Matthew Lau
@matlau10
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Columnist @FinancialPost ; Adjunct Scholar @FraserInstitute ; Senior Fellow @AristotleFdn
Toronto, ON
Joined February 2015
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Olivia Chow as mayor means higher taxes, oppressive regulation, and even more mismanagement
I voted for
@anthonyfurey
instead:
Matthew Lau: Olivia Chow's policies of more taxes, regulation will push Toronto to poverty and decay
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The Canadian economy under Trudeau - one chart that sums up the whole story:
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Latest update on Canada's gov't takeover of child care:
UBC researchers spent 6 months intensely searching for low-income single moms who were able to access the gov't-promised $10 per day spaces in British Columbia
They found a grand total of... 13.
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Canada's economy under Trudeau:
The only thing growing is government, meanwhile the business investment on which productivity, wage growth, & standards of living improvements rely has significantly declined
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Olivia Chow says we had a safer city over the past year.
But in 2023, total Major Crimes were +17.7% y/y:
Assault +15.3%
Auto Theft +24.6%
Break & Enter +25.0%
Homicide +1.4%
Robbery +8.6%
Sexual Violation + 6.6%
Happy New Year! 🎉
Working together over the last year, we’ve created a more welcoming city. A more caring city. A safer city. A more affordable city.
I hope you’ll continue to join me in that work in 2024.
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Canada's government takeover of child care:
- 118,000 fewer children using child care nationwide in 2023 vs. pre-Covid
- Difficulty finding spaces is up in every province, in many cases markedly so
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The Trudeau Liberals have produced singularly disastrous economic outcomes.
No wonder their attempts to defend their record are so thoroughly untrustworthy. My column:
via
@fpcomment
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The Trudeau economy:
More taxes, more government admin, more public sector. But the private sector - the productive sector - is struggling.
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My column from last week: Public school math education is a disaster. Parents who do not want their children to graduate as mathematical morons are well-advised to pay for private math classes if they can afford it
via
@fpcomment
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Doug Ford has helped turn Ontario into an honorary third-world jurisdiction with respect to its inordinate length of Covid lockdowns.
Here is my column in
@financialpost
:
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@anthonyfurey
What kind of deranged governing system is this, where decisions are left up to a "consensus" of doctors and unionized public school teachers?
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"Freeland put on a performance of astonishing misjudgment" at Greater Vancouver Board of Trade address, says
@kirklapointe
via
@theorcabc
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Even a stopped clock is right 2x a day, but somehow Jagmeet Singh is always spectacularly in error
Whatever worsens economic problems, he unfailingly insists must be expanded. Whatever is beneficial, he can be relied on to denounce as ruinous
My column:
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On union prez's support for terror:
“I have never been so sickened as I am today by the comments of fellow union officers,” said CUPE 416 Paramedic Services Unit chair Mike Merriman.
story from
@joe_warmington
via
@TheTorontoSun
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The political leader who is constantly in the news for demanding a carbon tax cut to help people with the cost of living will probably be seen as understanding Canadians better than the one who is in the news for taking a $240K taxpayer-funded vacation to Jamaica
'He understands Canadians': What 'axe the tax' means to Poilievre's supporters
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There it is.
As the Trudeau government's effective nationalization of child-care implodes the sector, their reply is: Blame the provinces!
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There seems to be some confusion about this, but in an election, if you vote for somebody, that is a vote for the person for whom you are voting.
It is not a vote for some other person.
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One of the hidden costs of lockdowns is a permanent reduction in economic growth.
Small business owners now know that governments have no compunction in arbitrarily wiping out their investments if there is a perceived emergency. So how likely will they be to keep investing?
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Percent of families who say they have difficulty finding childcare (of those using it)
2019: 36.4%
2023: 46.4%
Number of children age 0-5 in childcare
2019: 1,383,200
2023: 1,265,300 (down 8.5%)
Per Statcan.
For Sarah and her daughter, $10-a-day child care is life-changing.
Now, we're growing and expanding our affordable child care plan so more parents can find a space, enroll their child, and save money.
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Latest news on the coming Trudeau famine: Wheat Growers Association warns of "a food crisis created by our own government"
via
@WSOnlineNews
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In Canada: $200MM of public money up for grabs. But only if you're the right skin colour.
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Canada post-Covid: permanent increase in size of gov't vs. the private sector.
