Tom Barak

Ontario Court Rules Totalitarianism in the Public Interest

Winnipeg -- A recent Ontario court decision has denied British Columbia’s Trinity Western University’s law school from receiving accreditation because university administrators did the unthinkable. As a private Christian university Trinity requires its students and faculty to sign a “Community Covenant” which promises, among other things, to abstain from sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and woman.

Shooting the Messenger - CTF Draws Fire for Defending Taxpayers

Winnipeg, Manitoba -- Five years ago the Canadian Taxpayers Federation took on a daunting task; lobbying the Canadian government and its Indian and Northern Affairs department for greater transparency. The CTF was acting on complaints it received from concerned reserve members, questioning how their band funds were being spent.

Count Down to Impeachment

I am starting to understand how the people of France must have felt when they took to the streets under the shadow of the Champs Elysees in late August of 1944 to greet their allied liberators. It was a joyous occasion; young women tossing flowers, kissing the boys who fought for their liberation, signs proclaiming Vive De Gaulle as uncontrollable joy and exuberance washed over the euphoric crowd.

Canada Should Be a Magnet for Fleeing Americans

With Obama and the Democrat party systematically dismantling America, Canada should reform its tax, immigration and corporate laws to provide disgruntled Americans with a destination of rescue. Canada could easily double its current population by attracting just 10% of Americans, and could likely double its GDP if it could entice just a few major American corporations to relocate north rather than south or overseas. There is no other society that mirrors America more closely culturally, with solid infra-structure, a highly educated workforce, natural resources as far as the eye can see, and with Canada just a stone’s throw away, it is almost inconceivable why American firms and citizens don’t flock here.

The Education Racket in Manitoba

Winnipeg, Manitoba--What day would be complete in Manitoba without hearing about another case of government foisting sub-par and over-priced services on citizens? The latest is the 9.32% pay increase the thread-bare teachers and their unions negotiated recently in the bustling metropolis of Flin Flon Manitoba, where teachers are eligible, according to their collective bargaining agreement, for salaries up to $102,000 annually. And tragically, this little school division is indicative of a Canada-wide public education system that is bleeding taxpayers dry while short-changing students.

Containing Ontario’s Socialist Madness

The Ontario election of 2014 confirmed a number of tragic realities that many troubled conservatives have been aware of for some time. Above all, the outcome painfully reminds us that elections in Canada are becoming more and more about which party hands out more stuff.

Putting a Silk Hat on a Sow – NDP Resorts to Spin and Lies to Cover True Intentions

Guess we’re all expected to throw in with the NDP now since its party members at a recent policy convention voted to soften their hardcore Communist platform messaging. Of course there was no resolution at said convention to actually denounce or abandon the destructive ideology behind the messaging.

Seat of the Pants Lawmaking and the Art of Media Hyperbole

It is hard to believe that in Canada some of the most profound social and political issues confronting the nation are adjudicated by unelected ideologues and activists. Accountable to no one, these appointees arguably wield greater power and influence than the democratically elected politicians who appoint them. No we’re not referring to Canada’s Senate.

Justin Who?

I always thought celebrity culture and personality cultism were the exclusive domains of image-fixated Americans. The ghastly veneration and child-like swooning for movie stars, professional athletes and political dictators of the Obama persuasion, I thought, were products of a culture motivated by shallow show business-created fantasy and Hollywood hair and make-up artists. In all other aspects of life Canadians have a drab knack for infinite practicality, sobriety and pragmatism, but when it comes to politics, sadly, our wonderfully sleepy culture seems to have been poisoned by superficiality and image-worship that’s largely driven by our Liberal activist mainstream media.

Who is Defending Our Rights?

It must have been a little embarrassing for Mr. Harper at the recent closed door session, knowing that possibly some – if not all – the chiefs in attendance earned public service salaries (after taxes) in excess of his own. In spite, the conversation no doubt centred around how hard done-by the native leadership is, and how difficult it is to make ends meet on $9B tax –free annually. But no rational person who’s read a newspaper lately would believe the lack of money, absence of compassion or racism is at the root of the problems plaguing Canadian reserves.

