Liberalism: A political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual and favoring civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority. - Dictionary.com

CanadaOne has mostly been apolitical (tax issues excepted). We now feel that we must speak out about very disturbing behaviour from the McGuinty Liberal government in Ontario.

"BANNED" in the name of public safety has become a catch-phrase in Ontario's government. This approach not only contradicts the founding principles of the Liberal party, but can devastate small Canadian companies.

Provincial governments have the right to control property when it is in the interest of public safety. Banning crayons loaded with lead that can cause brain damage in children is reasonable. However, Ontario's Liberal government has crossed a line and is now using its power to remove fundamental rights from allegedly "free" citizens.

At first it was a sushi ban. Then came the smoking rooms that business owners have spent tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to build. After that there was junk foods in schools, t-shirts in Kitchener... and with incredible financial repercussions the government froze a lot of land surrounding the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Yesterday it was dogs.

For businesses the practice of announcing a ban before consulting with experts and stakeholders is disturbing. The McGuinty Liberals did it with sushi. They did it with dogs. One man recently spent over $15,000 to establish a business breeding Staffordshire Bull Terriers. How is it reasonable to order him to spay and neuter all of his stock? There are many breeds that have attacked in Canada, but the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is not one of them. This small breed is not banned in England, France, Germany or Italy - all places that have dog bans.

The City of Kichener banned "pit bulls" but exempted purebred Staffordshire Bull Terriers and American Staffordshire Terriers. They have had no problems with these breeds since their ban went into effect. Kitchener told Ontario that it should exempt CKC registered breeds as well. No exemption was provided. Where is the reasonableness in that?

More importantly, what would you do if your government banned your business activity tomorrow? What if you had $1 million in inventory that would now be worthless? Responsible government would offer verifiable, scientific evidence that the ban was warranted, and compensate legitimate business activities that were affected by the ban. With the banning of dogs under Bill 132, the McGuinty government has done neither.

Dogs are just one issue; there are others as well. Businesses who spent between $50,000 - $300,000 to build Designated Smoking Rooms (DSRs) are incensed by the recent announcement of a province-wide smoking ban in all public places - including DSRs. Not only have the businesses made substantial capital investments in good faith, but when the ban goes into effect they are likely to see sales drop as well. A New Brunswick survey found that sales plummeted by an average of 24% in the first month after its smoking ban, compared to a year earlier, for 71% of liquor-licensed establishments.

Public safety is very important. Protection for small businesses is important as well. It is possible to strike a reasonable balance between the two with good public policy, but this seems to be something the McGuinty Government is either unwilling or incapable of doing.

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