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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 1, 20 18 | 8 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca editorial@waterloochronicle.ca facebook.com/waterloochronicle @wlchronicle WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Nelson Parreira nparreira@metroland.com Regional Director of Media Heather Dunbar hdunbar@starmetrolandmedia.com Sales Lead/Advertising Representative Michelle Stevens ext. 795062 Advertising Representatives Cassandra Dellow ext. 795066 Zach Peters ext. 795068 Jan Bodanka ext. 795072 Delia Medina ext. 795065 Regional Editor Mike Wilson Reporters Adam Jackson Bill Jackson Namish Modi CONTACT US Waterloo Chronicle 630 Riverbend Dr. Kitchener, ON N2B 2G1 Phone: 519-886-2830 Fax: 519-579-2029 Web: www.waterloochronicle.ca Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, e-mail customerservice@metroland.com or call 519-894-3000 OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA EDITORIAL Canada has distin- guished itself again by be- coming the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to end a nationwide prohibi- tion on marijuana use. We probably aren't as fa- miliar with the word prohi- bition as past generations. According to Merriam Web- ster's Dictionary, "it is a law or order that stops some- thing from being used or done." Alcohol use was once prohibited and homosexual acts were illegal at one time too. Isn't it interesting that these things were outlawed? I'm sure previous genera- tions would have never thought these would one day be considered normal or culturally acceptable. But if there is such a thing as right and wrong, shouldn't it be right or wrong in any gener- ation? Will we one day say that a red traffic light will mean go and a green one will mean stop? Not likely, because it's become univer- sally accepted and isn't gov- erned by the changing stan- dards of human conduct. We humans are quite happy to change the rules on acceptability as it suits us. But this proves problem- atic since what is acceptable to me isn't always good for me, and what is acceptable to me definitely might not be good for you. Will there come a time when killing another person will be le- gal? Your first thought might be never, but it's al- ready begun through abor- tion and physician-assisted suicide. Some will say these are special circumstances. Aren't they all? The recreational use of cannabis means that my family, along with the chil- dren of smokers, can now be exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke - us from our neighbours and them from their parents. A per- son's supposed "freedom" is always at the cost of anoth- er's, especially in this self- centric world. When the bill to legalize marijuana passed in the Senate, Prime Minister Jus- tin Trudeau tweeted, "It's been too easy for our kids to get marijuana - and for criminals to reap the profits. Today, we change that." Who benefits and how they do will change. Criminals will still reap the profits on the black market, but now the government will profit too through the legalized sale of marijuana. As for it being harder for youths to get, that's debatable. Howev- er, the fact that they'll be more exposed to it is not. We all will be. A plume of smoke might not rise over the na- tion as a result of legaliza- tion, but neither will we re- ceive a badge of honour. Renae Jarrett lives in Durham, loves Canada and is passionate about truth in current affairs. She can be reached at: asrjsee- sit@gmail.com. CANADA'S NEW CANNABIS CULTURE COLUMNIST RENAE JARRETT SAYS WE LIKE TO CHANGE THE RULES WHEN IT SUITS US RENAE JARRETT Column It's amazing what a government that styles itself as being "for the people" can accomplish in a few short months to make life just a bit more miserable for so many people struggling to make it in this province. In August the Ford government cut a planned 3 per cent increase in social assistance payments in half and scrapped the basic income pilot project launched by the Liberals. As it turns out, that was just the warm-up. Now, with what it calls the Ontario Open for Business Act, the government has made it clear that the "people" it speaks for do not include those at the bottom of the heap who have been struggling for a share of the prov- ince's growing prosperity. The government says the new law will "create good- paying jobs with benefits." In reality, it will do just the opposite by clawing back planned wage increases, rights and protections contained in the former Liberal govern- ment's Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, passed late last year. That certainly isn't good for employees, and as many economists have argued it isn't good for the economy as a whole either. Some of the changes come as no surprise. Labour Minister Laurie Scott, for example, had already made it clear that the minimum wage would not rise from $14 an hour to $15 in January, as it was set to do under the Lib- erals' legislation. But the new law goes a bit further than just cancel- ling the scheduled increase, which will deprive a person on minimum wage of about $2,000 a year. It actually freezes the provincial minimum wage at $14 until Octo- ber 2020, instead of planning for it to rise with inflation. Starting in 2020, the wage will start to increase gradu- ally, but it isn't expected to reach $15 until January 2024 - a full five years after the current plan. That leaves tens of thousands of low-wage workers further behind. And it ignores numerous studies that suggest providing workers with a decent wage puts more money into the economy, which in the long term benefits everyone. Further, the new legislation also repeals the equal pay for equal work regulations, which required that casual and part-time workers doing the same work as full-time employees receive the same hourly wage. That will encourage employers to hire more people as tempo- rary help and reduce the incentive to hire full-time. The Ford government is justifying all this on the grounds that it's necessary to cut "red tape that is driv- ing jobs and investment out of our province." Falling unemployment and an influx of jobs into the GTA put the lie to that. This is not about creating jobs or being "for the people." It's about putting the boots to those at the bottom and it goes in exactly the wrong direction. ONTARIO IS TAKING A BIG STEP BACK BY FREEZING MINIMUM WAGE