Two provincial gov'ts question equalization formula

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador supports the Alberta premier's call for changes to the federal government's equalization formula.

Per Capita Equalization Payments to Provinces 2018-2019 ($millions). Courtesy Fairness Alberta.

Newfoundland Liberal gov backs Smith’s call for equalization rethink | The Counter-Signal | Quinn Patrick:

May 10, 2025 - "Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has garnered the support of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Liberal government for a reset on how the federal government distributes equalization payments. 

"Smith has called on Alberta to stop subsidizing provinces with productive economies like Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.... 'That was never the intent of equalization, and it needs to end,' said Smith.

"Spokesperson for Newfoundland’s Liberal government Greg Gill responded by telling the National Post that he agreed with Smith’s sentiment on Thursday. 'Equalization is intended to ensure … fairness for all citizens. Currently, this fairness is not achieved for Newfoundland and Labrador,' said Gill.

"[Gill] said the equalization program hurts residents by negating the high cost of delivering services to the remote areas of the sparsely populated province.... Additionally, he argued that the program currently penalizes the province for developing offshore oil and its other natural resources.

"Last year, Newfoundland filed a court challenge against the federal program on the basis that it doesn’t make good on its constitutional purpose. The lawsuit seeks relief over several issues: the exclusion of service delivery costs in payment calculations, the fiscal capacity cap, the inequitable distribution of excess equalization program funding and the gross domestic product growth ceiling....

"Smith said in March that Alberta would no longer agree to 'subsidizing other large provinces who are fully capable of funding themselves.'

"Of the $26.17 billion in equalization payments earmarked for 2025-26, Quebec and Ontario will take the lion’s share for a combined $14.15 billion. Quebec alone will get $13.57 billion.

"On Monday Smith called for Albertans to begin receiving equitable per capita federal transfers and equalization payments at the same rate as Ontario, Quebec and B.C."

Read more: https://www.thecountersignal.com/p/newfoundland-liberal-gov-backs-smiths

Locked up for tweets in 2015, NL man still seeking a hearing

Andrew Abbass, who was wrongfully detained by the Newfoundland police in 2015 due to his social media posts, and confined to a psychiatric unit against his will, is still seeking a public hearing eight years later.  

He was detained by police after sending a tweet. 8 years later, he's fighting for a public hearing | CBC News | Ariana Kelland:

October 16 -"A man who was illegally detained by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and housed for six days at a psychiatric unit against his will in 2015 is determined to bring his case to a public hearing. But the police officers at the centre of the complaints have gone to court to stop that from happening.

"Andrew Abbass filed public complaints against the now-retired Staff Sgt. Tim Buckle and Const. Joe Smyth in 2017, when new information surfaced during an unrelated police shooting inquiry. After numerous years, reports and appeals, the acting commissioner with the RNC police complaints commission has sent the matter to a public hearing. However, even that is in limbo, as both officers have applied to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador for judicial review.

"'At the end of the day, no one has been found to be fully accountable in any meaningful way,' said Abbass, 42, in a recent interview at his home in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. It's been eight years since the alleged misconduct happened. Both Abbass and an expert in police discipline say the process against the two officers has dragged on far too long and speaks to the need for deep reform on police complaints procedures....

"Abbass first came to the RNC's attention in Corner Brook in 2014, when he attempted to charge then prime minister Stephen Harper and his foreign affairs minister for 'inciting genocide by the state of Israel against the Palestinian people.' Abbass had applied to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador to hear his argument. The federal government issued a response, but a judge ultimately declined to hear the case in 2017....

"Then, on April 5, 2015 — Easter Sunday —  Smyth, a member of the premier's security detail, shot and killed Don Dunphy in his home in Mitchell's Brook, about 45 minutes outside St. John's. Dunphy was an injured worker who often strongly criticized the province's workers' compensation system online. Smyth, investigating a tweet sent by Dunphy that was interpreted as a threat, said Dunphy pointed a firearm at him. Abbass saw the two incidents as interconnected examples of government overreach, and made his feelings known on social media the following day.... 

"Abbass said he heard an interview with the premier on CBC Radio, in which he said there would be a cracking down of social media monitoring in the wake of Dunphy's shooting. He saw that as Davis doubling down, and considered it an affront to free speech. Abbass tweeted: 'How about this, premier of N.L.: I'm going to bring down Confederation and have politicians executed. Ready to have me shot, coward?' The tweet, he admits, was meant to antagonize.... 'I figured they would arrest me.'

"Four RNC officers came to Abbass's home in Corner Brook where he was living with his pregnant girlfriend and detained him under the Mental Health Care and Treatment Act. Despite spending the next six days in the psychiatric ward of the Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook, Abbass was never charged with a crime. Nor was he certified as suffering from any psychiatric condition.... 

