I’ve spent the better part of my career advocating for the safety and security of Canadians.  As a prosecutor, child protection lawyer, federal and provincial Attorney General, and in my cur-rent job as Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, I’ve always made it my goal to put victims first.  Over the years, it became clear to me that Canada’s laws were falling far behind the technology used by criminals. The frustration of police was plainly evident. After I entered politics, I heard the same story from law enforcement so many times that I began to wonder if the problem would ever be fixed.  Soon after my appointment as federal Justice Minister in 2006, I was introduced to the concept of “lawful access,” which dealt with the challenge of fighting online crime.  I was struck by the reality that our approach to the internet had been shaped in the era of the rotary phone. This was by no means a new concept.  My Liberal predecessor, Anne McLellan, made the first attempt at a new law in 2005.  Marlene Jennings tried again twice in the form of private members’ bills in 2007 and 2009. The government introduced similar bills twice more: once under Peter Van Loan in 2009 and once by me in 2010.

Despite the tireless efforts of people like Paul Gillespie, formerly of the Toronto Po-lice Service and now the head of the Kids Internet Safety Alliance (KINSA), and Roz Prober of Beyond Borders, none of these at-tempts became law.   Gillespie speaks with passion about the emotional toll child exploitation investigations take on frontline officers.  Each day, they are confronted by the bleak reality that tens of thousands of children are sexually abused in graphic, unimaginable ways. The reality is that police simply don’t have the tools to effectively fight these crimes.  This is true not only of child pornography but identity theft, online organized crime, and many inter-net scams and frauds. More than a decade ago, police signaled they lacked the tools to keep up with changing technology. The process of gathering information for investigations was extremely slow and cumbersome.  To-day, police are in exactly the same predicament.  In just one wrenching example reported in the Kingston Whig Standard by the Kingston Police, Detective Constable Stephanie Morgan received information via the internet that an individual might attempt suicide.  When she approached an ISP for help in locating the individual, she ran into a brick wall. Morgan said that the Internet service provider refused to give up that information because of the per-son’s privacy. “To this day, I don’t know who that person was who sent the message. I don’t know if they really were in distress or if they later committed suicide.  I think that would not have happened if this legislation was in place.”Scott Naylor, an Inspector with the Ontario Provincial Police Child Sexual Exploitation Unit recently said, “Obtaining warrants on all IP ad-dresses involved in child pornography simply wasn’t practical. It’s still like putting a cup under Niagara Falls, that’s all we’re catching.” On February 14, our Government re-introduced legislation that closely resembles the efforts of McLellan and Jennings, but with improvements to better protect the privacy of Canadians. C-30 allows police to request basic customer information to assist with investigations, but makes police more account-able through audits and ob-ligations to report to federal and provincial privacy commissioners.  We also reduced the number of basic subscriber information points that police could re-quest of service providers –the modern equivalent of phonebook information—from 11 down to six. Let me be clear: Bill C-30 creates no new powers to access the content of e-mails, web-browsing history or phone calls beyond that which already exists in Canadian law.  Some have accused me of not reading a bill I’ve been involved in shaping for over half a decade.  Ironically, when I read most media coverage of C-30, I am struck by just how poorly the bill is understood by many writers. 

The government intends to send this legislation directly to Committee for a full examination of potential amendments to update our laws while ensuring the privacy of Canadians is respected. I hope that all Canadians, and especially Members of Parliament and the media, will read, discuss, and reflect on this Bill. Vic Toews was appointed as the Minister for Public Safety in 2010.

Newcomers to Canada often face a contradictory scenario—on the one hand are the excitement of a new place, laced with expectations and promise; on the other, the stress and uncertainty associated with finding one’s feet and settling down. Fortunately, there are a number of organizations that help them cope with their challenges. Next-Steps Employment Centers, operated by the Toronto District School Board are part of the sup-port networks that exist for new Canadians. Jobseekers across Toronto, Mississauga and York region can avail of the services offered by these centers in seven different locations. Generation Next had the opportunity to talk to Cristina Gradia, Project Administrator for the Scarborough Rouge Next-Steps Employment Centre. Excerpts from the conversation: GN: How exactly do you help with employment search? CG: We are funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. We have been mandated to pro-vide a full range of employment services. These include service planning and coordination, which involve one-on-one interaction with our employment advisor. Anybody who is looking for work and is legally entitled to work in Canada can come in. The other part of our service is we also have an Employment Resource Centre—it’s self-service where you could come in and use our computers, fax, photocopier, printer, look at the job board. We also have a directory—an online directory, we have books and resources on resume writing, networking, interview skills etc. We also do little workshops on a daily basis—that includes resume writing, cover letter writing…we also do career-planning workshops. The other part of our services is called Job Development Services—we connect with employers to search job opportunities for our clients. We also offer financial assistance…It’s a great incentive to give someone an opportunity, maybe somebody who is a grad out of school without much experience, to somebody who’s new to Canada without much work experience to somebody who’s a stay-at-home mom who hasn’t worked for a number of years.GN: How big do you think is the language issue with regard to new Canadians? A lot of them have already passed the IELTS test be-fore becoming Canadian citizens. How important do you think it is for them to get acquainted with the language? CG: Depending on the type of work they’re looking for, it is very important. One of the things our employment ad-visor does is to make recommendation or assessment for English upgrading through classes. We also do referrals to programs like language training programs, which are sector specific for some-body’s field.GN: What steps can fresh graduates take to increase their chances of employment even as the wait to get a job?  CG: They can come here and see an advisor. The work-shops can help them create a resume. If they don’t have much experience, we can highlight the skills they acquired while they were in school and also work with the job developers. GN: But what about those graduates who might not come to your organization? CG: I think it’s really important to network in their industry—joining associations, network with their teachers and professors. If there’s an organization you’re interested to work in, make contact with someone who is in a position that they are aspiring to be in. Most people are actually willing to answer questions about what they do. We have people job-shadow some of our staff to see what a staff’s typical day was like, to get a realistic view. GN: What are some of the major employment concerns of the South Asian community? CG: A lot of South Asians we see are newcomers. (Their challenges are) lack of Canadian work experience and getting their credentials recognized. We actually have client support, financial sup-port to help them have their credentials assessed. We can assist them with it, make a referral and also help pay for it. GN: How big do you think is the foreign credential recognition issue? CG: If they are planning to continue employment in their industry, it is very important. A lot of employers aren’t aware what the diplomas and degrees…GN: What do you think of the emphasis on Canadian experience for newcomers?  In fields like IT, one needs standardized skills. So how important is the Canadian experience? CG: I personally think we don’t undervalue their experience outside Canada, but a lot of employers are unaware of what those skills have been…it’s important for them to learn how things happen in Canada, how to apply those skills they acquired back home in a Canadian setting. GN: But is Canadian experience that critical to a person’s final level of productivity? CG: Not productivity. I think a lot of newcomers need assistance with communication, with their understanding of the Canadian lingo. GN: Do you help with that? CG: Yes, we do. We can definitely assist with providing some directions. We have a financial incentive pro-gram—through Employment Ontario, we can offer employers up to $8,000 incentive to offset the cost of wages for a period of time, usually the training period. For example, we had an employer who thought one of our newcomer clients with great skills who met their criteria. However, since he hadn’t worked in Canada, the employer wasn’t sure. We said, what if we offer you a training incentive for the client? So for the first six weeks of employment, we pay about five dollars of their wage? Will you be willing to take on the client, train them…at the end of the six weeks, if you are satisfied with the client’s performance, you can hire them. The incentive depends on what the actual wage is going to be and on the challenges the client faces. We have a formula we work on for offering the incentive.

