In this week's show, we discuss the Canadian Human Rights Commission's recent report on property expropriation if there's a breach of human rights, including the right to adequate housing, and why institutional property owners should be required to pay their fair share of rent.
00:06:13.840how does that work exactly so it's easy to declare something a right it's not so easy
00:06:18.900to actually make it a reality the second thing there are three things that's the first the second
00:06:26.280thing is that any consideration on anything by a human rights commission is not rigorous in the
00:06:34.380same way as the consideration of the same thing under the criminal code would be these people
00:06:40.960tend to make it up as they go along and anybody who's ever been involved with free speech arguments
00:06:45.660knows that there really is no defense once you are accused you're pretty much at the mercy of
00:06:54.120the human rights commission if that's how property owners are going to be treated
00:07:00.580then that leads to the third problem which is perverse consequences you are going to
00:07:07.900If you make it hard for people to invest in property, people will not invest in property, and the supply of quality property, adequate housing, as they like to call it, will diminish.
00:07:25.180If you make it so that the owner can't make any money out of it, they don't invest, they don't fix, they don't repair, and the quality goes down and people live in misery.
00:07:34.620Well, pretty much what I read out of it as well and the chill that it would put upon
00:07:41.180investment landlords if such a thing started moving forward. I mean, the capital flight
00:07:46.620from these buildings would be immense, but I think perhaps that's the intention.
00:07:52.140What do you think, Jonathan? Well, I mean, I'm a renter, so when I moved to Calgary, I thought,
00:07:59.740oh, Calgary's going to be much cheaper in Toronto. I'm from Toronto and rent is
00:08:03.020off the chain in toronto but about part of that is because in toronto certain buildings have rent
00:08:08.460control um but even here like i think that if we were to institute something like this
00:08:14.620or even you know some measures like rent control then we'd see the prices go even higher i know
00:08:20.540that in the downtown core it's it calgary's downtown course starting to be like toronto a bit
00:08:25.660in terms of prices it's it's nowhere nearer but it's starting to be where like it was a few years
00:08:30.140ago in toronto and i mean we could you know disregard this say as some flight of fancy from
00:08:36.380a professor or university or something but the problem was this was commissioned by a human
00:08:40.860rights commission and you know they solicited these recommendations so i think we should
00:08:47.420unfortunately have to take this a little bit seriously i think we do and you know one of the
00:08:51.100things that human rights commissions and people who operate in that kind of swimming pool don't
00:08:56.300understand is what the reality is on the ground now like i said i i've had a little experience
00:09:03.020of renting out properties there are three costs to the landlord there is the city taxes
00:09:12.940there are all the costs which a condominium owner would pay himself as part of his condominium fee
00:09:21.660you know cleaning of the grounds repairing of the elevators all that or even amenities like
00:09:25.420the gym or the pool or whatever if your building has that assuming assuming that you have those
00:09:30.700things they are part of the condo fee if you are the whole the owner of the property that's your
00:09:34.940expense to keep it up and then the third thing is that if you have got money invested in a piece of
00:09:41.900property what are you giving up in order to have that piece of property if you shall we say have
00:09:51.340a quarter of a million dollars you could put it out to interest and have no risk whatsoever
00:10:01.980interest on a interest on a quarter of a million dollars probably be a thousand dollars a month
00:10:09.740present rates so when you add if you look at a one bedroom apartment and we'll talk about
00:10:16.460calgary because that's where we are yes and we kind of know the know the situation
00:10:23.260the sort of average price of a one bedroom apartment is about 250 000 now that's a median
00:10:30.460you can find them cheaper than that you can pay a lot more and the rents range from 900 something
00:10:36.140that nobody in their right mind would ever pay but for that quarter of a million dollar
00:10:40.860property, you are going to be paying out about $1,600 in city taxes, the equivalent of condo
00:10:49.020fees and whatever the opportunity cost is of that money. Well, guess what? The average cost,
00:10:56.720the median cost is $1,650 a month. So really, the landlord's not making a whole hell of a lot out
00:11:03.300of it. People like to complain that rents have gone up by 40% in 12 months. And yes, they have.
