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Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse.

U.S. Health Care Has A Pretty Sweeping Definition Of ‘Pre-Existing Condition’

Yesterday in the U.S., the Republicans passed a vote in the House to repeal and replace the the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for the American Health Care Act (AHCA).

Though the bill still has to be passed into law (and there’s some doubt about that happening), it has plenty of Americans worried about their health care coverage — more, in fact, than might be assumed upon first glance.

According to Money magazine, under the AHCA, insurance companies will be able to charge people with pre-existing conditions more for their health insurance, an act currently banned by the ACA.

read more at huffingtonpost.ca

Lawsuit says Wells Fargo targeted the undocumented

On “Hit the Streets Thursday,” Wells Fargo bankers and tellers, specifically those of Latino descent, scouted the streets and Social Security offices for potential clients. Their goal: Find undocumented immigrants, take them to a local branch and persuade them to open bank accounts.

Others hit construction sites and factories, according to court documents. Knowing that undocumented workers there needed a place to cash their checks, Wells Fargo employees urged them to open new accounts while promising to waive check-cashing fees. Some offered the immigrants money to open an account.

The more people signed up, whether it was for checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, online banking or overdraft protection, the better. If they signed up for all of the features, even better. Each new account was considered a sale, and the more sales employees rack up, the better their future was with the company.

That’s according to former employees’ sworn statements obtained last month by a law firm that has been handling a shareholder’s lawsuit against Wells Fargo. Former bank managers, personal bankers and tellers say they were forced to resort to questionable tactics to meet the company’s unrealistic sales quotas.

Mark Molumphy, an attorney for the firm, said the sales practices, which spanned 15 years, were not a secret to the bank’s executives and should have also been known to its board members.

read more at theledger.com

Bill Morneau Says Border Tax Could Hurt U.S. More Than Canada

OTTAWA — Canada’s finance minister is warning business leaders in New York that a proposed U.S. border tax threatens to make both countries poorer — and might even hurt Americans more.

In an appearance Monday at a World Economic Forum event, Bill Morneau cautioned that a tariff-like tax would hurt families on both sides of the frontier by disrupting a mutually beneficial trading relationship and imposing extra costs on U.S. firms.

Morneau’s stronger public stance against the border tax comes after Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr noted last week that the policy faces huge opposition in Washington.

read more at huffingtonpost.ca

When Evidence Says No, but Doctors Say Yes 

First, listen to the story with the happy ending: At 61, the executive was in excellent health. His blood pressure was a bit high, but everything else looked good, and he exercised regularly. Then he had a scare. He went for a brisk post-lunch walk on a cool winter day, and his chest began to hurt. Back inside his office, he sat down, and the pain disappeared as quickly as it had come. That night, he thought more about it: middle-aged man, high blood pressure, stressful job, chest discomfort. The next day, h

Source: When Evidence Says No, but Doctors Say Yes – The Atlantic

Trump’s Travel Ban Is Keeping Sick Kids From Medical Care, So Canada Is Stepping In 

After multiple reports that President Trump’s ban on travel into the US from seven Muslim-majority countries was keeping children in need of surgeries and other critical medical treatment from getting to hospitals, Ontario’s health minister said Friday he would get them care in Canada.

Stories have emerged from around the country of families who had sought treatment for their children at US hospitals, only to be blocked by President Trump’s executive order. More than three dozen patients — critically ill children and adults — scheduled for treatment have been blocked from traveling, STAT News reported.

Source: Trump’s Travel Ban Is Keeping Sick Kids From Medical Care, So Canada Is Stepping In – BuzzFeed News

Trump team says border tax plan for imported vehicles includes Canada

The incoming Trump administration has uttered the word Canadian auto industry executives have been dreading, saying a tax on vehicles imported into the United States could be applied to Canada.

A border tax will apply “when a company that’s in the U.S. moves to a place, whether it’s Canada or Mexico or any other country seeking to put U.S. workers at a disadvantage,” Sean Spicer, a spokesman for president-elect Donald Trump, said during a conference call with reporters Friday, Bloomberg News reported.

Source: Trump team says border tax plan for imported vehicles includes Canada – The Globe and Mail

Canada could end up caught in the crossfire of a Trump trade war 

When Donald Trump rants against Mexico or China, he puts Canadian jobs at risk. Tuesday was particularly risky.

By tweet-slagging GM for selling Mexican-made cars into the U.S., as the president-elect did Tuesday, and by appointing Robert Lighthizer, a China-basher, as United States trade representative, Mr. Trump reinforces his determination to bring American manufacturing jobs home, even at the risk of launching a global trade war that could damage both the American and Canadian economies.

“It’s going to be a scary, scary ride,” predicts Gordon Ritchie, who was part of the Canadian team that negotiated the 1989 Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement. Canada, China and Mexico are the United States’s three biggest trading partners. If Mr. Trump riles up the other two, it can’t possibly be good for us.

Source: Canada could end up caught in the crossfire of a Trump trade war – The Globe and Mail

Doctors warn thousands could leave for U.S. over new federal tax hikes

Canadian physicians are warning that thousands of specialists will pull out of group medical offices and many will ultimately leave for the United States because of new federal tax changes that will soon be approved by Parliament.

An aggressive lobbying campaign by doctors, radiologists and other medical professionals has failed to sway Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who is rejecting calls to remove a provision in the budget that doctors say will force them to pay tens of thousands more a year in taxes.

Source: Doctors warn thousands could leave for U.S. over new federal tax hikes GLOBE AND MAIL

Canadian jobs are at risk of flocking south under Trump

Donald Trump’s election to the presidency is really bad news for the federal Liberals. It is equally bad news for their provincial counterparts in Ontario and for the NDP wrecking-ball of a government in Alberta.Trump is not bad news because his victory has caused progressives’ hair to spontaneously combust (although that’s been fun to watch).  And his rattling of politically correct elites in the U.S. threatens to generate a spillover rattle in Canada.

Source: Canadian jobs are at risk of flocking south under Trump | GUNTER | Columnists |