Toronto is one of the most congested cities in North America, something that costs our economy $6-billion every year, according to the Toronto Board of Trade. The impact on families is just as bad. The average Toronto commute is 24 minutes longer than in Los Angeles: That’s 100 hours a year better spent playing with children, exercising or even working a little longer to save for vacation. This is a quality of life issue, not just an economic one. Major transit systems in Toronto are built and managed by the Toronto Transit Commission, an organization that came into its own in the 1940s with the construction of its first subway. Today, the TTC is a designated essential service moving more than 1.5 million customers every day. The TTC is a jewel in Toronto’s crown – but it has lost its shine. It has become a large, inefficient organization. Just over a year ago, I told the TTC it needed to make serious improvements. I wanted to see cleaner vehicles, sub-way stations and better customer service over all. While the TTC has made some changes, real improvement requires top-down leader-ship. It’s not just another project. The TTC’s core business model was developed at a time when federal and provincial governments pro-vided major operating subsidies. Rightly or wrongly, that time is over. It’s time for the organization to undertake a complete rethink of its mission, vision and fundamental business model. The TTC needs to reduce its cost base while maximizing the value of its real-estate as-sets, its retail opportunities and its licensing opportunities. In short, a new leader is required to reshape the TTC and move it forward with a vision that will serve Toronto to the end of this century. The TTC must become a sustainable, world-class transit system that connects people with jobs, homes, families and recreation. It must be rapid and reliable. Operational excellence should produce superior customer satisfaction and outstanding efficiency. This will attract new riders out of their cars; reducing congestion and commuting times. I passionately believe a world-class city builds world-class rapid transit. Toronto’s old “Transit City” plan, with projected vehicle speeds only slightly faster than buses, was never planned to be rapid. Sub-ways will make Toronto a world-leading 21st-century city. A hundred years from now, Toronto will have more sub-way lines providing reliable high-speed transportation for millions more people. The only real question is whether we will start building those subways now, or wait another 20 years and build them at 10 times the cost. Inevitably, though, we will have subways. I believe we should start building subways now. And we shouldn’t stop. We can afford subways. Gordon Chong’s recent report on the Sheppard subway identifies a number of revenue sources, including development charges and tax increment financing. His estimates are conservative and many industry sources say these can produce more revenue than he projects. Dr. Chong also identifies a number of additional revenue tools that can fill in any funding gap that may exist. According to KPMG, a modest parking levy could generate more than $90-million annually. That would fund a public-private partnership model to build the Sheppard subway and generate ongoing revenue for future sub-way expansion. Some partnership models don’t require any taxpayer funding in the first few years. Parking revenue during those years could fund early implementation of a bus rapid transit solution in the Finch corridor. With such funding available, Toronto should move for-ward with a Sheppard sub-way plan. With a revitalized, modernized TTC and a commitment to start building subways now and keep on building them, Toronto will continue as Canada’s economic engine. In fact, Toronto can become the world’s preferred city for raising a family, building a business and enjoying an urban vacation. The time to start is now.

“We have a clear directive from the Premier that agencies that are not effective or not performing to their fullest should be looked at.”

“We have to focus on what is important for Ontario. And that is to eliminate the debt, and to create jobs. And that is the single most important aspect of our government. If election is opposition’s priority, then, let them talk about it.”

“We don’t have oil, we don’t have gas. We have people and we need to provide them with good education and good skills so that we can compete.”

While Ontario Liberals are applauding economist Don Drummond for his “really good work” in making recommendations to balance Ontario’s books, critics are certain that a very few of his recommendations will be adopted by the Ontario government.