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National Post on Canada's government takeover of child care: Ottawa is wasting billions & tanking an industry that once had a healthier balance of supply and demand
via
@nationalpost
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@sunlorrie
Could have 18,000 daily cases by May.
But they also said in Jan that we could have 20,000 daily cases in mid-Feb. It turned out to be ~1,000 daily.
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Ottawa's climate change zeal inflates a forecasted deficit that we do not need. My column in today's
@financialpost
via
@fpcomment
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On Canada's gov't takeover of child care:
A daycare provider in Peel tells me private operators were "conned into" signing the gov't agreement & now "struggling for survival"
She says the child care business she spent decades building is now essentially a gov't enterprise
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Canada’s COVID performance on key measures among worst in developed world
via
@FraserInstitute
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Thomas Sowell on school choice:
"It is hard for me to understand what harm is going to be done by allowing parents to have a choice, as compared to having self-interested bureaucrats have a monopoly."
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Pushback against secret gender transitions for children was only a matter of time.
But, still required a politician with a spine to kickstart it. Kudos to
@premierbhiggs
via
@nationalpost
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The CEO of McDonald’s, headquartered in Chicago, issues a frank warning about the city's crime and social deterioration.
via
@WSJ
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Conservatives should resist climate alarmism & reject plans for net-zero emissions, writes
@RossMcKitrick
via
@FraserInstitute
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Inflation-adjusted, per capita, cumulative 2015/Q3 to 2023/Q4 in Canada:
-GDP, +0.8%
-Gov't consumption, +6.8%
-Gov't capital formation, +6.3%
-GDP excl. gov't, decreased (1.1%)
-Business investment, decreased (13.8%)
Meanwhile, U.S. GDP, +15.4%
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"The vision of the anointed is unaffected by the fact that their ideas and programs rarely achieve what is promised and often make things worse because of unintended consequences."
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Rex Murphy: It's a miracle! The 30,000 climate crusaders at COP26 are immune to COVID!
via
@nationalpost
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“When we do this, we also begin to think of cancer as a symptom of colonialism,” says the Lakehead Prof receiving the $1.2MM taxpayer grant.
Yet another data point to add to the pile of evidence disputing the benefits of government-funded scientific research.
Congratulations to Dr. Lana Ray and her research team on your new research grant of $1.2 million to study traditional healing and cancer. I look forward to hearing and learning from your work and findings.
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@AndrewLawton
The people who still require or "strongly encourage" masking - my question is at what point would they no longer require or strongly encourage masking?
Is there some threshold of Covid cases/deaths? A vaccine with 100% effectiveness? Or would they like us all to mask forever?
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@AlexpiersonAMP
@fordnation
Requiring masks for skiing is very dumb. But Blue Mountain can set whatever rules they want and if the guy won't follow them there's nothing wrong with security removing him
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University of Toronto prof, evidently having gone mad, has invited students to an "EMERGENCY lecture" on "decolonizing in mathematics".
The world has gone mad: “Decolonizing in mathematics” at U of T.
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Annualized real GDP per capita growth, last 5 quarters:
Canada: -1.1%, -4.5%, -0.3%, -1.6%, -3.4%
USA: +2.1%, +2.0%, +1.8%, +1.6%, +4.5%
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After 1 year, anti-capitalist coffee shop in Toronto shuts down due to lack of capital
via
@nationalpost
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“My soul is mourning, my heart is breaking from horror and shame, and my mind is shocked by human madness,” said the pastor of Russian Bible Church in Moscow.
via
@CTmagazine
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Sharp observation from
@shawn_whatley
on Canada's failed health care system: "The current situation has only been politically viable because the vast majority of voters rarely interact with hospitals."
via
@nationalpost
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Rex Murphy asks of Trudeau's heritage ministry: Is this some large, grim joke?
via
@nationalpost
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It is telling that when the Liberals talk about child care, the focus is not actually on the child.
It's all about changing the nature of women's work to increase the proportion of it that would show up in GDP statistics. (And yet Canada's GDP growth is abysmal).
Since we started cutting child care fees down to $10 a day, women’s participation in our economy has reached an all-time high.
So, when you hear Conservative politicians say they want to rip up these deals, remember what’s at stake.
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@fordnation
Allow more time for vaccines?
88% of those 12+ have already had at least 2 shots.
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Federal minister in charge of child care says she is not focused on the negative headlines.
