Stories by Thomas Walkom
On NAFTA, Canada agrees to discuss the unthinkable
Canada seems to be quietly backing down on the North American Free Trade Agreement. It is now willing to bargain U.S. demands that the Liberal government had formerly dismissed as deal-breakers. That seems to be…
The worst of Trumpism has come to Canada. It has come in the form of a Quebec law that, under the guise of promoting religious neutrality and accommodation, blatantly discriminates against Muslims. And it has…
TORONTO—Score another win for Donald Trump's high-handed version of protectionism. Monday's decision by Montreal-based Bombardier to give away control over its much-vaunted C Series jet virtually guarantees that the U.S. will get the lion's share…
Bill Morneau may not be the world's most adept politician. But as federal finance minister, his truncated tax reforms are at least still going, barely, in the right direction. Let's hope that he and Prime…
TORONTO—If U.S. President Donald Trump deep-sixes the North American Free Trade Agreement, there are essentially three things that Canada can do. It can try to salvage a bilateral deal with the U.S. It can, in…TOKYO—The North Korean crisis has thrown Japan's beleaguered Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a lifeline. But it is a slippery one. Just three months ago, Abe was in the political doldrums. A series of scandals, including…
TORONTO—Another idol bites the dust. The world had been told that Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi was a heroine of democracy and human rights. Now it turns out that her idea of human rights…TORONTO—In a strange way, Donald Trump's disdain for the North American Free Trade Agreement may do Canada a favour. He may end up forcing this country to reduce its dependence on the United States. We…
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TORONTO—Justin Trudeau's Indigenous strategy has suddenly become clearer. He is taking his cues from a road map laid out more than two decades ago by a controversial royal commission that, until now, has been roundly…
TORONTO—As he committed America and its allies to years more of war in Afghanistan, Donald Trump made a stark confession last week. "My original instinct was to pull out," the U.S. president said in a…
TORONTO—Donald Trump likes to portray himself as the victim. The purveyors of "fake news," he says, undermine him because they cannot accept that he won the U.S. presidency. His paranoia isn't entirely misplaced. Trump doesn't…
New Democratic Party federal leadership candidate Jagmeet Singh is unorthodox in more ways than one. So far, the newest entrant in the four-person race to replace Tom Mulcair has been deemed noteworthy for his style…The Omar Khadr settlement is a sign of the times. It marks a belated recognition that Canada went overboard in the war against terror. The deal reached between Khadr's lawyers and the federal government, whereby…
TORONTO—After 20 months as prime minister, Justin Trudeau isn't quite as sunny as he used to be. He remains unfailingly polite. At an Ottawa press conference on June 27 to mark the end of Parliament's…
I will celebrate Canada Day on Saturday. I will celebrate it although our history of nation-building includes the usual mixture of bad-faith dealing, intolerance, and greed. I will celebrate it even if some of my…
TORONTO—A lawsuit challenging the privatization of Hydro One is winding its way slowly through the courts. It may not succeed. Judges are hard to predict. But politically, it hits Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne's Liberal government…
Terrorism is theatre. The point is not to overwhelm by sheer force of arms. It is to frighten and unnerve. If the terrorists are lucky, they will provoke their enemy into overreacting. Al Qaeda's great…
TORONTO—Credit Ontario Power Generation for this: when it comes to choosing a place to store nuclear waste, the Crown corporation is consistent. It wants to bury the stuff beside Lake Huron. Period. And no matter…
TORONTO—The debate over cultural appropriation is complicated. At one level it is about the legitimacy of telling the stories of others. At base, it is about money. It became front-page news recently when the editor…
In the end, Defence Minister Harjit's Sajjan's sin is grammatical. He has described himself as "the" architect of a 2006 Canadian-led mission against the Taliban during the Afghan War. He should have said "an" architect.…
TORONTO—Ontario's new Fair Housing Plan is a potpourri of politics with a few good ideas mixed in. If Toronto and surrounding areas are indeed caught up in an irrational real estate bubble, the measures announced…
In his approach to the Syrian civil war, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is consistent in at least one respect. He consistently supports the dangerously inconsistent approach of Donald Trump. When Trump and his senior officials…
TORONTO—It is sometimes held that Finance Minister Bill Morneau backed away from a promise to end lucrative tax breaks for the well-to-do in last week's budget because of Donald Trump. With the mercurial Trump occupying…
Give Donald Trump credit for this. The United States president-elect might not be everybody's favourite person, but he is showing that governments can successfully challenge the logic of globalization. In particular, he has demonstrated some…
On May 19, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended a Liberal party fundraising soirée at the home of a wealthy Chinese-Canadian. Canadian citizens who attended paid $1,500 each for the privilege. By law, foreigners—including an unknown…
Two things should be kept in mind about Donald Trump. First, the U.S. president-elect is not going away. Second, his critique of free trade and NATO is not entirely wrong. If the polls are right,…
TORONTO—Donald Trump's real accomplishment is this: He has terrified the establishment. And maybe that's a good thing. Even before the votes in the U.S. presidential race were counted Tuesday night, the effects of Trump's insurgent…
TORONTO—The World Wildlife Fund predicts the mass extinction of numerous animal species unless humankind mends its ways. That's the bad news. Ontario's environment commissioner has highlighted the moose as one such species under threat. But…
TORONTO—It has always been a myth that Canada's soldiers in Iraq don't do combat. Now the myth is even harder to sustain. On Oct. 6, a senior general acknowledged that, over the past few months,…
TORONTO—We didn’t need the reminder but we got it anyway. A British parliamentary committee has told the world just how ill-advised was the 2011 war against Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. And by implication it has…
TORONTO—Republicans loathe her. Democrats suspect her. Polls show her to be one of the most unpopular presidential candidates in modern American history. What is it about Hillary Clinton? In theory, the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee…Politics This Morning
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