The Ontario government will be looking at alternate ways of balancing the books by 2017-18 rather than making cuts to full day kindergarten, 30 per cent tuition reduction for post-secondary students whose families are earning less than $160,000 a year and other such initiatives.

Healthcare will probably see most of the cuts, however the government won’t be calling it “cuts” but “reforms” as 42 per cent of Ontario’s budget is spent on healthcare says Ontario Minister of Government Services Harinder Takhar in an interview with Generation Next.

When asked which recommendations will Ontarians see in the budget to be presented next month, Mr. Takhar said it’s “a lengthy process. All the ministries are looking at their plans for 2013. They will look at the recommendations. These recommendations have wide ramifications ..so we can’t just decide in a couple of days which you want to take, which you want to take with some modifications and which you don’t want to take.”

Mr. Drummond has been criticized for suggesting things that have already been talked about independently by other economists and analysts.

Mr. Takhar believes that the report has given “broader approach to everything..it puts cuts into perspective.” Nonetheless, his emphasis and strong message was that the Liberal government is absolutely committed to balancing the budget by 2017 – 18 “by any means necessary.” And the government will “consider other alternatives.”

Like raising taxes, we asked?

Mr. Takhar won’t say yes or no, however he is confident that the government can balance the books without any new taxes.

“There are other things you can have. For example increasing the class sizes.  I am not saying we will do that..I am only giving you an example…but we will not be eliminating the full day kindergarten. There will be some pressure resulting from that according to Drummond,” responded Mr. Takhar.

Drummond Report has called for cuts to financial, administrative and secretarial jobs throughout the public service. So, what are some of these other things, though?

“The biggest opportunity or the option is $55 million of the expenditure that we call salaries, benefits, bonuses etc. We have to look at them in some shape or form..to see what can we do,” said Minister of Government Services.

Will there be any change in corporate tax rates?

“My feeling is that our tax structure is competitive with other competitors…so there won’t be more reductions,” he said.

The Liberal government of Ontario hasn’t said anything about $10,000 tax rebate to employers who hire new immigrants to Ontario so far. Is it still on the government’s radar?

“Education is what our government is absolutely committed on,” reiterated Mr. Takhar. “We don’t have oil, we don’t have gas. We have people and we need to provide them with good education and good skills so that we can compete,” said the Minister. “Growth is coming from immigrants. They have great education and great experience,” he added.

Government Services was severely criticized by PC leader Tim Hudak during last year’s Ontario elections for having agencies, boards and commissions starting from every letter of the alphabet. What will his Ministry be doing in terms of adopting Mr. Drummond’s recommendations?

Minister Tkahar says that his Ministry provides all those agencies, boards and commissions directions in terms of following government’s procedures and policies.

“We have a clear directive from the Premier that agencies that are not effective or not performing to their fullest should be looked at,” said Mr. Takhar.

Will more of Service Ontario centres be privatized to generate revenue?

“ Service Ontario is our best kept secret. Their customer satisfaction rate is 90 plus per cent at Service Ontario centres. The delivery of services at the centre is higher than delivery of online services..but to promote online services, we require capital at a time when the government is looking at the deficit…we’ll look at the private partnerships to get the funding that we need to provide effective services.”

The Drummond Report recommends “Where feasible, services should be shifted to lower – cost caregivers.” It also recommends that Ontario “increase the use of home-based care where appropriate to reduce costs without compromising excellent care.”

Minister Takhar agrees that the health cost is increasing at the rate of 6 per cent. The recommendation is to have it increase at the rate of 2.5 per cent a year.

“But I won’t call these cuts, I will frame them as reforms. If drug costs are going up, we need to see why is it going up, is it because too many drugs are being prescribed, or the system is ineffective..we will look at all the options.”

Liberals do not have majority in Ontario legislature. Many critics of the government have suggested that Liberals will be doomed before they can see the full term. Minister Takhar’s response is simple: “We have to focus on what is important for Ontario. And that is to eliminate the debt, and to create jobs. And that is the single most important aspect of our government. If election is opposition’s priority, then, let them talk about it.”

One thing that the government will need to be mindful of is that the cuts to services to ordinary Ontarians can lead to unrest. Can it be the unrest of the kind we are witnessing in Greece or London?

“We’re not Greece. We are not London. Our GDP and debt is under control but if we don’t take action now, it can get out of control,” states MPP from Mississauga-Erindale.