00:11:09.000And if you're a poor guy paying it, you're really feeling it.
00:11:13.200But on the other hand, how much was the landlord losing 12 months ago?
00:11:18.340And what was his incentive to maintain the property?
00:11:21.360The answer is it was a tough go for landlords.
00:11:26.140And that really is the right to everybody to make a living and rent a decent piece of property.
00:11:33.720Yeah, well, we can only hope that that gets somehow filed in the circular drawer where it belongs.
00:11:38.580And, you know, just to kind of close out on that, I mean, people like demonizing the evil mustache tweaking landlord.
00:11:44.780But in reality, these companies are usually backed by your own pension funds.
00:11:49.320These people don't realize, too, that the money, if it makes money, typically is actually coming back to them in pension fund growth, RRSPs, other such.
00:11:58.060I mean, it's not money that evaporates.
00:12:33.760That's the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.
00:12:36.660I have Tony Bernardo on as a regular guest on my show and whatever we want to talk about, anything firearms, because that's what they're all about.
00:12:42.540If you own firearms, want to own firearms, or you just respect the rights of others to own firearms, you should be a member of this association.
00:12:48.560There's all kinds of resources for you there, everything from safe firearm use to lists of upcoming events, just like any other association of interest of yours.
00:12:57.360Also, most importantly, they're standing up for firearms owners, so they're lobbying on your behalf.
00:13:01.740they're pushing back some of the ideologically driven legislation from our liberal government
00:13:06.920that they're trying to take away your property and firearms. If you don't fight back, you're
00:13:11.020guaranteed to lose. So take out a membership with them, guys, if you at all value your firearms.
00:13:15.820It's an investment in yourself, and it's well worth it. It's the Canadian Shooting Sports
00:13:19.100Association. Their website is cssa-cila.org. Or again, just Google it, Canadian Shooting
00:13:26.060Sports Association, and you will find them and help yourself there, guys. All right. So speaking
00:13:32.160to Liberals, as we often do, we've had a ruling from the Emergencies Act from a Liberal judge,
00:13:39.400or at least certainly appears quite liberal. This has been a few days since then. Most people
00:13:45.020already heard about it. We'll chat a little bit. Give us the rundown, Jonathan. What do we got?
00:13:48.560So Public Order Emergency Commissioner Paul Rouleau released his report from the
00:13:55.680Emergencies Act inquiry that happened in November and December. We saw multiple witnesses be called
00:14:01.520to that, whether that be politicians such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland,
00:14:08.000along with various people who were involved with it. We know we saw Tamara Litch, Chris Barber,
00:14:14.080Jeremy McKenzie, people such as that. With the report, it's often a requirement of a
00:14:20.480Public Order Emergency Commission to issue a report determining whether or not the act was
00:14:25.440justified. And in this case, Rouleau did find that the act was justified to stop the Freedom Convoy,
00:14:33.520but he gave a whole bunch of condemnations of Trudeau and things that could have been done
00:14:40.160differently. That's interesting. So what did you read and interpret out of Rouleau's ruling, Nigel?
00:14:46.560Well, I was puzzled by, at first, by the great reluctance that he seemed to be expressing. That
00:14:57.200he said the very words, with reluctance, I must conclude that the conditions were met.
00:15:04.800so what are the conditions well they are for the purposes of the act a national emergency
00:15:12.480is an urgent and critical situation of a temporary nature that endangers lives health or safety of
00:15:20.960canadians you as everybody's read the same stuff everybody's read the reports if they're interested
00:15:29.840They've seen the TV shows. They certainly saw what the convoy was like in Ottawa.
00:15:35.780And it's rather hard, actually, to make the argument that anybody's life was seriously in danger.
00:15:43.940But anyway, that was, so why, when that seemed so obvious, why was he so reluctant?
00:15:50.900And one of the, you have to turn to the recommendations at the back.