I guess it's easy to conclude the government takeover of child care is a success if you don't read the news. From the last 5 days:
On this side of the House of Commons we are working to ensure that parents will have access to affordable child care now, and for generations to come.
#childcare
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Summer camps run by churches: Banned from Canada Summer Jobs grants if they disagree with abortion
Laith Marouf: OK
Minister’s office approved Canada Summer Student grant for advocacy centre in
@MarcMillerVM
’s riding linked to anti-Semitic slurs. Senior consultant Laith Marouf had “history of making outrageous & hateful statements”
@CdnHeritage
@jonkay
@BernieFarber
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@sunlorrie
But then, read the story and see what counts as a "Anti-LGBTQ proposal."
Things like: requiring kids to turn 18 before they get gender-reassignment surgery, & that biological males cannot compete against females in school sports
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“Enough is enough”: Hundreds protest Western University's 3x vaccine mandate
via
@truenorthcentre
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In the Sun -
@JasminePickel
on
@JohnTory
wasting taxpayers money:
No "terrible and devastating" cuts needed - just cancel the $1.7 billion - $3.8 billion park and end restricted bidding.
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The Conservative Party is so "extreme" that 40%+ of people would vote for them
There is only one leader courting far right extremists.
His name is Pierre Poilievre.
Pierre doesn’t care. He needs their money and support to find a path to power.
Want to help keep the extreme right out of Canadian politics?
Go to to volunteer.
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NDP MP gives handful of gov't employees extra-long weekend in protest of court decision in another country
I have instructed my staff to close offices on July 4, in solidarity with women in the USA & the world in support of reproductive freedoms & in protest to the lack of access to abortion services. Healthcare must include right to choose - people who are pregnant need to be safe.
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Trudeau gov't abused the pandemic to ram ~$85 billion more into the annual federal budget on a permanent basis.
My essay with this and 6 other charts on the Liberals' economic mismanagement:
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Update on Canada's government takeover of child care:
Nova Scotia mom went on several daycare wait lists when 5 months pregnant. Daughter is now 18 months old - still no daycare space & on 10 wait lists.
via
@globalnews
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If Trudeau thinks climate change is an "existential crisis," shouldn't he have a serious climate plan?
Instead he's stuffed his climate plan with woke nonsense & programs that, by the govt's own admission, are inefficient. My
@FraserInstitute
column:
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Here is a good explanation from
@AndrewLawton
on why private businesses should not be banned from using vaccine passports. I don't think, though, that businesses that require the vaccine passport should be boycotted
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Welcome to Canada's government-monopolized health care system, where people cannot get health care:
"30 per cent of respondents didn’t have a family physician."
Doctor shortage deters British Columbians from seeking care, survey finds
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I'm pleased to have written this paper for
@MLInstitute
, overviewing Canada's calamitous government takeover of child care - and proposing a better way to improve affordability for families:
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“It’s always so attractive to be able to do good at somebody else’s expense.”
-- Milton Friedman
Here is the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trying to “do good” with ~$550 billion of other people's money:
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Get ready for government to ramp spending up even higher.
@jackmintz
in FP Comment: The Trudeau government seems bent on bribing voters with mountains of new debt that it will leave for others to pay
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This is unaccountably idiotic
Trudeau calls on major grocers to create plan to stabilize food prices or face actions
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@sunlorrie
Because the Conservatives will have more seats than the Libs & NDP combined, I hope.
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Good grief.
@OSSTFD20TEACHER
provides the best advertisement I have seen for school choice & dismantling the government monopoly on schooling. Entire thread from
@jonkay
worth reading:
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Oh, I see. Long wait lists = a good thing.
By this logic, that Canadians wait 44+ weeks on avg for an orthopedic surgery is a victory for our socialized health care system.
It means our socialized health care is so good that people are willing to line up for it.
Actually, longer wait lists mean parents want licensed
#cdnchildcare
. Stats Can data (misused by anti-childcare "pundits") show more children in centres, fewer in home-based childcare (unlicensed/licensed lumped together) than pre-CWELCC. Over to the provinces re: expansion.
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Fauci can't get his own facts straight, but the government wants to decide what's "misinformation," writes
@HannahDCox
via
@feeonline
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@MPelletierCIO
21.8% understates the real picture. Lots of people work for private companies but with government contracts - or govt subsidies. A more relevant figure is program spending as a % of GDP - much much higher than 21.8%
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More on Canada's government takeover of childcare.