By Asma Amanat

The ugly spectre of war
criminals in our community
is creeping its way back onto
the national agenda. Efforts
to hold some of the per-
petrators of war crimes in
1971 accountable continue
today, raising the questions:
is it ever too late to pay for a
crime? Is justice delayed jus-
tice denied?
Last week Al Jazeera TV ran
a story that the ongoing trial
of Ghulam Azam and others
on charges of crime against
humanity would throw the
country into further politi-
cal instability. Unfortunately,
Al Jazeera is not alone. A
number of other blogging
websites have also started a
concerted effort to derail the
current trial by questioning
its’ motivation.
In 1971, a nation was torn
apart before our eyes. We
watched paralysed with hor-
ror as atrocities were com-
mitted against innocent ci-
vilians including women and
children. Forty-one years
later we are dealing with the
legacy, trying to exact pun-
ishment on the perpetrators
of evil and help those who
would rather forget, because
remembering is too painful.
Before trying to justify the
holding of the current trial
by the International Crimes
Tribunal (ICT), lets’ con-
sider the arguments put for-
ward by those who oppose it.
The first one, which I think
is the weakest, goes on like
this: it has been a long time
since the alleged crimes
were committed. The trial
has stirred bitter memories
for many and has raised the
age-old question of whether
war criminals should be
tried years after the atrocities
have taken place and when
younger generations have lit-
tle memory or knowledge of
what has occurred. It is time
for the nation to forget and
forgive and move forward.
The nation has other priori-
ties.
The problem with this argu-
ment is that the consequenc-
es of war crimes and crimes
against humanity are felt
for generations. Criminals
have to be held accountable
for their actions irrespective
of the time when the crime
took place. That’s one rz
son why there should be no
statute of limitations on the
prosecution of alleged war
criminals. Such prosecutions
are as much about a recogni-
tion of what was done as they
are about delivering justice.
Second, critics have raised
concerns regarding the stat-
utes, rules of procedure, and
practices of the ICT which
was established under a 1973
Act. The rules and proce-
dures have later been modi-
fied and improved in June
2011 and the Bangladesh
government has promised to
meet international standards
in these trials. Unfortunate-
ly, efforts to silence those
who believe there are flaws
in the Tribunal process and
to delegitimise criticism of
the rules of procedure of the
ICT could raise questions
about its efficacy. This is an
opportunity for the govern-
ment to demonstrate the vir-
tue of a legal process that is
free and fair.
Justice can only be done for
the victims, their families,
and the perpetrators, if the
Tribunal is fair and is seen
as being fair by the people of
Bangladesh and the interna-
tional community, of which
Bangladesh is a key par-
ticipant as the first nation in
South Asia to become a state
party to the Rome Statute
(for the International Crimi-
nal Court) and a signatory to
the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights.
Critics also argue that the al-
leged crimes do not qualify
for prosecution by the ICT as
they were committed before
the court’s jurisdiction start-
ed. However, this should not
prevent Bangladesh from
fulfilling its obligations un-
der international law. There
is a principle, sometimes
referred to loosely as uni-
versal jurisdiction, which
suggests that for crimes such
as these, any state on whose
territory such an accused re-
sides should either prosecute
or extradite. The principle is
based on a moral imperative:
people who commit crimes
that offend humanity must
be brought to justice and
we, like all nations, have a
responsibility to honour this
simple but profound state-
ment of humanity.
So, why do we need this
trial? The basis for taking an
alleged war criminal to trial
is completely different from
the reasons for punishing a
murderer who kills in peace-
time. I can think of at least
three reasons for the trial to
proceed: humanising the ac-
cused; demonstrating moral
superiority; and providing
closure.
First, trials of war criminals
should seek to eradicate any
myths that exist about the
character of the perpetra-
tors. By systematically listing
their crimes, and by expos-
ing their glaring faults, the
alleged war criminals are
rendered as particularly vile
individuals.
Second, it is important that
we demonstrate our moral
superiority. Irrespective of
the level of contempt and an-
ger that we feel for someone
who instigated the murder
of innocent people, we can
take solace from the fact that
democracy in our country
remains unscathed that we
refuse to deviate from the
moral high ground.
Last, but not the least, is the
need to provide closure. By
applying the principle of jus-
tice to the alleged war crimi-
nals, we could draw a line
and say that it is over.
Four decades after inde-
pendence, the people of
Bangladesh can finally see
justice done for war crimes
and other atrocities com-
mitted during the 1971 War
of Liberation. The Interna-
tional Crimes Tribunal is
certainly necessary to pro-
vide accountability and to
address longstanding cries
of impunity for the alleged
criminals.
They must be given a fair
and proper trial, and every
opportunity to defend their
claimed innocence, but they
must be tried.
The writer is a Professor
and Chair, Department of
Economics, Marquette Uni-
versity.

On February 17, President
Hamid Karzai of Afghani-
stan, President Mahamoud
Ahmedenejad of Iran and
President Asif Ali Zardari
of Pakistan held a meeting
in Islamabad to discuss their
bilateral and regional issues.
This event attracted much
attention of the media in
three countries, especially in
Pakistan, and it was hailed as
the most serious attempt by
three neighboring states to
work together to address the
issues of peace, security and
economic development.
 
The three heads of states
agreed to work together for
helping to stabilize the situ-
ation in Afghanistan as the
U.S./NATO troops withdraw
from Afghanistan.  Paki-
stan and Iran were keen to
reduce the role of the U.S.
in the region. However, Af-
ghanistan was cautious in
taking a clear position on
this issue, although Presi-
dent Karzai said that the
distance between Kabul and
Islamabad was less than the
distance between Kabul and
Washington, implying that
Afghanistan and Pakistan
could engage in cooperative
interaction.
   
Karzai has been success-
ful in getting the support of
Iran and Pakistan for his bid
to enter into negotiations
with the Afghan Taliban. He
wants Pakistan to encourage
the Afghan Taliban leaders
to resume dialogue with his
government. He also met
with some leaders of Paki-
stani Islamic parties in or-
der to seek their support for
this purpose. Pakistan and
Afghanistan also discussed
the measures to remove
operational problems in
Afghanistan’s transit-trade
through Pakistani territory
and Pakistani port of Kara-
chi.  Pakistan also explored
the option of its trade with
Central Asian states through
Afghanistan’s land route.
  
The three leaders agreed that
they would not allow their
territory to be used against
one another. Pakistan spe-
cifically assured Iran that it
would not allow the use of its
facilities for American attack
on Iran. The President of
Iran and Pakistan affirmed
their strong desire to expand
their bilateral trade and Iran
reiterated its commitment
to supply gas to Pakistan.
It may be mentioned that
Iran has also offered to sell
1000MW electricity to Pa-
kistan to help Pakistan cope
with energy shortages.
    
