Lee Friday

Lee Friday

Following a 23-year career in the Canadian financial industry, Lee Friday has spent many years studying economics, politics, and social issues. He operates a news site at www.LondonNews1.com

Articles by Lee Friday

Canada’s Legal Counterfeiting Ring Is a Product of Progressive Democracy

In 1934, at the behest of Prime Minister R.B. Bennett and with the approval of Parliament, Canada’s central bank, the Bank of Canada (BOC), was founded. It began operations in 1935. Its job is “to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada.” It is now 2023, and more than half of Canadians are living hand to mouth, a trend that has been well established for many years. How much longer do we have to wait for the BOC to do its job?
The BOC continues to operate because its real purpose is not to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada, but rather to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada’s political class, including bankers, at the expense of regular citizens. The BOC is able to do this because equality under the law does not exist in a democracy, where

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Canada’s Impotent Justice System Is the Product of Dysfunctional Canadian Democracy

Conservatives have been pressuring “the Liberal government to address what they term a violent crime wave, citing the killings of five police officers in five months and a surge of violence in cities across Canada.” Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said that violent crime is up 32 percent, gang killings are up 92 percent, and “Police tell us that often they have to arrest the same people multiple times in the very same day because they are released again and again on bail.” Liberal justice minister David Lametti said that “there is a need to restore trust in Canada’s justice system and address Canadians’ worries about recent violence.”
The pathetic performance of Canada’s justice system has been evident for many decades, regardless of which party is in power. While there has been much

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Democracy Created Canada’s Lethal Healthcare System

Canadian politicians tout their healthcare system as morally superior to private medicine. There is nothing moral about relegating thousands of people to death each year for lack of medical care.

Original Article: "Democracy Created Canada’s Lethal Healthcare System"
This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Democracy Created Canada’s Lethal Healthcare System

The provision of private healthcare in Canada is contingent on the ability of private actors to satisfy all of the conditions embedded within government legislation. However, the severity of these conditions means that most aspects of private healthcare are essentially outlawed, as they have been for many decades.
Perhaps that wouldn’t matter if the government kept the promise it made to Canadians when it arbitrarily imposed universal healthcare (Medicare) on the country. The government promised “to make sure that people could get care when it was needed without regard to other considerations” (emphasis added).
The government breaks this promise on a daily basis. Currently, there are approximately 1.2 million Canadians stuck on a government waiting list for healthcare that they need. This

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Is Democracy under Attack in Canada? No, but It Should Be

Canadian political, academic, and media elites "worry" that democracy in that country may be under attack. Actually, democracy works all too well there.

Original Article: "Is Democracy under Attack in Canada? No, but It Should Be"
This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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Is Democracy under Attack in Canada? No, but It Should Be

When the legacy media tells you that democracy is under attack in Canada, don’t believe it. Democracy is alive and well, working exactly as it was designed to work, which is to benefit the political class and their friends at the expense of average citizens who still believe that their vote actually means something. This is consistent with how democracy works in most democratic countries. Professors Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page tell us:
The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence. . . .
Clearly the median citizen or “median voter” at the heart of

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The Bank of Canada’s Failed Mission to “Preserve the Value of Money”

In Canada, inflation hit 4.7 percent in October, and is expected to go even higher. According to a recent survey, 46 percent of Canadians are struggling to feed their families because of the rising cost of living. Perhaps they are also struggling to understand the logic of the Bank of Canada’s (BOC) mission statement: “We work to preserve the value of money by keeping inflation low and stable.” 

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Why the Courts Aren’t All They’re Supposed to Be

In the United States, law courts routinely hand out court order mandating payments to victims. And then do little to enforce them. For example, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2015 only 43.5 percent of custodial parents received the full amount of court-ordered child support payments. 25.8 percent received partial payment while 30.7 percent — a figure which is trending higher — received no payments.

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The Fight Against “Home Sharing” Drives up the Price of Short-Term Housing

City Council in London, Ontario recently decided to explore their options for regulating “short-term rentals” arranged through companies such as Airbnb, HomeAway, etc. The motion was brought forward by Councillor Anna Hopkins, who is concerned about (a) complaints from residents about short-term-renters’ noisy parties, and (b) “the role those short-term rentals have on taking potential long-term housing options out of the market.”

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