Hey, you know what really bothers me? When one country figures that laws passed by their legislature apply to the entire fucking world. You know who the leading proponent of that idea is? The United States. That’s right, a nation that refuses to recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court because it might place their [...]
Category Archives: Regulatory stupidity
The death of MegaUpload and extraterritorial application of law
Posted by M.J. Sheppard on January 20, 2012 2 comments
Flaherty demands veto power over bank decisions
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on December 8, 2011 4 comments
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is arguing that he should have more power over what banks do because if the banks screw up it is Ottawa that is “on the hook.” Of course it doesn’t occur to him that Ottawa isn’t actually “on the hook” in the sense that the government HAS to bail out banks. [...]
The one big problem with the Canada-USA border agreement
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on December 7, 2011 5 comments
The CBC lists 6 things that we can expect to be in the new border agreement between Canada and the USA that is being announced today. Of those 6 items I support without hesitation 5 of them. The first on the list, however, gives me pause. 1. Better aligned regulations: Canada and the U.S. still [...]
The LCBO screws consumers with baffling business practice
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on December 5, 2011 6 comments
One of the arguments often made in favour of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s monopoly is that, by being the world’s largest single purchaser, it can negotiate discounts with suppliers. This argument deserves a great deal of skepticism. After all it isn’t like alcohol is particularly cheap at the LCBO. It turns out that [...]
Randy Hillier pushing to end pit bull ban
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on December 1, 2011 Comments Off
Randy Hillier is leading the charge to repeal one of Dalton McGuinty’s many bans, the ban on pit bulls. He is being joined by MPPs from both the Liberal Party and the NDP. Considering the multiparty nature of this move and the minority parliament, I am pretty hopeful that it will get through. The pit [...]
Government fails and the Happy Meal lives on
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on November 30, 2011 Comments Off
Government regulators are all too often convinced that they know how we as individuals should live our lives and raise our children. At the same time most regulators are incredibly incompetent at getting people to do what they want. Take this recent case in San Francisco as an example: In order to include a toy [...]
Banning children’s names
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on July 22, 2011 3 comments
New Zealand has a list of names that parents are banned from giving to their child. Are you kidding me? Seriously is this some sort of joke? I know libertarians tend to oppose almost every government ban that ever existed, but surely even the most state loving ban fetished leviathan sycophant would think that banning [...]
Ontario’s puritanical liquor laws
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on June 13, 2011 5 comments
A friend of mine traveling in the United States violated what would have been four liquor laws in 15 seconds if he had been in Ontario. All he did was buy a $2 can of beer at a corner store then opened it and brought it into a restaurant. Does that seem like an unreasonable [...]
Fighting for wine freedom
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on May 17, 2011 Comments Off
Terry David Mulligan has challenged an archaic law that prohibits the transportation and sale of alcohol across provincial borders. He loaded up his car with wine in BC and walked across the border to Alberta. He informed officials on both sides what he planned, and in response officials promised not to enforce the law: Lynn [...]
Industry planner demands capitalist pigs answer for their crimes
Posted by Mike Brock on May 17, 2011 2 comments
No more than days after faithful Canadian socialist comrades returned the revolutionary socialist government of Stephen Harper to it’s rightful place of power, so that it can continue the revolutionary struggle against capital, that the sly, criminal oil tycoons attempted a fast one on the proletariat. The top-hat wearing oil tycoons, often seen smoking cigars, [...]
the Fatal Conceit of the Census
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on May 10, 2011 Comments Off
Like most Canadians I have recently received the census form in the mail. Also like many Canadians I have noticed adverts and members of the media encouraging me to fill out the census because it “benefits me and my community,” or “it is good for children and seniors.” The logic is basically this: governments have [...]
Violating the Sanctity of Family Day
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on February 23, 2011 8 comments
Some days I just feel like banging my head against a wall. Greater Sudbury Police have charged six businesses with being open improperly on Family Day. “We are not releasing the names of the businesses,” Const. Bert Lapalme said Tuesday. “They are all drug stores.” Police say they received complaints from the public about eight [...]
The CRTC is jumping the regulatory shark
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on February 18, 2011 Comments Off
Last week I wrote a post criticizing Conservative MP Nina Gewal for her private member’s bill that would regulate the volume of television commercials. I characterized such a regulation as being silly, pointing out that Canadians have remote controls and can adjust their own volume. It appears that there is no silliness that the CRTC [...]
Nina Grewal: MP or grumpy old man?
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on February 11, 2011 2 comments
Conservative MP Nina Grewal has introduced a private member’s bill that will be debated in March. I always liked the concept of private member’s bill. Our backbench legislators have shockingly little power in this country. Compared to other democracies (even parliamentary democracies) there is very little that a run of the mill backbencher can do [...]
Opening up Canada’s internet provider market?
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on February 4, 2011 3 comments
National News Watch is claiming that Maxime Bernier “let the cat out of the bag” by revealing government plans to open the ISP market to foreign investors. The link on the National News Watch site doesn’t seem to be working, but here is the text that is visible on the home page: Maxime Bernier reveals [...]
Whiny Canadians want cheap internet
Posted by Mike Brock on February 1, 2011 13 comments
I can’t take it anymore. Listen up, you whiny brats: you are not entitled to cheap internet service. Government regulation of pricing may have the effect of cheapening your bill, but you will always pay the price somewhere. It usually comes in the form of poor service quality, low re-investment, and a lack of future [...]
Ontario regulation restricts beer selection
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on December 1, 2010 21 comments
If you ever get into a debate on the question of how absurd Ontario’s alcohol laws are, all you have to do is describe what the laws actually are. Here is a description from a Buffalo news outlet: The Ontario beer menu is shorter because there are only two retail choices, Enright said: The provincial [...]
Bylaw bullies shut down hot dog stand
Posted by Peter Jaworski on November 17, 2010 1 comment
For obvious reasons, I’ve started to care very much about bylaws, and the tiny little laws and regulations that chip away at our freedom to open a business, build a house, sell cupcakes, hold a seminar, and a variety of stands manned by children. The stories are everywhere, and here’s one from Durham, North Carolina [...]
The Landowner: “Crackdown on Liberty Seminar”
Posted by Peter Jaworski on November 17, 2010 4 comments
The Landowner is the official magazine of the Ontario Landowners Association. About a month and a half ago, I wrote a story summarizing what has come to be called the “Clarington saga.” That saga is the story of this year’s Liberty Summer Seminar, and the decision by the Municipality of Clarington’s bylaw department to charge [...]
Bylaw cracks down on 91-year-old man who just wanted to build a house
Posted by Peter Jaworski on November 16, 2010 21 comments
“I thought this was a free country, that we had liberties and freedoms like we used to have, but I was sadly mistaken,” said Craig Morrison to a reporter for the Telegraph-Journal in New Brunswick. The story of Morrison, a 91-year-old man who built his own house overlooking the Bay of Fundy, is replete with [...]