Pakistan’s President Zardari
declared that Pakistan would
complete the gas pipeline
project.  The U.S. wants Pa-
kistan to abandon this pro-
ject and it is willing to sup-
port an alternate gas pipeline
from Turkmenistan via Af-
ghanistan.  Pakistan wants
to get gas from both sources.
However, Pakistan can-
not get funding from Asian
Development Bank or the
World Bank because of
American opposition.  Most
multi-national corporations
or groups will also be re-
luctant to fund this project.
Therefore, Pakistan will have
to get funding from within
Pakistan or seek Russian or
Chinese help. 
It is a positive development
that Iran, Afghanistan and
Pakistan want to work to-
gether for addressing the
regional problems.  They
had two similar meetings in
the past but no significant
change came in their policies
after the first two meetings. 
However, now these coun-
tries have realized that they
will have to work together if
the region is to be stabilized
and the role of outside pow-
ers is to be reduced in the
region. 
 
Each state has its own con-
siderations to work together. 
Hamid Karzai is somewhat
perturbed by the U.S effort
to engage the Afghan Tali-
ban in Qatar because of the
fear of being left out. He is
worried that the U.S. may
not enter into an arrange-
ment with the Afghan Tali-
ban that would exclude him
from the post-withdrawal
political set up in Kabul. 
Therefore, he has sought the
support of the government
of Pakistan and the leaders of
Pakistan’s Islamic parties for
facilitating his government’s
dialogue the Afghan Tali-
ban. If he succeeds in initi-
ating a meaningful dialogue
with the Afghan Taliban, he
can show to the Americans
that he is an active player in
building up expanded sup-
port for his government.
  
This has led Karzai to modify
his tough approach towards
Pakistan. Until recently his
government was accusing
Pakistan’s intelligence estab-
lishment of aiding Afghan
Taliban. Karzai and his of-
ficials blamed Pakistan for
the assassination of Profes-
sor Burhanuddin Rabbani in
Kabul in 2011. 
 
The three leaders have made
important decisions. The key
question is how far they will
be able to pursue policies to
implement the decision of
the summit conference.
   
In the past, these countries
often distrusted one another
for one reason or the other.
From time to time, Iran crit-
icized Pakistan with refer-
ence to Jundollah’s terrorist
activities and Iran’s reserva-
tions about Pakistan’s rela-
tions with the U.S. Similarly,
distrust manifested in the
Pakistan-Afghanistan rela-
tions on the issue of cross-
border movement of Taliban
between these countries.  It
is difficult to suggest if these
countries have overcome
their old biases.
  
The on-going trouble in Pa-
kistan’s relations with the
U.S. has led Pakistan to cul-
tivate its neighbors and ex-
pand ties with other states,
especially Russia and China. 
However, Pakistani dilemma
is that it is unable to decide
if the transit of American
supplies to its troops in Af-
ghanistan through Pakistan
would be restarted. It wants
to play tough with the U.S.
but it also needs weapons
and economic support from
the U.S. and other western
countries. 
   
Despite the strong rhetoric
of the conference we will
have to wait and see if Af-
ghanistan, Iran and Pakistan
can cooperate in an effective
manner for changing the re-
gional strategic and political
landscape.

While Ontario Liberals are
applauding economist Don
Drummond for his “really
good work” in making rec-
ommendations to balance
Ontario’s books, critics are
certain that a very few of his
recommendations will be
adopted by the Ontario gov-
ernment.
The Ontario government will
be looking at alternate ways
of balancing the books by
2017-18 rather than making
cuts to full day kindergarten,
30 per cent tuition reduction
for post-secondary students
whose families are earning
less than $160,000 a year and
other such initiatives.
Healthcare will probably see
most of the cuts, however the
government won’t be calling
it “cuts” but “reforms” as 42
per cent of Ontario’s budget
is spent on healthcare says
Ontario Minister of Gov-
ernment Services Harinder
Takhar in an interview with
Generation Next.
When asked which recom-
mendations will Ontar-
ians see in the budget to be
presented next month, Mr.
Takhar said it’s “a lengthy
process. All the ministries
are looking at their plans for
2013. They will look at the
recommendations.
These recommendations
have wide ramifications ..so
we can’t just decide in a cou-
ple of days which you want
to take, which you want to
take with some modifica-
tions and which you don’t
want to take.”
Mr. Drummond has been
criticized for suggesting
things that have already been
talked about independently
by other economists and
analysts.
Mr. Takhar believes that the
report has given “broader
approach to everything..it
puts cuts into perspective.”
Nonetheless, his emphasis
and strong message was that
the Liberal government is
absolutely committed to bal-
ancing the budget by 2017 –
18 “by any means necessary.”
And the government will
“consider other alternatives.”
Like raising taxes, we asked?
Mr. Takhar won’t say yes or
no, however he is confident
that the government can bal-
ance the books without any
new taxes.
“There are other things you
can have. For example in-
creasing the class sizes.  I am
not saying we will do that..I
am only giving you an exam-
ple…but we will not be elim-
inating the full day kinder-
garten. There will be some
pressure resulting from that
according to Drummond,”
responded Mr. Takhar.
Drummond Report has
called for cuts to financial,
administrative and secretari-
al jobs throughout the public
service. So, what are some of
these other things, though?
“The biggest opportunity or
the option is $55 million of
the expenditure that we call
salaries, benefits, bonuses
etc. We have to look at them
in some shape or form..to see
what can we do,” said Minis-
ter of Government Services.
Will there be any change in
corporate tax rates? 
“My feeling is that our tax
structure is competitive with
other competitors…so there
won’t be more reductions,”
he said.
The Liberal government of
Ontario hasn’t said anything
about $10,000 tax rebate to
employers who hire new im-
migrants to Ontario so far. Is
it still on the government’s
radar?
“Education is what our gov-
ernment is absolutely com-
mitted on,” reiterated Mr.
Takhar. “We don’t have oil,
we don’t have gas. We have
people and we need to pro-
vide them with good educa-
tion and good skills so that
we can compete,” said the
Minister. “Growth is coming
from immigrants.
They have great education
and great experience,” he
added.
Government Services was
severely criticized by PC
leader Tim Hudak during
last year’s Ontario elections
for having agencies, boards
and commissions starting
from every letter of the al-
phabet.
What will his Ministry be
doing in terms of adopting
Mr. Drummond’s recom-
mendations?
Minister Tkahar says that his
Ministry provides all those
agencies, boards and com-
missions directions in terms
of following government’s
procedures and policies.
“We have a clear directive
from the Premier that agen-
cies that are not effective or
not performing to their full-
est should be looked at,” said
Mr. Takhar.
Will more of Service Ontario
centres be privatized to gen-
erate revenue?
“ Service Ontario is our best
kept secret. Their customer
satisfaction rate is 90 plus
per cent at Service Ontario
centres. The delivery of ser-
vices at the centre is higher
than delivery of online ser-
vices..but to promote online
services, we require capital
at a time when the govern-
ment is looking at the defi-
cit…we’ll look at the private
partnerships to get the fund-
ing that we need to provide
effective services.” 
The Drummond Report rec-
ommends “Where feasible,
services should be shifted
to lower – cost caregivers.”
It also recommends that
Ontario “increase the use
of home-based care where
appropriate to reduce costs
without compromising ex-
cellent care.”
Minister Takhar agrees that
the health cost is increasing
at the rate of 6 per cent. The
recommendation is to have it
increase at the rate of 2.5 per
cent a year.
“But I won’t call these cuts, I
will frame them as reforms.
If drug costs are going up, we
need to see why is it going
up, is it because too many
drugs are being prescribed,
or the system is ineffective..
we will look at all the op-
tions.”
Liberals do not have major-
ity in Ontario legislature.
Many critics of the govern-
ment have suggested that
Liberals will be doomed
before they can see the full
term. Minister Takhar’s re-
sponse is simple: “We have
to focus on what is impor-
tant for Ontario. And that is
to eliminate the debt, and to
create jobs. And that is the
single most important aspect
of our government. If elec-
tion is opposition’s priority,
then, let them talk about it.”
One thing that the govern-
ment will need to be mindful
of is that the cuts to services
to ordinary Ontarians can
lead to unrest.
Can it be the unrest of the
kind we are witnessing in
Greece or London?
“We’re not Greece. We are
not London. Our GDP and
debt is under control but if
we don’t take action now, it
can get out of control,” states
MPP from Mississauga-Er-
indale.

