The world needs a central command-and-control centre to respond to disasters quickly and orderly.

Five days after the massive earthquake hit Haiti, little aid was reaching the beleaguered people on the ground. Access to crucial medical care, food, and water was scant. Extractive efforts beyond what the people were doing with shovels and their bare hands were largely non-existent. Haitians, starving, dangerously dehydrated, and exposed to a withering sun, were dying by the thousands. This, despite the fact that large quantities of donated emergency supplies were sitting on the tarmac of the country’s main airport in Port-au-Prince.

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The following editorial appeared in the Sooke News Mirror this week.

A way forward to fix the HST
By Dr. Keith Martin, MP

As the provincial and federal governments introduce their legislation to implement the HST, it would be wise to look at a number of measures that would help mitigate the impact this tax will have on small businesses and consumers.

To be fair, there are a few benefits. Some goods made in BC will be less costly to produce, which could lower their price for consumers. There should also be a reduction in the administrative burden on businesses. However, these benefits will be overshadowed by an increased tax burden on seniors, the poor and major sectors of BC’s economy, especially tourism, restaurants, homebuilding, and the service sector. For example, many people don’t know that the HST will add a 12% tax every year on the management fees charged on mutual funds. Since we know that most people will not have enough money to retire on, why would we introduce a hefty tax that penalizes people who are trying to save for retirement? In fact, the more you save, the more you will be taxed.

So what can be done to reduce the harm the HST will have that both the feds and the province could embrace: (more…)

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The following article was published in the Montreal Gazette:

Canada must help the women of the Eastern Congo

By Keith Martin, MP, Sarina Rehal, and Simon Child
November 24, 2009

Right now, violence is escalating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a region that has been devastated for over a decade by a series of conflicts that are collectively the worlds deadliest crisis since World War II”. Shockingly a girl who lives in this region has a greater chance of being raped than she does of going to school. (more…)

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As published in the Times Colonist
September 8, 2009
By: Keith Martin

The announcement that on July 1, 2010, B.C.’s provincial sales tax will be merged with the federal goods and services tax was a bolt out of the blue.

This seven per cent tax increase on everything that was previously exempt from PST was anticipated by no one.
(more…)

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The announcement that on July 1, 2010, BC’s provincial sales tax (PST) will be merged with the federal goods and services tax (GST), was a bolt out of the blue. This 7% tax increase on everything that was previously exempt from PST was anticipated by no one. (more…)

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By Keith Martin, Special to The Windsor Star
August 29, 2009

Recently, we marked World Humanitarian Day, and it is not good enough for us to congratulate ourselves on our humanitarian successes of the past.

We should use this day to mobilize resources to stop the gross humanitarian disasters that continue to destroy the lives of the poorest people on the planet. None of these crises are more appalling and neglected than the brutality that continues to fester in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
(more…)

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BC must ensure HST will benefit both consumers and small businesses
by Dr. Keith Martin, MP

The announcement that on July 1, 2010 British Columbia’s provincial sales tax (PST) will be merged with the federal goods and services tax (GST) was a bolt out of the blue. This new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) will be twelve percent and applied to everything we pay GST on, including those things that were previously exempt from PST.

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Keith Martin, National Post
June 26, 2009

On June 17, the House of Commons standing committee on national defence released an extensive report on the health services provided to our Canadian Forces (CF) personnel with a focus on Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The all-party committee made 36 recommendations. During the time that the government is reviewing and responding to this report, the men and women in our Forces and their families will be continuing to make extraordinary sacrifices for our country every day. There are many things that have not been done, that must be done to provide the care they justly deserve from a grateful nation.

Here are five solutions, which could be implemented right away, that would dramatically help our CF members and their families:
(more…)

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As published on The Mark – Canada’s newest online news source
KEITH MARTIN

The lethal gun battles on the streets of Vancouver, the astounding number of murders in Mexico, and the insurgency that continues to grow in Afghanistan (which results in our soldiers being killed) all have one thing in common: the trafficking of illegal drugs.
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Sewage treatment plans promise to cost billions, yet fix nothing
by Dr. Keith Martin, MP

Victoria is about to be saddled with the biggest boondoggle in Canadian history. The proposal to build a sewage treatment plant that is likely to cost $2 billion or more, is based on myths, fear, and an appalling lack of due diligence on the part of various levels of government.

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