Heroes Give Zeroes

I use to think Ontario and Quebec had national exclusive rights to lunacy in government education but sadly the winds of progressivism are sweeping the West like the dust bowl of 1929. Like Galileo Galilei, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, an unassuming Edmonton high school teacher named Lynden Dorval steps into the hallowed pages of history alongside other men who dared to stand up for what’s right in the face of despotic and totalitarian regimes. As history tells us, morality and values are at times relative, when fundamental truths and unambiguous laws of nature must yield to political agendas and the well-being of the collective body politic. To maintain order the peasantry must, from time to time, witness a good old fashioned lynching, lest heretics poison their minds with revolutionary sentiment.

The Tyranny of the Minority

It is perhaps ironic that legislation purporting to combat bullying is being advanced by the biggest bully of them all – government – as the progressives in Ontario are busy drafting Bill 13 to force Catholic schools to set-up “gay-straight alliance clubs” within their institutions.

Jets Losers in the NHL, Champions at the Public Trough

Back in June 2011 when the Jets’ triumphant return to Winnipeg was announced I wrote an article critical of the team for accepting government homecoming bribes. At the time I pegged the public treasury looting by the NHL, Jets, True North and the fiscally-inept Manitoba NDP at a shameful $4M per annum. Given City Hall’s conspicuous silence at the time I hinted at even darker backroom shenanigans. As we learned recently Winnipeg’s newest, big money, pro-sports cabal will actually end up costing taxpayers an astonishing $218M.

Employment and Franchise Opportunities – Immediate Openings for Prostitutes and Pimps

I, for one, support the recent Ontario Supreme Court’s decision to legalize brothels. Perhaps all of Canada will soon embrace Ontario’s newest and undisputedly “hottest” government sanctioned industry? And it’s a good thing the decision in Ontario was left to a handful of unelected, unaccountable judges since consulting with the people through their elected legislature would have surely hampered “progress”.

Our Neutered Industrial Sector

I was recently asked to write a piece on Canada and frankly, as an adventurous writer, I quickly realized how incredibly difficult it would be to spin a reasonably interesting article out of utter banality.

Unfettered Spending Indicative of Moral Deficiency

Sadly most Canadians display little financial discipline, whether in their personal affairs and or in the finances of their state. Although politicians have ultimate pull on the nation’s purse strings, blame for our collective debt is equally shared by an enabling and entitlement-hungry citizenry, which demands profligate spending from its elected officials. Ultimately bad choices are being made that will have serious repercussions for our children and grandchildren.

NDP Champions Red Ink and Red Ideology

Perhaps most goading is that Canada Post workers expect others to pay for their entitlements while the NDP merrily champions their cause by attempting to drown taxpayers in a sea of red ink and red ideology.

Homophobia Biggest Challenge for School Kids – Not the broken School System

Winnipeg -- In spite of a growing mountain of money being ploughed into public education the system consistently earns failing grades. Yet according to a recent study our homophobic children are at greater risk from their intolerance than from a broken system that is consistently failing them. Democrat lobbyists in-arm with liberal media are wagging their fingers at us again as they lead the charge for more spending, policies, bureaus and guilt.

NHL Scores Big in Winnipeg, Taxpayers on a Losing Streak

Under scant media scrutiny the NHL’s latest corporate welfare application was approved by the Manitoba government as tax payers are forced take on a franchise they cannot afford. In another stunning example of Winnipeg’s collective inferiority complex local politicians, in the name of taxpayers, have gifted the NHL with $4M annually in public lottery funds to entice the league to locate in Winnipeg. There is no indication whether the municipal government will get in on the rape of the public treasury although more shady backroom deals are sure to emerge in the coming weeks.

Taxes Number One Household Expenditure

Remember the myth that buying a home is the largest expenditure you’ll make in your lifetime? Not so since government is costing you even more. As a single household expenditure most Canadians are paying more to maintain their governments than they are paying for their housing.