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Ken Coates

Serving the whole North is of national importance

  • The Canadian North should not have to stand in line, lobbying for support for a handful of small projects.
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | December 1, 2025
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said investments announced in the 2025 federal budget will 'create skilled, well-paid jobs, strengthen regional economies, and help Canadian businesses get their goods to new markets,' in a Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada press release on Nov. 21. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Serving the whole North is of national importance

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | December 1, 2025
  • The Canadian North should not have to stand in line, lobbying for support for a handful of small projects.

Serving the whole North is of national importance

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | December 1, 2025
  • The Canadian North should not have to stand in line, lobbying for support for a handful of small projects.
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said investments announced in the 2025 federal budget will 'create skilled, well-paid jobs, strengthen regional economies, and help Canadian businesses get their goods to new markets,' in a Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada press release on Nov. 21. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Canada cannot seem to get innovation right

  • Canada’s economy lags well behind the U.S., with per capita income dropping sharply. Many bright scientists and entrepreneurs leave for better commercial and professional
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 3, 2025
It is not that Canada has no entrepreneurs; it's that we have too few of them, writes Ken Coates, Professor Emeritus for the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. Image courtesy of Gerd Altmann, Pixabay.com

Canada cannot seem to get innovation right

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 3, 2025
  • Canada’s economy lags well behind the U.S., with per capita income dropping sharply. Many bright scientists and entrepreneurs leave for better commercial and professional

Canada cannot seem to get innovation right

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 3, 2025
  • Canada’s economy lags well behind the U.S., with per capita income dropping sharply. Many bright scientists and entrepreneurs leave for better commercial and professional
It is not that Canada has no entrepreneurs; it's that we have too few of them, writes Ken Coates, Professor Emeritus for the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. Image courtesy of Gerd Altmann, Pixabay.com

The North in transition

  • The primary changes are coming from two directions: the recent election of Donald Trump as president of the United States and the likely change
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | November 30, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to 'drill, baby, drill' will have major effects on the Canadian energy sector, and a possible Conservative government under Pierre Poilievre would bring about significant policy shifts, writes Ken Coates, professor of Indigenous Governance at Yukon University. Wikimedia Commons photo and The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

The North in transition

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | November 30, 2024
  • The primary changes are coming from two directions: the recent election of Donald Trump as president of the United States and the likely change

The North in transition

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | November 30, 2024
  • The primary changes are coming from two directions: the recent election of Donald Trump as president of the United States and the likely change
President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to 'drill, baby, drill' will have major effects on the Canadian energy sector, and a possible Conservative government under Pierre Poilievre would bring about significant policy shifts, writes Ken Coates, professor of Indigenous Governance at Yukon University. Wikimedia Commons photo and The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Will innovation support or undermine rural and Northern Canada?

  • Northern and rural areas are losing stores to e-commerce, cinemas to video-streaming, and professional jobs to e-health and e-education, and getting only a small return
Opinion | BY KEN COATES, CARIN HOLROYD | October 21, 2024
This country has not yet learned how to diversify our innovation economy, in the way Norway, Sweden, and Finland are doing, write Ken Coates and Carin Holroyd. Image courtesy of Pixabay

Will innovation support or undermine rural and Northern Canada?

Opinion | BY KEN COATES, CARIN HOLROYD | October 21, 2024
  • Northern and rural areas are losing stores to e-commerce, cinemas to video-streaming, and professional jobs to e-health and e-education, and getting only a small return

Will innovation support or undermine rural and Northern Canada?

Opinion | BY KEN COATES, CARIN HOLROYD | October 21, 2024
  • Northern and rural areas are losing stores to e-commerce, cinemas to video-streaming, and professional jobs to e-health and e-education, and getting only a small return
This country has not yet learned how to diversify our innovation economy, in the way Norway, Sweden, and Finland are doing, write Ken Coates and Carin Holroyd. Image courtesy of Pixabay

Child welfare reform deal presents a fork in the road to reconciliation

  • While a positive outcome for the First Nations child welfare agreement is not assured, it’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | August 26, 2024
Cindy Woodhouse
Cindy Woodhouse
The nearly $50-billion settlement is the first major achievement of National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak’s term as head of the Assembly of First Nations, and potentially one of the most consequential developments in Canadian public policy in 50 years, writes Ken Coates. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Child welfare reform deal presents a fork in the road to reconciliation

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | August 26, 2024
  • While a positive outcome for the First Nations child welfare agreement is not assured, it’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.

