Garry Kasparov and Mikhail Khodorkovsky | Foreign Affairs
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin
The regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin is living on borrowed time. The tide of history is turning, and everything from Ukraine’s advances on the battlefield to the West’s enduring unity and resolve in the face of Putin’s aggression points to 2023 being a decisive year. If the West holds firm, Putin’s regime will likely collapse in the near future.
Yet some of Ukraine’s key partners continue to resist supplying Kyiv with the weapons it needs to deliver the knockout punch. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden in particular seems afraid of the chaos that could accompany a decisive Kremlin defeat. It has declined to send the tanks, long-range missile systems, and drones that would allow Ukrainian forces to take the fight to their attackers, reclaim their territory, and end the war. The end of Putin’s tyrannical rule will indeed radically change Russia and the rest of the world — but not in the way the White House thinks. Rather than destabilizing Russia and its neighbors, a Ukrainian victory would eliminate a powerful revanchist force and boost the cause of democracy worldwide. Continue reading
CANADA: Toronto’s vacant home tax has arrived and here’s what you need to know
A Vacant Home Tax of one per cent of the Current Value Assessment (CVA) will be imposed on all Toronto residences that are declared, deemed or determined vacant for more than six months during the previous year.
That unkempt, overgrown property on your street could soon finally get some tenants thanks to a new City of Toronto tax clamping down on vacant homes.
After much discussion on taxing owners of unoccupied units, the City finally passed its vacant home tax in mid-2021, and put it into effect at the start of 2022. Continue reading →
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