the disastrous state of Ottawa’s finances. That finance minister was Paul Martin, a Liberal who went on to become Prime Minister, and who at first dismissed our warnings that Canada was on a path to hit the Debt Wall. The year was 1994. The federal net debt hit a staggering $546 billion – or 73.2% of GDP (gross domestic product, a measure of economic growth).

With total taxes eating up an estimated 45% of the average household income and households still recovering from a nasty recession from March 1990 to April 1992, consumers were also drowning debt as households owed $470 billion. At our Survival Summit, organized by this financial journalist and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and included an expert panel representing all corners of our economy, we finally convinced Paul Martin of this dire situation. Enter his first budget in 1995: Spending cuts of $25.3-billion over three years. The elimination of Ottawa’s deficits, which led to five consecutive budget surpluses from 1997-98 to 2001-02 - the 2000-01 surplus being the largest in Canadian history. Paying down of debt with the surpluses, which put the debt-to-GDP ratio on a downward spiral.

All of this brought our economy roaring back to life, hitting 5.14% growth in 2000 and averaging 4% from 1997 to 2001 – outpacing the U.S. growth of 3.5%.

And taxpayers finally got a break with the largest tax cut in Canadian history, valued at $100-billion over five years with reduced income tax rates for all taxpayers, including an increase in the Canada Child Tax Benefit. Low-income earners also benefitted with an increase in basic deductions for those earning less than $20,000 a year. The corporate tax rate was cut from 28% to 21%. Of course, critics voiced harsh opposition, but on the global stage Canada was a shining star.

Now enter Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, another Liberal, elected to power in 2015, and who with his “sunny ways” mantra promised balanced budgets again by 2019. But here’s what we got. During his 10-year reign, the federal net debt doubled in size from $693.8-billion to a staggering $1.4-trillion. The interest we pay to service this debt also doubled from $25.6-billion to $53.7-billion. And Ottawa’s debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to balloon to 106% by the end of this year which - if it’s any consolation - is still lower than the heavily-indebted U.S. at 124%.  Now enter Mark Carney, another Liberal who took over the reins from Trudeau this year. His interim parliamentary budget officer Jason Jacques is now sounding the alarm bells that Ottawa’s deteriorating fiscal mess is not sustainable and about to explode. No kidding.  With a downgrading of economic growth, darkened by the tariff-obsessed madman south of the border, Jacques warns Canada’s deficit is expected to hit $68.5-billion in 2025-26, up from $51.7-billion in 2024-25, as Carney tries to spend our way out these tough times. And that includes tens of billions of dollars more on defence, thanks to the world’s hated bully, U.S. President Donald Trump. 

So, get ready for it – higher taxes are on the way, including a capital gains tax on our principal residences – while we’re going broke with total household debt hitting $3.1-trillion in the second quarter of 2025, and the debt-to-income ratio now at an alarming 174.9%.

Where are you, Paul Martin? We need you.

It has been widely reported that PM Mark Carney is in a rush to crank up Canada’s defence spending to satisfy US President Trump. The purpose is to spend more on defence in order to soften the trade impacts between our country and the Americans.

Carney has promised to spend $9-billion more this year (a year which is already half over!) and by 2032 he will be spending $150-billion annually on defence, three times our current levels.

We can do it, although how will we pay for it? That needs to be determined. But certainly in the short term it will be financed through borrowed money, which is precisely why we must spend wisely.

The biggest spend so far has been $2-billion in pay raises for our sailors, soldiers, and aircrew.

Great place to start. It would have been better, however, to have increased Non-Commissioned Officer pay by the same 20% that the entry level privates will get - because the sergeants, petty officers and warrant officers are needed to train and manage the new recruits. So, I say, give the NCOs the 20% raise now, too.

Next, let’s buy more equipment of the type that has already gone through the selection

and approval process. Finish the purchases currently underway but buy more of the same - increase the orders. This means buying one additional Joint Support Ship for the navy, additional (Saab Gripen) fighter jets, more trucks and guns, and anti-aircraft systems, plus more anti-tank systems.

Then we need to expand existing military bases and build a few new ones. Existing bases

need more base housing for the troops and their families.

Housing has been an ongoing thorn in the side of the defence department for years. New bases are needed for both an expanded training system as well as new operational bases, such as in the North/ Arctic.

Existing equipment needs to be repaired and put back in service, which will cost money. So, too, will the replacing of war stocks of ammunition and spare parts and equipment donated to Ukraine.