Child welfare reform deal presents a fork in the road to reconciliation

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | August 26, 2024
  • While a positive outcome for the First Nations child welfare agreement is not assured, it’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.
Cindy Woodhouse
The nearly $50-billion settlement is the first major achievement of National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak’s term as head of the Assembly of First Nations, and potentially one of the most consequential developments in Canadian public policy in 50 years, writes Ken Coates. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Water management is key to and symbolic of Canada’s relationships with Indigenous Peoples

  • Canadians, with the world’s largest supply of fresh water, take this precious resource for granted.
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 15, 2024
Water has become one of the most prominent symbols of the gap in quality of life and services between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples, and between rich and poor, writes Ken Coates. Photograph courtesy of Tony Cordaro/Pixabay

Water management is key to and symbolic of Canada’s relationships with Indigenous Peoples

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 15, 2024
  • Canadians, with the world’s largest supply of fresh water, take this precious resource for granted.

Water management is key to and symbolic of Canada’s relationships with Indigenous Peoples

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 15, 2024
  • Canadians, with the world’s largest supply of fresh water, take this precious resource for granted.
Water has become one of the most prominent symbols of the gap in quality of life and services between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples, and between rich and poor, writes Ken Coates. Photograph courtesy of Tony Cordaro/Pixabay

Canada’s innovation challenges

  • Canada’s innovation challenges will not be overcome by another government program or an infusion of more federal cash.
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 5, 2024
In then-prime minister Jean Chrétien’s last term, innovation was held as Canada’s great economic hope, writes Ken Coates. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright

Canada’s innovation challenges

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 5, 2024
  • Canada’s innovation challenges will not be overcome by another government program or an infusion of more federal cash.

Canada’s innovation challenges

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 5, 2024
  • Canada’s innovation challenges will not be overcome by another government program or an infusion of more federal cash.
In then-prime minister Jean Chrétien’s last term, innovation was held as Canada’s great economic hope, writes Ken Coates. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright

Canada is completing Confederation

  • For generations, decisions about the North were made in Ottawa. While consultations improved, final decisions still rested outside the territory. That has now ended.  
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | January 31, 2024
The community of Apex, Nunavut. Small and widely distributed populations, vast expanses of land, and the high cost of living, working, and building will always make the Far North reliant on southern funds. But the balance can shift, writes Ken Coates. Photograph courtesy of Aaron Lloyd/Wikimedia Commons

Canada is completing Confederation

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | January 31, 2024
  • For generations, decisions about the North were made in Ottawa. While consultations improved, final decisions still rested outside the territory. That has now ended.  

Canada is completing Confederation

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | January 31, 2024
  • For generations, decisions about the North were made in Ottawa. While consultations improved, final decisions still rested outside the territory. That has now ended.  
The community of Apex, Nunavut. Small and widely distributed populations, vast expanses of land, and the high cost of living, working, and building will always make the Far North reliant on southern funds. But the balance can shift, writes Ken Coates. Photograph courtesy of Aaron Lloyd/Wikimedia Commons

Canada playing catch-up with northern technological futures

  • As a northern nation, Canada lags far behind its Arctic peers in technological and entrepreneurial development.
Opinion | BY KEN COATES, CARIN HOLROYD | December 6, 2023
The Scandinavian North has assumed Arctic leadership, with Tromsø—the self-proclaimed ‘capital’ of the European North—a prosperous, innovative, and creative city with the best university in the circumpolar world. Photograph courtesy of Tomislav Medak/Flickr

Canada playing catch-up with northern technological futures

Opinion | BY KEN COATES, CARIN HOLROYD | December 6, 2023
  • As a northern nation, Canada lags far behind its Arctic peers in technological and entrepreneurial development.

Canada playing catch-up with northern technological futures

Opinion | BY KEN COATES, CARIN HOLROYD | December 6, 2023
  • As a northern nation, Canada lags far behind its Arctic peers in technological and entrepreneurial development.
The Scandinavian North has assumed Arctic leadership, with Tromsø—the self-proclaimed ‘capital’ of the European North—a prosperous, innovative, and creative city with the best university in the circumpolar world. Photograph courtesy of Tomislav Medak/Flickr

Is innovation still innovative?

  • For the last 30 years, the world has been awash in the rhetoric of innovation. National and regional governments have committed billions of dollars
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 2, 2022
Canada should shift from the attempt to define a national innovation strategy to greater support for local and regional initiatives, writes Ken Coates. Photograph courtesy of Unsplash

Is innovation still innovative?

