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My final post
It saddens me to say that this is going to be the last post on this blog.Since August 2007 there has been 1,729 posts, most of which have come from me but some from a few guest posters. It has been a great experience. I feel like my writing abilities have grown through practice, and that my ideas have developed and over the years become more sophisticated. I want to thank all those commenters that
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted September 13th | @freedomnation
Obama is a dick
Obama thinks drug use is funny! Also he thinks that a movie that was released 8 years ago would give him street cred among the youth. Admittedly there is no overt drug references in this clip, but it is pretty clearly there. If you are old enough to remember Harold and Kumar, you will recall that the characters are potheads. Combine that with the copious amount of snack food and the giggling,
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted September 5th | @freedomnation
Reviewing Tim Hudak's op-Ed
As someone who has never shied away from being critical of the PC Party of Ontario or of Tim Hudak, I was satisfied with Mr. Hudak’s op-Ed which appeared in the Sun chain. He explained his reasoning for supporting an imperfect measure for teachers pay and committed himself to putting pressure on the government to reduce spending. Increasingly I am getting the sense that the deficit and debt are
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted September 5th | @freedomnation
The 'Castle Principle' in Canada?
Peter Jaworski of the Institute for Liberal Studies discusses self defence against a home intruder on Sun TV News.The right to self defence is of fundamental importance to a free society. Without it all law abiding citizens are completely at the mercy of the criminal element. To think that the police will always be on hand to protect you is simply insanely optimistic.
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted September 4th | @freedomnation
Jimmy Flaherty is mad at Economy
Economy is being a bad boy and Jimmy Flaherty is very upset with it. You see Jimmy had a great plan to balance the budget but it relied heavily on Economy doing what it was told. Sadly Economy is slowing down and that is making Jimmy’s plans not worth the ram space it is stored in. Economy was told to grow and if it knew what was good for it, it would grow.Of course Jimmy was an idiot for relyin
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 31st | @freedomnation
RNC tribute to Ron Paul
As someone who has long been sympathetic to Ron Paul, I think that this is a good tribute to his integrity and his success in effecting the national conversation.Some complain that it doesn't mention his foreign policy, but the point of a tribute dinner isn't a roll call of someone's policy positions. It is about the man and the inspiration that people have taken from him.
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 30th | @freedomnation
Flaherty and Carney should not be interfering
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney have both called upon businesses to stop saving money and to spend it. It is amazing to me the attitude of Jim Flaherty and Mark Carney. It doesn’t surprise me much from Mr. Flaherty, he has made it a habit of giving what I am sure he thinks is good advice to Canadian businessmen. Nor does it really surprise me coming from Mr.
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 29th | @freedomnation
RNC mistreats Ron Paul delegates
I think that this was a major error on the part of the Republican leadership. They needed to treat Ron Paul supporters with respect and allow them to voice their support for their preferred candidate. Having done so they could have brought this libertarian element more firmly into the Republican Party and captured the benefits of their (mostly) youthful energy..
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 29th | @freedomnation
"Dalton McGuinty's Goat" - Free Our Beer!
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 23rd | @freedomnation
Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney is playing with fire
The Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney is unhappy with corporate Canada. He wants corporations to spend, invest, or payout to shareholders some or all of the money that they have been stockpiling. The thinking goes that the lack of investment is hurting Canada’s recovery, but the assurance from the Bank of Canada that they will stabilize the economy in the event of a disaster is far more danger
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 23rd | @freedomnation
Civilization V as a model for trade with China
I have a weakness for Civilization V, even though the video game’s claims on how society and economics works annoy me sometimes. The example that came to mind while reading this Globe & Mail editorial is how Civilization V handles international trade. The only trade that can be conducted between “civilizations” is through an item by item exchange; you give me one sugar resource and I wil
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 21st | @freedomnation
Natives, property rights, and prosperity
More evidence that property rights encourages economic and social prosperity. The Fraser Institute's Mark Milke discusses property rights and wealth on native reserves.
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 9th | @freedomnation
The PC Party comes out for Beer Freedom
Yesterday the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario announced that they support the freedom to sell beer and wine in convenience stores. I am very excited that a political party in Ontario is finally willing to tackle this issue. They are even willing to explore the idea of allowing beer and wine to be sold 24 hours a day and seven days a week. This would be a fantastic step towards a more lib
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 9th | @freedomnation
The rise of cooperative federalism in Canada
An interesting article in iPolitics points out that there is a reversal going on in Canada’s federation. The provinces have taken on building pan-Canadian solutions to public policy problems while the federal government has remained mostly hands off and has stuck to its own jurisdictional issues. The authors say that this is basically a good thing but the federal government should still “come
