1 MORTGAGE CHANGEROO The federal government has reduced the amount you can borrow on your home. The maximum term lengths of some mortgages have also been chopped. The Globe And Mail has a Very Long Story Here.
2 SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOE You read Joe Couture’s excellent article in Saturday’s Leader-Post, right? About the two growing liabilities — infrastructure and pensions — that threaten Regina’s stability? He’s got another must-read today. Although I take issue with the sentence “nobody wants to pay more taxes”. I think people generally do want to pay enough in taxes to keep their neighbourhoods from crumbling. People aren’t (all) stupid and when you make a rational case a lot of them will listen. And I’ll bet a lot of them would favour higher taxes if they had a full understanding of the risks of an unrealistically low tax zeitgeist. Then again I’m not sure many people think that endlessly-increasing property taxes are the way to go.
3 CHARGES RECOMMENDED AGAINST MOUNTIE An RCMP officer who was filmed kicking a co-operating suspect in the face in Kelowna on Jan. 7 will have to answer to the law if the Abbottsford police force has its way.
4 “CRIMES AGAINST A COMMUNITY” Four synagogues and one Jewish school were vandalized in Montreal yesterday. I am even less impressed than you might think.
5 RIOTS IN TUNISIA The country’s turmoil isn’t over yet.
6 THAT OLD GENERAL MAKES A LOT OF SENSE Fifty years ago today, outgoing U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower said something darkly prophetic.