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 2, 2022
  • For the last 30 years, the world has been awash in the rhetoric of innovation. National and regional governments have committed billions of dollars

Is innovation still innovative?

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | February 2, 2022
  • For the last 30 years, the world has been awash in the rhetoric of innovation. National and regional governments have committed billions of dollars
Canada should shift from the attempt to define a national innovation strategy to greater support for local and regional initiatives, writes Ken Coates. Photograph courtesy of Unsplash

The continuing Indigenous winning streak

  • Bill Gallagher’s Resource Rulers: Fortune and Folly on Canada’s Road to Resources documents a remarkable Indigenous winning streak on resource rights. Published in 2012,
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | October 29, 2021
The Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill, pictured on Sept. 29, 2021. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

The continuing Indigenous winning streak

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | October 29, 2021
  • Bill Gallagher’s Resource Rulers: Fortune and Folly on Canada’s Road to Resources documents a remarkable Indigenous winning streak on resource rights. Published in 2012,

The continuing Indigenous winning streak

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | October 29, 2021
  • Bill Gallagher’s Resource Rulers: Fortune and Folly on Canada’s Road to Resources documents a remarkable Indigenous winning streak on resource rights. Published in 2012,
The Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill, pictured on Sept. 29, 2021. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Mining is on a strategic roll

  • The Canadian mining sector has been a vital cog in the country’s economy during the pandemic, with the importance of the industry growing steadily
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | March 24, 2021
Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan is pictured in Ottawa on Feb. 27, 2020. Strategic minerals have to be afforded high priority within the resource economy, with the country working with Canadian producers and manufacturers and key industrial clients in partner countries to identify medium- and long-term needs, writes Ken Coates. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Mining is on a strategic roll

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | March 24, 2021
  • The Canadian mining sector has been a vital cog in the country’s economy during the pandemic, with the importance of the industry growing steadily

Mining is on a strategic roll

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | March 24, 2021
  • The Canadian mining sector has been a vital cog in the country’s economy during the pandemic, with the importance of the industry growing steadily
Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan is pictured in Ottawa on Feb. 27, 2020. Strategic minerals have to be afforded high priority within the resource economy, with the country working with Canadian producers and manufacturers and key industrial clients in partner countries to identify medium- and long-term needs, writes Ken Coates. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

The dark and sombre shadows of the Atlantic fishery conflict

  • There is real sadness in the anger and violence erupting on the East Coast. This kind of conflict is not the norm in Canada,
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | November 4, 2020
Two fishers fighting in Nova Scotia. We must also remember that the present conflict did not have to happen. Ottawa knew of the First Nations’ dissatisfaction with the 'moderate livelihood' provisions, the need for greater commercial space for the growing Indigenous population, and more First Nations participation in fisheries management, writes Ken Coates. Image courtesy of CBC The National, Oct. 14, 2020

The dark and sombre shadows of the Atlantic fishery conflict

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | November 4, 2020
  • There is real sadness in the anger and violence erupting on the East Coast. This kind of conflict is not the norm in Canada,

The dark and sombre shadows of the Atlantic fishery conflict

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | November 4, 2020
  • There is real sadness in the anger and violence erupting on the East Coast. This kind of conflict is not the norm in Canada,
Two fishers fighting in Nova Scotia. We must also remember that the present conflict did not have to happen. Ottawa knew of the First Nations’ dissatisfaction with the 'moderate livelihood' provisions, the need for greater commercial space for the growing Indigenous population, and more First Nations participation in fisheries management, writes Ken Coates. Image courtesy of CBC The National, Oct. 14, 2020

COVID-19 and the future of Canadian universities

  • COVID-19 sparked a global crisis in post-secondary education that has remained seriously under-appreciated. In the United States, tuition-dependent private colleges are in dire financial
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | September 16, 2020
Students are pictured on campus at the University of Guelph. The next few weeks are likely to be critical to the future of Canada’s globally competitive university sector, writes MLI's Ken Coates. Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Oacstudent

COVID-19 and the future of Canadian universities

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | September 16, 2020
  • COVID-19 sparked a global crisis in post-secondary education that has remained seriously under-appreciated. In the United States, tuition-dependent private colleges are in dire financial

COVID-19 and the future of Canadian universities

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | September 16, 2020
  • COVID-19 sparked a global crisis in post-secondary education that has remained seriously under-appreciated. In the United States, tuition-dependent private colleges are in dire financial
Students are pictured on campus at the University of Guelph. The next few weeks are likely to be critical to the future of Canada’s globally competitive university sector, writes MLI's Ken Coates. Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Oacstudent