"In the wake of Abbass's arrest, the RCMP got a warrant to search his home over a tweet they viewed as potentially threatening against Stephen Harper. The tweet was sent before the Dunphy shooting, but the Mounties moved in only after he was detained by the RNC. He was charged with uttering threats but it was dropped soon after, at his first court appearance. However, once inside his home, they discovered marijuana and charged Abbass and his pregnant partner with cultivation. Abbass said he used it for medical reasons but didn't have a licence at the time. A judge gave him an absolute discharge."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/andrew-abbass-rnc-complaints-1.6967702

 What happened to Andrew Abbass? An 8-year police complaints odyssey, explained | CBC NL - Newfoundland and Labrador | October 19, 2023:

Newfoundland & Labrador lifts vax mandates

Province ends vaccine mandate for these 'supportive' employees | HRD Online - Dexter Tilo:

May 27, 2022 - "The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has announced that its mandatory vaccination policy for public service employees will no longer be in effect starting June 1. It comes as the government said it is also suspending its COVID-19 Vaccine Regulations under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, which became effective in December 2021.

"This means workers in the following sectors will also no longer need to get vaccinated against COVID-19:

• Personal care homes
• Assisted living facilities
• Home care
• Charitable organisations providing services to persons in need
• Private health clinics
• Private schools
• Post-secondary institutions
• Fire departments
• Ambulance providers
• Businesses employing regulated health professionals
• Organisations providing childcare services
• Organisations providing therapeutic, supportive, and residential services to children, youth, and families

"According to the provincial government, while the policy helped in maintaining the safety in workplaces, the current pandemic situation in the province allows for its suspension.... 

"Health Minister John Haggie said they will be ready to reinforce the mandate again should the COVID-19 situation goes bad again. 

"'While these regulations for employees and service providers of specified businesses will end based on our current situation, we will continue to monitor the situation carefully,' said the minister. 'If our situation down the road suggests we need to enforce these regulations again, we will reinstate them.'" 

Read more: https://www.hcamag.com/ca/specialization/employment-law/province-ends-vaccine-mandate-for-these-supportive-employees/407627

Libertarian enters Newfoundland byelection

Shane Stapleton running for Libertarian Party in Bonavista-Burin-Trinity | Local | News | The Beacon:

December 6, 2017 - "Shane Stapleton of Marystown will run in the upcoming federal byelection under the Libertarian Party of Canada banner.

"'I wanted to give a Libertarian voice to the voters in this riding,' he said in an e-mail to The Southern Gazette. 'An alternative to the Liberal or Conservative parties'....

"Stapleton said he has been a member of the party for a little over a year.

"According to the party’s website, the Libertarians’ mission 'is to reduce the responsibilities and expense of government … so that we may each manage our lives to mutually fulfill our needs by the free and voluntary exchange of our efforts and property for the value that best realizes our happiness.'

"'I became involved in the Libertarian party because I am passionate about freedom,' said Stapleton. 'I got angry, (and) after witnessing big government failures both at home and away, I became convinced that less government was the solution....

'I'd like to make this area more favorable to entrepreneurs,” he said. 'Government doesn’t create prosperity or sustainable jobs. I want to facilitate an environment of prosperity by getting Ottawa out of the way and talking to the community. Ask them what government policies prevent them from prospering and expanding. These proprietors know what to do and how to make money, Ottawa doesn't.'”

Read more: http://www.ganderbeacon.ca/news/shane-stapleton-running-for-libertarian-party-in-bonavista-burin-trinity-168023/
'via Blog this'

NL man arrested for criticizing police shooting has rights upheld by provincial court

N.L. court defends political dissent in case of man hospitalized involuntarily - Newfoundland & Labrador - CBC News - Canadian Press:

April 18, 2017 - "The Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal has issued a ringing defence of political dissent, in the case of a man held involuntarily at a psychiatric hospital after he sent a series of angry tweets about a police shooting.

"Andrew Abbass was detained and taken to the psychiatric unit at Western Memorial Hospital in Corner Brook, N.L., on April 7, 2015, two days after the fatal shooting of Don Dunphy in Mitchells Brook, N.L.

"Abbass had expressed anger about the death on social media, prompting Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers to go to his home....

"Abbass, who has since been released, challenged his detention in provincial Supreme Court, claiming he was not suffering from a mental disorder and that the doctors' certificates of involuntary admission did not cite grounds for his detention. But the judge declined jurisdiction, and dismissed his application....

"The appeal court said the lower-court judge should not have declined jurisdiction.... 'The courts must always be there for the vindication of the citizen with what he or she views as the wrongful exercise of authority. Mr. Abbass was denied his day in court. He should have had it.'

"In its ruling, the appeal court said the first psychiatric assessment of Abbass took 19 minutes. before a doctor certified a certificate of involuntary admission.... The second certificate was completed five minutes later, and noted Abbass had expressed anger about the shooting.... The appeal court said both certificates appeared to rely on second-hand facts and made no attempt to identify the mental disorder in question.....

"'If anger about political events and words of defiance to authorities are dealt with as signs of mental illness … warranting involuntary committal, then our society is in a dangerous place,' it said.... 'As the history of authoritarian societies has taught us, confinement in a mental institution is a particularly insidious way of stifling dissent, directly and through intimidation'...

An RNC constable shot Dunphy on Easter Sunday 2015. Const. Joe Smyth, a member of then-premier Paul Davis's security detail, has testified he shot Dunphy, 58, once in the left chest and twice in the head in self defence.... Smyth has said he went to Dunphy's home to check out political comments Dunphy had made on Twitter."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/andrew-abbass-appeal-court-1.4073410
'via Blog this'