The City of Brampton has become the 9^th largest city in Canada with the population growth of more than 20 per cent since 2006, according to the latest data released by Stats Canada. According to 2011 census data, Brampton is 4th largest City in Ontario and the 3rd largest City in the GTA.

Has the city’s infrastructure – schools, healthcare facilities, employment rate – kept up with the population growth?

“A high growth municipality like Brampton ensures there is a growing labour pool to supply an expanding workforce. Over the past decade, Brampton has seen an employment growth rate of 32%. Retail, commercial and institutional development are generally considered population-serving employment; as the residential population grows, private sector investment is attracted to the growing consumer base while the public sector ensures the necessary infrastructure is in place to serve the community. Similarly, office and industrial development are attracted to a community that not only has available land, transportation and transit infrastructure and a sustainable utility grid, but a growing, diverse and skilled labour force to draw on. New facilities need new employees to work from the shop floor to the front office. Brampton’s population growth ensures new employers can access their workforce needs locally, from within the municipality rather than imported from other communities. These local employees in turn spend their wages locally, helping support and sustain the economic prosperity of the city,” responds Jeff Baines, Manager, Business Information & Policy, Economic Development Office, City of Brampton.

In a statement released by Her Worship Susan Fennell, Mayor of City of Brampton, the Mayor stated “The City of Brampton was not surprised by the results. We have taken steps to ensure that growth in Brampton is planned and sustainable. We will continue to apply sound growth management policies to maintain our high quality of life – complete with necessary infrastructure, including recreation facilities, fire and emergency services, and a modern transit system.”

The Conservative government of Stephen Harper is starting to unravel.

On Tuesday, Conservative MP Larry Miller (Bruce Grey-Owen Sound) apologized in the House of Commons for comparing the Long-Gun Registry to Adolf Hitler. Unfortunately, we know his apology was insincere. In a story printed just days later, Mr. Miller firmly defends his regrettable comparison of the gun registry to Nazi Germany. He told a reporter he only “partially” retracted his comments and “the similarities between the two are very clear and you can’t convince me of otherwise… what I said was the truth.”

Canadians know that comparing your political opponents to the man who murdered millions is despicable and offensive to victims of the Holocaust.

The Prime Minister has been out of the country less than a week and the wheels are coming off the Conservative caucus bus. In the House of Commons these days, Conservatives are raising everything from abortion to capital punishment to torture to Hitler. The last I checked, these are not the priorities of Canadian families.

And the Conservatives’ nonsense continues. The government opened the door to using information extracted from torture. Frankly, this government should not be encouraging it – they should just understand that torture is morally wrong. On top of that, the Justice Minister is publicly advocating people should be allowed to fire warning shots. And they have a Senator saying prisoners in jail should have rope to hang themselves.

So much for being the law-and-order government, eh? This is not the Wild West – this is Canada.

A recent report in the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal highlights the many technical shortcomings and enormous cost-risks of the F35 fighter jets. The report makes clear the F35 is enormously expensive and a troubling experiment. However, the Conservatives ignore the warnings and will expose Canadians to the enormous financial risks.