Ill-defined ‘green economy’ remains a distant target, imprecise and uncertain and with no clear path or guidelines

  • Only a few years ago, discussions of the green economy were genteel and very Canadian. Discussions focused on recycling, urban transit, downstream plans for
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | March 25, 2019
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured March 7, 2019, at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Ill-defined ‘green economy’ remains a distant target, imprecise and uncertain and with no clear path or guidelines

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | March 25, 2019
  • Only a few years ago, discussions of the green economy were genteel and very Canadian. Discussions focused on recycling, urban transit, downstream plans for

Ill-defined ‘green economy’ remains a distant target, imprecise and uncertain and with no clear path or guidelines

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | March 25, 2019
  • Only a few years ago, discussions of the green economy were genteel and very Canadian. Discussions focused on recycling, urban transit, downstream plans for
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured March 7, 2019, at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Dismantling of power cabinet trio sends a distressing message to Indigenous peoples

  • It’s possible that pundits read too much into every cabinet shuffle, particularly mere months before a federal election. But with the past week’s mini-shuffle,
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | January 21, 2019
Jody Wilson-Raybould is now Canada's veterans affairs minister. Removing Ms. Wilson-Raybould from the Justice portfolio has lessened the stature and impact of the most powerful and influential Indigenous federal politician in Canadian history, writes Ken Coates. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Dismantling of power cabinet trio sends a distressing message to Indigenous peoples

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | January 21, 2019
  • It’s possible that pundits read too much into every cabinet shuffle, particularly mere months before a federal election. But with the past week’s mini-shuffle,

Dismantling of power cabinet trio sends a distressing message to Indigenous peoples

Opinion | BY KEN COATES | January 21, 2019
  • It’s possible that pundits read too much into every cabinet shuffle, particularly mere months before a federal election. But with the past week’s mini-shuffle,
Jody Wilson-Raybould is now Canada's veterans affairs minister. Removing Ms. Wilson-Raybould from the Justice portfolio has lessened the stature and impact of the most powerful and influential Indigenous federal politician in Canadian history, writes Ken Coates. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

How Indigenous peoples can save the resource economy in Canada

  • In one of the most unexpected developments in recent years, numerous First Nations have recently come out in favour of both the construction of
Opinion | BY KEN COATES, STEPHEN BUFFALO | June 18, 2018
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Finance Minister Bill Morneau, pictured on May 29 in Ottawa when they announced the government's next steps to take control of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

How Indigenous peoples can save the resource economy in Canada

Opinion | BY KEN COATES, STEPHEN BUFFALO | June 18, 2018
  • In one of the most unexpected developments in recent years, numerous First Nations have recently come out in favour of both the construction of

How Indigenous peoples can save the resource economy in Canada

Opinion | BY KEN COATES, STEPHEN BUFFALO | June 18, 2018
  • In one of the most unexpected developments in recent years, numerous First Nations have recently come out in favour of both the construction of
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Finance Minister Bill Morneau, pictured on May 29 in Ottawa when they announced the government's next steps to take control of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Bill on implementing UNDRIP ‘simplistic and ‘laden with circular tensions’

  • With a surprise reversal by the Liberal government, NDP MP Romeo Saganash’s Bill C-262 could have wider-ranging effects than any private member’s bill ever
Opinion | BY DWIGHT NEWMAN, KEN COATES | December 14, 2017
The Trudeau government recently announced that it would back a private member's bill from NDP MP Romeo Saganash, pictured, calling on Ottawa to introduce and maintain a 20-year implementation plan for the sweeping United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Rights. The Hill Times file photograph

Bill on implementing UNDRIP ‘simplistic and ‘laden with circular tensions’

Opinion | BY DWIGHT NEWMAN, KEN COATES | December 14, 2017
  • With a surprise reversal by the Liberal government, NDP MP Romeo Saganash’s Bill C-262 could have wider-ranging effects than any private member’s bill ever

Bill on implementing UNDRIP ‘simplistic and ‘laden with circular tensions’

Opinion | BY DWIGHT NEWMAN, KEN COATES | December 14, 2017
  • With a surprise reversal by the Liberal government, NDP MP Romeo Saganash’s Bill C-262 could have wider-ranging effects than any private member’s bill ever
The Trudeau government recently announced that it would back a private member's bill from NDP MP Romeo Saganash, pictured, calling on Ottawa to introduce and maintain a 20-year implementation plan for the sweeping United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Rights. The Hill Times file photograph
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