00:15:55.060And then I think he was reluctant because he didn't really have all the information that he needed to draw that conclusion.
00:16:05.140And yet he felt he had to draw it anyway because he had lines approaching.
00:16:09.480Yeah. So what information then did he not have?
00:16:13.960Well, he said, for example, I have to turn to my notes here.
00:16:19.400He said that the Emergency Act should require that the federal government deliver to the commission a comprehensive statement setting out the factual and legal basis for the declaration.
00:17:37.680You know, I mean, secrecy in government these days is, I mean, so many times you'll hear the message, don't put it in writing, just call me, you know?
00:17:50.060Well, for something like this, that's not good enough.
00:17:55.820You've got to keep a note of these things.
00:17:58.840And the fact that he is asking for such a procedure tells you that it was not observed.
00:18:05.060And then finally, when he did get material from the government, half the time, it was redacted.
00:18:10.580Anything that might have been helpful.
00:18:13.760So, oh, actually, there's one other thing.
00:18:18.980Yes, any documents that he was looking at were redacted.
00:18:24.380Anytime he introduced, anytime he interviewed somebody important, like Lometi, for example,
00:18:35.060At least that's the end of it. So he was also recommending that in future that any commissioner should have the ability to appoint a judge to make a ruling on whether privilege had been appropriately used in that case.
00:18:56.520I mean, there are some things that are privileged, anything that's going to tip off the Chinese or the Russians about some national security.
00:19:07.560But a lot of this stuff was just awkward information for the government to have to concede.
00:19:11.520So for all of those reasons, I have to think that Justice Rouleau didn't really have the information that he needed to draw the conclusion that he did,
00:19:24.020which explains to me the just general awkward feel about the pros in that.
00:24:07.280allegedly somebody is attacking the mother,
00:24:10.620and he grabs the gun and defends his mother.
00:24:15.360The courts can decide how much of that is exactly as described, but in principle, the idea that somebody confronts intruders face-to-face, not in the back, and defends himself, they have a gun, he has a gun, there is precedent that suggests that that is a legitimate thing to do.
00:24:42.600Well, I mean, there's even an older precedent that even in the back, if it goes through the courts, sometimes the person be acquitted.
00:24:49.060Some people remember way back with the case of Kessler in Calgary.
00:24:51.900That was a fellow owned a pharmacy who'd been robbed repeatedly and he'd had enough.
00:24:57.260And one time he got robbed, he took out the shotgun and he shot the fleeing robber and killed him.
00:25:02.000And he was acquitted. It was a big case. The end of the 80s, I believe it was.
00:25:06.560But it always goes to the courts. It's not until it sits before in typically a jury.
00:25:11.860to say, okay, we believe you were entitled to defend yourself, but you've got to run
00:25:16.840the gauntlet, you've got to put your life on hold for months, possibly years, to get
00:25:21.160through the criminal courts in Canada.
00:29:30.700Well, we'll see what comes of this case and these cases that keep going on and on.
00:29:35.480And maybe eventually we'll get a government that can say, in the right circumstances, a firearm is a legitimate form of self-defense, because it is.
00:29:42.860any weapon is and I mean it's a matter of judgment I mean you can't take a baseball bat
00:29:48.020and beat somebody to death because they tried to steal a hubcap either you have to has to be
00:29:52.720has to be proportionate yes appropriate to and if you're outnumbered and I've gunned
00:29:57.320let's uh you do what you have to do with a soggy body I'm pretty easily out to gun so I mean I
00:30:03.620got an eye on something if it's an emergency circumstance anyways oh well well that's kind
00:30:08.540the main stories for today guys so there's just so many i know it's hard to pick the three to rant
00:30:14.700about but i remember last time on i was on here we were talking about the toronto life piece about
00:30:19.500edmonton yes that worked up a lot of people there's yes turned on twitter we're used to
00:30:26.540still getting hate mail and a recent eastern immigrant to come in and put his view in
00:30:31.340and we'll be getting honorary Albertan yet.
00:30:35.120All right, well, thank you, Nigel and Jonathan.