This week the Parliamentary Budget officer crunched the numbers and says Old Age Security (OAS) is sustainable. But Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are determined to make seniors work two years longer before they’re able to retire with dignity.

Then to close out the week, we heard reports the government is looking to close trade offices and consulates in the U.S., creating potential problems with our closest trading partner. Looking for new trading and investment opportunities should not come at the cost of undermining our current relationship with the United States.

The truth is this government is failing Canadian businesses and is failing to act to move our economy forward. The Conservatives claim their recent actions are meant to strengthen trade ties with the U.S. But this makes no sense when closing these offices will create instability for Canadian businesses. The consular offices not only provide crucial services to businesses – they also help Canadians travelling and living in the U.S.

After such an eventful and crazy week, I’m left asking the Conservatives – what’s going on over there?

Rupinder Kaur is the press secretary to New Democratic Party of Canada.

Mayor of Markham His Worship Frank Scarpitti is at forefront in leading and fostering relationship between the town of Markham and the Greater Toronto Area in general and India in particular. He spent some very busy days in different states and cities of India to promote trade and create jobs in the GTA and more specifically in the town of Markham.

Describing his trip to India to Generation Next, Mayor Scarpitti stated “Our recent trip to India was fantastic. The cities we went to were Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Pune. And in terms of the activity prior to going, we met some key individuals in government and had established meetings in advance with business organizations. More importantly, though, in each of the cities we went to, we worked closely with different business associations and brought the cases to over 60-70 business people and they were able to meet the members of our business delegation.”

Mayor Scarpitti applauded the role Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) played in putting the town of Markham officials with the right people in India.

“During our visit, the network they (ICCC) had, really paid off in allowing us to have some very effective meetings with very key individuals,” he said.

The town of Markham had signed three MoUs during this visit. The Mayor and his delegation met with the officials of NASCOM, the largest IT organization in India. The Mayor also extended a formal invitation to the President of NASCOM to visit Markham.

“We made an invitation to NASCOM to come to Markham and have a job seminar here where we could invite Markham IT companies and they would have as much of an opportunity to be successful. It’s recognition that NASCOM does want to reach out to the other parts of the world and it would be an opportunity to do so with Canada’s high tech capital,” stated Mr. Mayor.

As a municipal government, Mayor Scarpitti says “Our purpose is to connect business to business and government can play a certain role in helping to facilitate that but eventually business people have to meet business people and we have to start the process at that level as to whether there is an opportunity for investment here or not, possibility of joint ventures, and the establishment of their companies in Markham.”

The most common criticism in doing business with India is India’s red tape and bureaucracy. However Mayor of Markham explains it this way “ ..there are always challenges when there is distance involved. That raises questions about the viability especially for small and medium sized companies who are not operating at that level. There’s also an advantage for us in dealing with India, (a) for many, there is no language barrier, no one has to interpret for us, (b) the fact that we share common parliamentary system. We were familiar with the way that government operates…a lot of the hesitancy is eliminated when we have opportunities like this business mission.”

Not only is he leading Markham-India relationships, he has some unique ideas so that more of our young people are employed.

Apart from mentioning a small business enterprise center in Markham, Mayor Scarpitti notes that Markham has the Summer Company Program. The Program is offered with the support of the province of Ontario.

However, Mr. Mayor also believes that “we need to give them (the youth) the opportunity…[ to do] co-op so that they know what an engineer or accountant does, not just hearing about it but actually being able to work in those areas and see firsthand if that’s where they want to pursue a career. You look to places like Germany that does that well and that’s one area we need to focus on and in that motivating them to pursue higher education and specific/ technical training…There’s another thing you have to do is make sure that whichever career path they pursue that we have created an environment for jobs to be available and on that front.”

He also cited Israel as an example. “We need to do more in the area for high school students and certainly being able to establish an incubator system, one that we saw worked quite well in Israel (we were in Israel in May). It’s known for having the highest percentage of start-ups relative to their size and have an incredible network of incubators that have the participation of the brain trust that they have attracted in Israel and we need to do the same thing,” he said.

As a municipality, the town of Markham has frozen property taxes without cutting services for the last three years.  “Our approach was more methodical than that. We literally got hundreds of ideas from our staff, some of them we were able to implement and others took longer. But it did mean having three subsequent budgets without cuts,” he shares. In the meantime, town of Markham added a new fire hall, re-built the community center, built four indoor tennis courts, and has the largest skating rink in the GTA.

While he understands that local communities have to raise funds to build and renovate healthcare facilities like hospitals, Mr. Scarpitti is wary of any suggestions or ideas that will download more healthcare costs on to the municipalities.

“We have very few ways of raising money, primarily through property taxes which is a regressive task which doesn’t take into consideration the person’s ability to pay. I haven’t heard of anything other than that we have to raise money locally as every community does. It would be very dangerous to suggest that we could fund the rising healthcare costs,” he stated.

Mayor of Markham cherishes the role of diverse communities in the growth of town of Markham. As a municipality, we are told the voter turnout in municipal elections is over 30 per cent.

“Not just the new immigrants but Canadians need to know about different levels of government, they need to get help in becoming fully integrated so I’m pleased to say in Markham we do things locally or though regional organizations and we were able to venture into the inclusivity action…we were able to establish five Welcome Centers for new Canadians, one stop shopping for support and through that assisting them in integrating with Canadian society,” says Mayor Scarpitti.

He believes that in the past the Indian Diaspora has not been used to its fullest potential.

“..In the past we have not done a good job at that…but in the past several years, we [town of Markham] take pride in the fact that our staff and politically we’ve developed great relations with organizations like the Indian Institute of Technology’s Alumni association that’s here. We had events at the Markham Civic Center where I was the only mayor in North America to speak at the Global Conference in Chicago in 2009 and the opportunity continues to grow with them.”

