Big week for the federation

Earlier this week news came out that Ottawa was, at least to some extent, relinquishing its use of the spending power to shape national health policy.  The likely eventual consequence of such a decision is that provinces will have more flexibility in terms of the structure their public healthcare systems.  Of course whether such changes in the way provincial programs are funded actually will lead to many changes (or more divergence than we already see) is not yet known.

And now today one of the federal government's big centralizing moves, the creation of a national securities regulator, seems to have been quashed by the Supreme Court of Canada.  Or as they put it:

The  Securities Act as presently drafted  is not valid under the general branch of the federal power to regulate trade and commerce under s. 91(2) of the Constitution Act, 1867. 

 Or if you want a slightly more detail rich version of their position:

In sum, the proposed Act overreaches genuine national concerns.  While the economic importance and pervasive character of the securities market may, in principle, support federal intervention that is qualitatively different from what the provinces can do, they do not justify a wholesale takeover  of the regulation of the securities industry which is the ultimate consequence of the proposed federal legislation.  A cooperative approach that permits a scheme recognizing the essentially provincial nature of securities regulation  while allowing Parliament to deal with genuinely national concerns remains available and is supported by Canadian constitutional principles and by the practice adopted by the federal and provincial  governments in other fields of activities.

Anyway, though it may be too early to tell how the healthcare funding changes play out, it looks as though this has been a pretty good week for a decentralized federation.  Of course, if you aren't a particularly big fan of Canada being a decentralized federation and are all about national standards this may have been one of the worst weeks for you in many years.

No matter where you stand on the centralization/decentralization debate, at least you will all now have good grist for the conversation mill this holiday season.

A Few Quick Notes 540

-The rain and grey skies seem to continued into mid-June here in Wolfville. I am hoping that at some point in the not-to-distant future things may take a turn for the better.

-The aforementioned weather seems to be negatively affecting the rate of growth of some of the plants in our container garden. As a point of comparison, the beans that we planted outside are about a 18 to 24 inches inches taller than the plants outside. The basil plants outside are at most about 1 cm tall while the plants inside are close to 5 cms and are starting to display second and third sets of leaves.

-On Monday Jeannette and I made the mistake of watching game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. It seems that tonight we have made the mistake of watching game 7. As some of you may know, as things stand right now it looks as though the Canucks are going to be trounced as badly in this game as they were in game 6.

-I made a batch of hummus tonight and am quite pleased with the results. I think that the freshly squeezed lemon juice that I used may explain the high quality of the output. If only real lemons weren't so expensive hear I might be inclined to use them more frequently.

-My post surgery recovery is still ongoing. I am hoping that within a few days I won't need to continue spending a few extra hours in bed a day. This recovery process is definitely a bummer.

Going Mental (in 2013)

It seems, at least according to a story by the Globe and Mail, that as of 2013 I may have a psychological disorder.

It seems likely that with the inclusion of 'selective eating disorder' in the 2013 edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders I may cross the border and enter the territory of the officially mentally compromised (though these aren't likely how most people like to use to think about such things).

Anyway, it is kind of weird to know that this change is coming and that there isn't much I can I will be able to do about it but wait and let it come.

A Few Quick Notes 391

-Today was definitely on the chilly side of things. When I woke up it was about -15. And though it eventually reached a high of -14, the temperature has now dropped to a rather frigid -19. Interestingly, the windchill was worse in the morning than this afternoon or evening, though we are still close to the frostbite zone (-27).

-As we were in the frostbite zone this afternoon I decided not to risk it and go ahead and wear pants for my walk to school. In the past I would have tried to prove my manliness by wearing shorts. These actions were incredibly stupid and shortsighted. Frostbite, even if the risk is relatively low, isn't worth risking just for the moderate comfort increased afforded by the wearing of shorts.

-We had tacos for dinner. I went with tacos because they were relatively easy to prepare upon my return from class at 6:00.

-That Danny Williams left the province to receive treatment for a heart condition seems be receiving a fair bit of attention in both the traditional and new media. Not too long ago I noticed a story on the topic in the Winnipeg Free Press, and a earlier today I noticed that the Globe and Mail also included a story on the issue. Of course a number of political blogs also seem to be spending some time and space covering the issue. My favourite thing about all of this is that as of yet very little information seems to be known about exactly what is happening or why Williams is leaving the province for treatment (something that none of these sources seem to deny). Until more information is known about why treatment wasn't sought in Newfoundland it seems a little early to jump to conclusions about his motivations or what his actions say about how he thinks about the Newfoundland healthcare system.

-Not that we have seen a big jump in visitors to the blog, but it does seem that since the blog-off started a few days ago that our numbers have been up marginally. Of course this may have nothing to do with the competitive nature of the event and much more to do with the fact that since the blog-off started I have been posting much more regularly. Of course I will keep an eye on this as the blog-off continues.

Blog-off Score

Neil: 0
Cameron: 8