These four spending areas - pay, buying equipment, creating more bases, and repairing

existing gear - will account for most of the $9-billion this year. 

The remainder must go into a heightened tempo of operations - and readiness training.

Beyond this year, a bold new blueprint for the type of military that the Dominion of Canada

requires for the decades to come needs to be articulated, costed, and new acquisition projects set up and moved forward as quickly as possible - while remaining prudent.

When in doubt, keep it simpler, not high-tech. Diversifying our defence purchases away from the US makes sense to most Canadians. And a serious push on domestic production will help jobs in Canada and boost our defence exports. It will also be wise to have that industrial capability in

case we find ourselves at war.

This summer, a close relative – who for years worked in the U.S. banking sector – came to visit from Ohio, a brave move indeed given all the scare mongering at the border. As we drove through the

Lake Ontario neighbourhoods of Burlington and Oakville, she couldn’t help but comment: “Where is all the money coming from, with all these mansions?”

Yes, this area has been dubbed Billionaire Row, with rich executives enjoying windfalls from record-breaking pay, including stock options and bonuses, as the gap between the rich and the poor grows. But let’s be real. Real estate investors have been losing their shirts, as a long over-due correction takes shape in the longest running housing bull market since the crash of 1990-1996. Housing affordability is out of reach for so many with average prices in the GTA hitting well over

$1-million, and the homeless, many strung out on fentanyl, sleep in the streets as a lack of housing grips some of the most prosperous areas of Canada.

Yet, we watch as homes – some not even 40 years old - get bought up, torn down and replaced by mega mansions fit for ultra-rich celebrities. For years, this award-winning journalist, who’s won accolades from the real estate sector for fighting to keep the dream of home ownership alive, has warned dirty money from ill-gotten gains, like drug trafficking, human trafficking, illegal gambling and terrorist activities, was being laundered in Canada’s real estate markets, in particular in rich

Ontario and B.C. And this activity has helped inflate out-of-sight real estate prices. But, as with other journalists who tried to blow the whistle, many dismissed me as a headline-seeking reporter

who did not understand the dynamics of the market. Well guess what? Federal intelligence authorities now estimate up to $113-billion a year is being laundered in Canada, considered

a haven for crooks, with a significant amount flowing through real estate transactions. The Canadian Financial Crime Academy (CFCA) reports:

“What is clear is that real estate – being a high-value, stable asset class – has become one of the preferred avenues for integrating illicit wealth into the legitimate economy.” Globally, the United

Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, estimates money laundering – described as the backbone of organized crime - is worth US$1.87-trillion, with the U.S, China, Russia, and Mexico the leaders.

So, how do they launder the dirty cash? Shell companies, trade-based money laundering, real estate purchases and cash smuggling. Also on the rise is digital money laundering, using cryptocurrencies. Beware Donald Trump.

As for real estate, the crooks use both the commercial and residential markets. The CFCA points out for commercial, they purchase hotels, office buildings, even farmland and industrial sites, where they can park large sums of dirty money, and generate a legitimate revenue stream through

rents or business operations. In some cases, they also participate in property development projects, to take advantage of the huge capital flows, where tens of millions of dollars can change hands in a single project. For residential, the criminals employ a number of ways to launder their dirty money, like setting up intermediaries or shell companies to buy luxury properties in prestigious neighbourhoods to avoid scrutiny from regulators. They also use fraudulent mortgages and private lenders. For example, a criminal might use a fake identity or straw buyer to take out a mortgage, then only make legitimate monthly payments. The bulk of the mortgage is then paid off quickly

using illicit funds to turn dirty cash into clean money and securing equity in the property to be sold later. In Ontario, with our high prices, this allows crooks to launder large sums in a single

property by paying down the mortgage and using dirty cash to increase the value with renovations. The sad reality is even with a clampdown in 2019, with regulators calling money laundering a

“national crisis” and real estate agents and brokers required to report any cash transaction over $10,000 to Fin-TRAC (the Financial Transactions & Reports Analysis Centre) – the crooks

are still feasting. In one example, police seized or froze $35-million worth of assets, including 27 luxurious residential properties in Ontario, but in the end, the accused walked and the case

was dropped.

Bottom line: It will take all agencies – FinTRAC, the RCMP, the Canada Revenue Agency, provincial police, banking, real estate regulators, and more to fight back. NOW! Or forever, forget the dream of home ownership.