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted August 7th | @freedomnation
Taxing the rich: the lessons taught to us by George Harrison
“Tax the rich” has once again become a popular slogan in politics throughout Europe and North America. The recently elected president of France has proposed to tax earnings over one million Euros at the rate of 75%. In Ontario, the NDP made increasing taxes on top income-earners a condition for voting for the Liberal government’s budget. Taxing the rich, however, isn’t a new idea and it ha
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted July 31st | @freedomnation
Petition to have beer and wine in convenience stores
Free Our Beer is presenting a petition to Queen's Park tomorrow. If you agree with the below please sign your name to it here.PETITION TO: The Legislative Assembly of Ontario: WHEREAS: A majority of Ontario voters want the convenience of buying beer and wine at convenience stores – just like Quebec has enjoyed for years; and, convenience stores do a better job of keeping age-restricted prod
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted July 24th | @freedomnation
Who Exploits You More: Capitalists or Cronies?
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted July 17th | @freedomnation
A note of caution on the recent shooting: Toronto is still a safe city
My eyes widened in shock when I saw the headline of the Toronto Star on my way to work this morning. I am now devastated having learned that one of the victims was a two year old. The image of an infant with a bullet wound in the head makes me want to weep. I am human and so it is natural for me to want to turn my sadness into anger.But anger is not what is needed here. Anger makes us irrational a
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted July 17th | @freedomnation
Adam Vaughan is the villain not Doug Holyday
Toronto’s Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said a silly thing. It is really unfortunate that he said this silly thing because he was in the midst of undoing something that should never have been done. As a result of the silliness he failed in his attempt and foolishness on a grander city scale has continued to prosper. But Mr. Holyday is not the villain of this story. He is at worst the hapless fool wh
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted July 13th | @freedomnation
Crony Capitalism and regulation
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted July 10th | @freedomnation
Barclays case is not evidence that Canada needs a national securities regulator
The Winnipeg Free Press is using the Barclays scandal to argue that Canada needs a national securities regulator but the argument is incredibly weak. The whole point hinges on the claim that the provincial securities regulators would have been incapable of detecting the sort of collusion that took place in London. This is completely unsubstantiated within the article and I can’t think of a legit
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted July 6th | @freedomnation
Good cop department, bad cop department
Good cop department:Bad cop department:One recruits people that want to make the world a better place. The other recruits people who want to be Dirty Harry.
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted July 6th | @freedomnation
The erratic banning of food
A story in the Windsor Star is reporting that a "health unit" is ordering restaurants to stop serving Kibbeh, which is made with raw meat. The Minister in response has assured everyone that Kibbeh is not actually banned, which is confusing to say the least. If the government is saying that something can't be served then isn't that a ban by definition?To add to the confusion the Minister is say
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted July 5th | @freedomnation
Is There a Silver Lining to the Supreme Court's Obamacare Decision?
 There is also this:Roberts' genius was in pushing this health care decision through without attaching it to the coattails of an ugly, narrow partisan victory. Obama wins on policy, this time. And Roberts rewrites Congress' power to regulate, opening the door for countless future challenges. In the long term, supporters of curtailing the federal government should be glad to have made that t
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 28th | @freedomnation
Obamacare is not a tax...
...but it is.
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 28th | @freedomnation
Heather Mallick, a priestess in the church of Krugman
I have a theory about Heather Mallick’s creative process. I think she occasionally writes down paragraphs that she views as clever then sticks them in a box. When it comes time to writing a column, she pulls out the paragraphs and sticks them into a random order. Her editor then searches through the paragraphs for a common thread and titles the column to reflect that totally incidental theme.Yes
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 25th | @freedomnation
Canada is right to ignore United Nations and its lists
The United Nations Special Rapporteur complained to Postmedia that Canada has an “’appalling poor’ record of taking UN human-rights bodies seriously.” My immediate reaction to this is, good, and upon reflection I stick by my immediate reaction. When it comes to human-rights the UN should be ignored.I have a deep philosophical disagreement with the UN on the very definition of rights. The U
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 22nd | @freedomnation
Reason predictions on Obamacare decision
Reason Magazine pulled together some predictions regarding the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare. In aggregate it looks like the single mandate could go either way and the rest is pretty unlikely.I am not a close enough follower of the US judiciary to make my own prediction, but I will predict this: If it is truck down the liberals will be saying that the court is too partisan. If it is upheld t
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 21st | @freedomnation
Bailing out Europe won't save it
