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Share this Story: William Watson: Liberals & Conservatives are incoherent on the question of 'choice.
William Watson: Liberals & Conservatives are incoherent on the question of 'choice.' Why is there no choice in housing but not daycare? Photo by John Morris/Reuters
Article content Twenty-five minutes and a quarter into Justin Trudeau's announcement of the Liberal Housing Policy on Tuesday, during the press confer part of the proceedings when he is sometimes more scripted, he said some interesting things regarding choice:
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Article content. We understand that multi-layered approaches are necessary to take into consideration the fact that families come from different backgrounds, have different needs and desires. This includes what they will look for in terms first home and housing stability. This is why we have created an ambitious, multi-faceted policy to ensure that everyone has better housing options.
Tap here to view other videos by our team. Refresh your browser or William Watson: Liberals & Conservatives are incoherent on the question of 'choice.' Back to video. As Carson Jerema points, the Liberals housing policies aren't multi-layered, but incoherent. It encourages demand by offering tax breaks to first-time buyers, and it also hammers supply by making landlords less likely to rent their properties or increase rents.
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Article content, but forget about the policy. It is a good principle and deserves to be commended. Families can be in very different situations. Families have different needs and wants. It is almost obvious that they are the best people to make decisions about what's right for them. This liberal approach recognizes that each individual is uniquely qualified to evaluate what Hayek called the specific circumstances of time and place. Friedman said it best. In what has become a classic statement of the unquestioned notion that everyone should have the right to choose their sex lives, the prime minister's father, who was minister of justice, stated that the state had no business in the bedrooms. Although the sons' statement on housing isn't as pithy, courageous, or eloquent as it seems, it says almost exactly the same thing.
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Article content OK. The Liberal child care policy recognizes that different families have different needs and desires and therefore the Liberal policy does not acknowledge this. Some people will prefer to take care of it themselves. Others will need help from their parents, neighbours, trusted family members, siblings, or other relatives. Some will seek out full-time, regulated, unionized, and therefore strike-prone daycare. This is what Liberals are supposedly looking for. This one should be multi-layered. What if you provide funding for a specific amount per child, as the Tories suggested? And let parents decide how to best care for their children?
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Article content: The Liberals' devotion to choice does not extend beyond daycare. They also want federal employees and those travelling in federally regulated cars to be vaccinated as a condition to employment. It is unclear to me if it is to the Liberals credit, or debit, that their sudden devotion towards compulsory vaccination seems so transparently dishonest. Will the government go to war against the public sector unions, which they have indicated they will, if they are unable to push back? Is this the first time that the government has gone to war against public sector unions, or was it a recent one? This question will also be asked by human rights tribunals and similar entities when they respond to the proposed violation people's right to move. It is almost certain that lawyers will decide the entire question after much effort and expense.
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Article content The Conservatives are vigorous in defending the freedom to choose child care and vaccination. However, news reports indicate that a majority of Erin OTooles' caucus doesn't share his pro-choice views. A Conservative parliament might support such legislation even if the Conservative government does. It would be great to have a discussion about the various parties' theories on individual choice and philosophical nuances that have influenced policy decisions during this period of collective debate. I think they won't give it to us.
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