Markham was one of the four municipalities to hold IIFA events last year.  However, “…it also provided us with an opportunity to invite 50 business people as visiting part of a delegation from India,” he told Generation Next.

He also stressed that “recognizing and using the networks that individuals that have made Markham and Canada their home, really help us…”

Mayor of Markham His Worship Frank Scarpitti is at forefront in leading and fostering relationship between the town of Markham and the Greater Toronto Area in general and India in particular. He spent some very busy days in different states and cities of India to promote trade and create jobs in the GTA and more specifically in the town of Markham.

Describing his trip to India to Generation Next, Mayor Scarpitti stated “Our recent trip to India was fantastic. The cities we went to were Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Pune. And in terms of the activity prior to going, we met some key individuals in government and had established meetings in advance with business organizations. More importantly, though, in each of the cities we went to, we worked closely with different business associations and brought the cases to over 60-70 business people and they were able to meet the members of our business delegation.”

Mayor Scarpitti applauded the role Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) played in putting the town of Markham officials with the right people in India.

“During our visit, the network they (ICCC) had, really paid off in allowing us to have some very effective meetings with very key individuals,” he said.

The town of Markham had signed three MoUs during this visit. The Mayor and his delegation met with the officials of NASCOM, the largest IT organization in India. The Mayor also extended a formal invitation to the President of NASCOM to visit Markham.

“We made an invitation to NASCOM to come to Markham and have a job seminar here where we could invite Markham IT companies and they would have as much of an opportunity to be successful. It’s recognition that NASCOM does want to reach out to the other parts of the world and it would be an opportunity to do so with Canada’s high tech capital,” stated Mr. Mayor.

As a municipal government, Mayor Scarpitti says “Our purpose is to connect business to business and government can play a certain role in helping to facilitate that but eventually business people have to meet business people and we have to start the process at that level as to whether there is an opportunity for investment here or not, possibility of joint ventures, and the establishment of their companies in Markham.”

The most common criticism in doing business with India is India’s red tape and bureaucracy. However Mayor of Markham explains it this way “ ..there are always challenges when there is distance involved. That raises questions about the viability especially for small and medium sized companies who are not operating at that level. There’s also an advantage for us in dealing with India, (a) for many, there is no language barrier, no one has to interpret for us, (b) the fact that we share common parliamentary system. We were familiar with the way that government operates…a lot of the hesitancy is eliminated when we have opportunities like this business mission.”

Not only is he leading Markham-India relationships, he has some unique ideas so that more of our young people are employed.

Apart from mentioning a small business enterprise center in Markham, Mayor Scarpitti notes that Markham has the Summer Company Program. The Program is offered with the support of the province of Ontario.

However, Mr. Mayor also believes that “we need to give them (the youth) the opportunity…[ to do] co-op so that they know what an engineer or accountant does, not just hearing about it but actually being able to work in those areas and see firsthand if that’s where they want to pursue a career. You look to places like Germany that does that well and that’s one area we need to focus on and in that motivating them to pursue higher education and specific/ technical training…There’s another thing you have to do is make sure that whichever career path they pursue that we have created an environment for jobs to be available and on that front.”

He also cited Israel as an example. “We need to do more in the area for high school students and certainly being able to establish an incubator system, one that we saw worked quite well in Israel (we were in Israel in May). It’s known for having the highest percentage of start-ups relative to their size and have an incredible network of incubators that have the participation of the brain trust that they have attracted in Israel and we need to do the same thing,” he said.

As a municipality, the town of Markham has frozen property taxes without cutting services for the last three years.  “Our approach was more methodical than that. We literally got hundreds of ideas from our staff, some of them we were able to implement and others took longer. But it did mean having three subsequent budgets without cuts,” he shares. In the meantime, town of Markham added a new fire hall, re-built the community center, built four indoor tennis courts, and has the largest skating rink in the GTA.

While he understands that local communities have to raise funds to build and renovate healthcare facilities like hospitals, Mr. Scarpitti is wary of any suggestions or ideas that will download more healthcare costs on to the municipalities.

“We have very few ways of raising money, primarily through property taxes which is a regressive task which doesn’t take into consideration the person’s ability to pay. I haven’t heard of anything other than that we have to raise money locally as every community does. It would be very dangerous to suggest that we could fund the rising healthcare costs,” he stated.

Mayor of Markham cherishes the role of diverse communities in the growth of town of Markham. As a municipality, we are told the voter turnout in municipal elections is over 30 per cent.

“Not just the new immigrants but Canadians need to know about different levels of government, they need to get help in becoming fully integrated so I’m pleased to say in Markham we do things locally or though regional organizations and we were able to venture into the inclusivity action…we were able to establish five Welcome Centers for new Canadians, one stop shopping for support and through that assisting them in integrating with Canadian society,” says Mayor Scarpitti.

He believes that in the past the Indian Diaspora has not been used to its fullest potential.

“..In the past we have not done a good job at that…but in the past several years, we [town of Markham] take pride in the fact that our staff and politically we’ve developed great relations with organizations like the Indian Institute of Technology’s Alumni association that’s here. We had events at the Markham Civic Center where I was the only mayor in North America to speak at the Global Conference in Chicago in 2009 and the opportunity continues to grow with them.”

Markham was one of the four municipalities to hold IIFA events last year.  However, “…it also provided us with an opportunity to invite 50 business people as visiting part of a delegation from India,” he told Generation Next.

He also stressed that “recognizing and using the networks that individuals that have made Markham and Canada their home, really help us…”