Liberals should be worried
TORONTO—Liberals should be worried. The odds are growing that the Trudeau government could fail in its overarching pledge to strengthen the middle class, a pledge that is supposed to drive almost everything the government does. But unless it can improve Canada’s potential growth rate for the economy, driven by innovation and a resulting improvement in […]
How Morneau can make this year’s budget the innovation budget
Will Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s 2017 budget be the innovation budget? That’s far from clear. Innovation and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains has launched his own innovation agenda project and may want to save some big ideas for his own report. Now, Morneau’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth has just issued a new set of […]
More needed, fast, to address suicide crisis among indigenous peoples: Bellegarde
Tackling the suicide epidemic among Canada’s indigenous peoples requires long-term investments addressing root causes and while the $8.4-billion in federal funding announced last year was “unprecedented,” delivery needs to be sped up and improved, says Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde. “How are we getting [the federal funding] out in a very effective and […]
Senate considers bill to ensure individuals in Russia held responsible for corruption, human rights abuses
Sergei Magnitsky believed in the rule of law. Unfortunately, in present-day Russia, that belief led to his imprisonment and death. Currently, the Senate is considering a bill to ensure that those individuals responsible for corruption and human rights abuses in Russia are held personally accountable for their actions. By now, all of us are familiar […]
Divide and conquer: How the feds split the provinces in health talks
The Prime Minister’s Office had decided weeks before a Dec. 19 meeting between Finance Minister Bill Morneau (Toronto Centre, Ont.) and his provincial and territorial counterparts that it had a “high tolerance for failure” of the talks towards a Canada-wide health agreement, according to sources in the health community close to the discussions. The provinces […]
Opioid bill, CETA, budget at top of House agenda as MPs return
The ongoing opioid crisis in Canada and job losses have put two bills—Bill C-37, to address safe injection sites and Bill C-30 implementing CETA—as well as the upcoming budget as top priorities when the House returns Monday after a six-week break from Ottawa. “Lots of people wonder if Parliament cares,” NDP House leader Murray Rankin (Victoria, B.C.) told […]
Trump changed the game for Trudeau, but the heavy lifting is just beginning
MONTREAL—Stéphane Dion was the first Canadian political casualty of the Donald Trump era. Significant parts of Justin Trudeau’s agenda could yet be next. Dion’s removal from his foreign affairs cabinet post was the central piece of this month’s cabinet shuffle. Trump’s inauguration provided a rationale for precipitating the former Liberal leader’s political retirement and replacing […]
‘With all the talk of Canada being back,’ aid groups ‘alarmed,’ told to expect little from budget
In a matter of months, Canadian-based foreign aid groups have gone from being optimistic to deflated about the chances the government might boost flat aid spending. When the government launched a full review of Canada’s aid policy last spring, groups were hoping the idea that Canada was coming “back” on the world stage would translate […]
Tax hikes hobble young people’s job prospects
Canada’s youth are facing an employment crisis. In December there were 40,000 fewer youth jobs than the year before. That’s a three per cent decrease! Most worrisome is that youth have been relegated by the finance minister to a career of insecure part-time and contract work, unable to make a proper life for themselves because […]
Now, the hard part: few easy fixes left for feds on housing
The Liberal government may have to get more creative if it wants to help young urban Canadians struggling to break into the housing market. Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s (Toronto Centre, Ont.) moves last year to tighten mortgage rules, discourage non-resident buyers, and fend off a housing bubble were “absolutely the right thing” for the economy, […]