Federal gov't and Alberta gov't point blame at each other over childcare mess.
Childcare industry association says federal government has "placed the sector at grave risk"
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Canadian entrepreneurs forced to "grapple with confusing government websites full of broken links, redundant forms, unnecessary reporting requirements and overly burdensome compliance standards," writes
@keyliloeppky
via
@fpcomment
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Colby Cosh: CBC's damning retraction (after the provincial election) of an unsubstantiated non-scandal in Alberta
via
@nationalpost
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Environment Min. Jonathan Wilkinson & predecessor Catherine McKenna have both said a carbon tax is the most efficient way to cut emissions.
If taxes are the best policy, then why is climate SPENDING at
@environmentca
up by 600% in 5 years?
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Happy 92nd Birthday (June 30) to Thomas Sowell, One of the Greatest Living Economists
via
@AEI
@Mark_J_Perry
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@brianlilley
@fordnation
@Sflecce
The math is racist stuff isn't even teaching politics.
It's teaching absurd nonsense.
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The Trudeau Liberals can't just blame Danielle Smith & Doug Ford.
From coast to coast, NDP-governed British Columbia to Newfoundland & Labrador (whose provincial gov't is Liberal), the Trudeau government's national childcare is failing.
via
@fpcomment
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"Canadians pay about 25 per cent more for health care than the OECD average, but receive little bang for their buck. Indeed, Canada lags behind many of its peer nations when judged by almost any metric."
via
@nationalpost
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Update on Canada's gov't takeover of child care:
National child care program is also an affirmative action program, as daycare providers are "told they cannot opt-in as the province prioritizes spaces for Indigenous, low-income and diverse communities"
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The way the Ontario government is going, the playground ban will probably be reversed on Monday, then re-imposed on Wednesday, and then on Thursday the government will announce it will consult with doctors to make a list of playgrounds that should be allowed to re-open.
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The fiscal & economic data is a bloodbath for anyone who wants to try to defend Trudeau's policies - my column ahead of the federal government's Fall Economic Update
via
@nationalpost
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I quite dislike WEF. But this is nutty:
As Prime Minister, I will ban ministers and other top officials from involvement with the World Economic Forum.
Become a member so you can vote:
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Latest news on Canada's government takeover of child-care.
In Toronto: Amidst "drastic shortage of child care spaces," writes mom, "my son’s daycare can’t afford to stay in the $10-a-day program."
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PBO says a wealth tax would generate ~$5.6 billion in gov't revenues (an overestimate - it ignores behavioural impacts to income tax revenue). In FP Comment
@moulton_jasmine
points out that even $5.6 billion would only pay for 3 days of federal spending
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It's almost like handing child care over to government & unions is a bad idea.
In Quebec, the union says strike is on the table, meanwhile there are ~32,000 children waitlisted and the system is short ~18,000 staff.
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Update on Canada's government takeover of child care:
"Barrie families are not the only ones struggling. The waitlist for daycare spaces has ballooned across the province" as federal program rolled out. Wait list is 6.4 years in Kawartha Lakes
Meet a Canadian family who say they’re out of options for child care
“It’s not like I just came up with a plan and just went with it. I called everywhere,' the mother says.
Read more:
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Black Lives Matters' anti-Semitism should come as no surprise to those paying attention, writes
@jasonrileywsj
via
@WSJopinion
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Trudeau's taxation beating to increase in 2023 - incl $510/ yr for CPP for workers earning $67K+
via
@TheTorontoSun
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The federal budget is not good, my column:
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The humbling election result tells Trudeau that there is no groundswell of enthusiasm for his leadership, concludes
@IvisonJ
in this excellent essay
via
@nationalpost
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Another update on Canada's government takeover of child-care.
In NDP-run British Columbia, the CBC reports: Parents are desperate & struggling to find childcare; daycare staff/educators say waitlists are enormous
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Florida's
@GovRonDeSantis
locked down nursing centres and kept the rest of the state open. Despite an older population and tourism-reliant economy, Florida's death rate has been lower and its economy in better shape than other states,
@profstonge
notes:
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More on Canada's government takeover of child care
“I just want to share how real this crisis is,” says sobbing mother of 2 in Wellington, Ontario, who joined every childcare wait list in the area as soon as she was pregnant, to no avail.
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