By O. Max Gardner III
Originally published at: http://bit.ly/cceEC6
Dalton Camp proclaimed [Ed.: in Canada's defunct Saturday Night Magazine] several years ago that “having lost its value, money may no longer be the root of all evil; credit having taken its place.” This statement demonstrates the paradox of modern day Christianity and debt—should the Christian reaction be one of condemnation or one of compassion. Since many recent respected studies have shown that the average American family is only three weeks away from personal bankruptcy, and since Congress is on the verge of passing legislation that will deny bankruptcy relief to hundreds of thousands of American families, it is time to revisit what the Bible teaches us about debt.
The Bible makes it clear that people are generally expected to pay their debts. Leviticus 25:39. No one in support of or in opposition to the Bankruptcy Reform Bill presently before Congress has advanced any argument against this general proposition. However, this moral and legal obligation to pay just debts must be balanced by such considerations as the need for compassion and the call to cancel debts at periodic intervals. The Biblical basis for such considerations is based on the sabbatical and Jubilee years. The secular basis arises out of the Constitutional of Congress to enact uniform laws allowing businesses and consumers to cancel and to restructure debt obligations. This Biblical support for the legal right to cancel debt is enforced by the even stronger Biblical doctrine that prohibited interest of any amount rather than just usury or excessive interest.
Within the areas of economic justice and stability, the Old Testament is replete with examples of compassionate treatment of the poor, and with preservation of the family unit. These goals were superior to the material concerns of repayment of debt. For instance
Continue Reading »
by Tina Giesbrecht, Barry B. Sookman, and Erika Ringseis of McCarthy Tétrault LLP
A well-drafted computer-use policy can provide evidence to uphold a termination for cause and can protect an employer from harassment claims, as recent case law illustrates.
The scene is well-known in the workplace: an employee receives an e-mail joke or photo from a colleague down the hall, has a giggle, and forwards the message to other colleagues, friends at other organizations, and relatives who might appreciate the joke. In minutes, a complete cyber network is created, and it has passed along a message.
Sometimes the message is innocuous, e.g., it involves cute images or funny expressions. Other times, it involves racist, sexist or pornographic jokes or images.
Continue Reading »
I have now posted the newly released Superintendent’s Standards for surplus income for 2010. I have also updated the Sample Surplus Income Calculation.
The Superintendent’s standards are derived from the Low Income Cutoffs (LICO) released by Statistics Canada. The Superintendent of Bankruptcy uses the before-tax LICO for urban areas with 500 000 people or more.The 2010 standards are updated by adding to the 2008 LICO the 2009 Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 0.26 percent, plus a 1.7 percent adjustment reflecting the 2010 CPI expectation. Because the actual and expected changes in CPI are currently so low, there has been very little change in this year’s standards.
We have published our version of the booklet, Dealing with Debt – A Consumer’s Guide, originally published by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankrupty, Industry Canada. We have also made available a Word version of the booklet that is suitable for customization by your firm for use with clients who face insolvency. If you need help with customizing the booklet or with producing a .pdf version, please contact us.
I’ve noticed that some practitioners hold outdated beliefs about bankrutpcy and insolvency. My first step in trying to change this is to provide details of new rules that came into force September 18, 2009.