European Commission President Jose Manuel is taking issue with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s refusal to contribute (more) money to an IMF Europe bailout fund. Mr. Manuel doesn’t appreciate Europe being lectured by the head of Canada’s government. According to him Europe has been “extremely open and…engaging.” Well of course they are engaging, they want money, although I will admit th
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 20th | @freedomnation
Ron Paul on the possible invasion of Syria
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 20th | @freedomnation
Cato on Eurocrisis: The banks
An interesting analyses from Cato Institute Senior Fellow Gerald O`Driscoll Jr. He thinks that the banks not the deficits will bring down the Euro:The euro zone is in a crisis, in the correct sense of the word, a turning point from which it will either recover or enter a terminal phase. One important factor that may determine the outcome is the degree of leadership in Europe.By and large, polit
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 15th | @freedomnation
The impact of artificially low tuition
For those who are arguing that government should do more to lower the price of tuition, they should consider the adverse effects of doing so. I explain how an artificially below market price tuition cost degrades the value of post-secondary education in this Fraser Institute CSR article.Here is my introduction:It is a commonly held idea that education is a path to prosperity and there is a great d
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 11th | @freedomnation
Happy Tax Freedom Day
If we had to pay our taxes up front then June 11th would be the first day that Canadians would be able to earn a living for themselves. That is one day later than it was last year. 
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 11th | @freedomnation
I'm glad Canada will not be bailing out Greece
I am greatly heartened to hear that Stephen Harper will not be adding Canadian taxpayer money to the bailout fund for overspending European countries. He has actually been very good on this issue in general, promoting the importance of austerity and trying to make Europe realize that a fundamental change is needed. Some may argue that a bailout would give the Eurozone time to get its act together,
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 8th | @freedomnation
The comedy of Rick Salutin and the Montreal protests
I always enjoy a good laugh, which is why I occasionally read Star columnists. Today’s hilarity is brought to you by Rick Salutin who thinks that we all owe a great debt to the Montreal student protestors. These brave young leaders of tomorrow have shown us how to stand up for rights (not entitlements damn it!), for the dignity of Canada on the international stage, and for democracy. This is tru
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 8th | @freedomnation
Craft beer industry in Ontario versus Oregon
An excellent article has appeared in Toronto's Now Magazine. The article compares Ontario's breweries to Oregon's breweries. According to the author, there are 49 craft breweries within the city boundaries of Portland alone and Ontario has a total of 30 in the entire province. Why is there such a large difference? Is it because Ontarians don't like tasty beer?Nope:This is due to the legal
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 7th | @freedomnation
Book on the problems with the buy local movement
I cried myself to sleep last night because due to sickness I missed Pierre Desrochers’ and Hiroko Shimiz’s presentation of their new book, The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet. Their book takes on some of the assumptions that the local diet activists make.Although I missed this particular presentation, hosted by the Institute for Liberal Studies, I have seen Pierre talk
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 6th | @freedomnation
I do not fear the Eaton Centre food court
I would not hesitate to step foot in the Eaton Centre food court. I have walked the streets of Toronto almost my whole adult life. I have walked these streets in darkest of nights through what we think of as rough neighbourhoods. I have stumbled home drunk from Bloor St. to Front St. at 2:30am and I felt no fear. If I was inclined to stumble such a distance again, the events of last weekend will n
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 5th | @freedomnation
Economic Freedom in 60 Seconds
It should be noted that according the Fraser Isntitute’s Economic Freedom of the World Index the United States has fallen from 6th place in the world to 10th. At the same time Canada has gone from 7th to 6th, but we shouldn’t be too happy about this. In absolute terms economic freedom in Canada has actually declined (based on 2008 and 2009 data).
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 1st | @freedomnation
Happy Repeal Day!
85 years today prohibition of alcohol ended in Ontario. This was a great moment in Ontario’s history and a restoration of our freedoms. I encourage everyone to at some point tonight raise a glass to the freedom to consume alcohol.At the same time you should keep in mind that the legacy of prohibition lives on in Ontario. The LCBO and the Beer Store were both created as a political compromise bet
Freedom is My Nationality | more | posted June 1st | @freedomnation
12 3 >
Dalton McGuinty admits moving gas plants was his decision

Harper chief of staff resigns amid Senate expense scandal...

About Nigel Wright.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in 'crack cocaine' video scandal

7 Things You Cant Say in Canada

Duffy Another Pig At the Trough

Senator Pamela Wallin leaves Conservative caucus

Wynne Formally Apologizes for Power Plant Hijinks

2013 BC Election: Liberals Win Majority

Obama using IRS to build 'Enemies List'.





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The opinions of blogs aggregated by this website are those of the respective individual authors. These individuals have no association, legal or otherwise with Blogging Tories or with each other. The aforementioned opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the opinions held by Stephen Taylor, Craig Smith, other individual bloggers, any political party or Blogging Tories as an organization.