Now is the time to invest in renewing Canada’s outdoor recreation infrastructure
With warmer weather sweeping across much of our country, Canadians are venturing outside and looking for safe ways to spend time with family and friends. Outdoor recreation—be it getting on a boat and fishing, hiking through a provincial park, camping in your RV, or motoring along a wooded trail—is the perfect prescription for a lockdown-weary […]
Oversight for ministers’ regional offices changes hands from PSPC to PCO
Some internal restructuring has taken place within government, with oversight of the 16 ministers’ regional offices having been transferred from Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand to the Privy Council Office at the end of June. “The transfer, which occurred in June 2020, is in keeping with the mandate letter for the Deputy Prime […]
A less crowded planet
LONDON, U.K.—If you wanted evidence that reasonably competent government—not great, not corruption-free, just not awful—produces good results in the end, here it is. Back in 1971, when the two countries split apart, Bangladesh had 65 million people and Pakistan had 60 million. By the end of this century, Bangladesh will have around 80 million people—and […]
Why it is time for smart protectionism
Free trade is good economics. Protectionism is bad. Global supply chains are efficient. Favouring domestic goods, services and industries is inefficient. Canada has long adhered to these orthodoxies. And most of the time it makes sense to do so. However, through the COVID-19 pandemic, both the public and private sectors have seen weaknesses associated with […]
WE Charity was eligible to receive up to $43-million under now-abandoned deal, says Chagger
Youth Minister Bardish Chagger said on Thursday WE Charity could have received a total of $43.5-million for its administration of a now-abandoned deal to help match students with volunteer placements. The figure cited was news to opposition MPs present at the virtual meeting of the House Finance Committee, who noted the government had said that […]
Ottawa mayor calls on Trudeau to send cash to people with disabilities, pass Bill C-17
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has called on the federal government to find new ways to send money to help people with disabilities weather the COVID-19 pandemic, or try again to pass legislation that would do so through the House of Commons. Mr. Watson made the requests in an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau […]
Scrap troubled student service grant, funnel money into existing relief programs, says student advocate
As fallout over the prime minister’s involvement in a now-abandoned plan to award WE Charity oversight of a $900-million program plays out, his government’s efforts to move past the controversy and roll out the student relief program could influence how younger voters evaluate his performance, say some observers, while some student advocates are calling on […]
Forget the second wave of lockdowns, prepare for the recessionary tsunami
TORONTO—In the midst of multi-phase reopening plans, COVID-19 cases are back on the rise around the world. This has caused talks of a second round of lockdowns to circulate before this first round of unlocking. This is music to the ears of struggling business owners. Yet we shouldn’t expect a government-orchestrated economic plan to be […]
Coronavirus: why Canada must recalibrate its foreign aid policy
VANCOUVER—The Trump administration has officially begun to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), creating a budget vacuum that will limit the organization’s ability to help impacted countries fight COVID-19. Meanwhile, the pandemic has demonstrated that in our interconnected world order, we cannot protect the Canadian mainland without projecting our reach abroad. While closing borders […]
Canada, host countries should bolster efforts to mitigate COVID-19 spread in ‘displaced communities,’ says refugee advocacy group
With the peak of the pandemic still “three to six months” away from hitting regions gripped by humanitarian crises, an international refugee advocacy group is calling on the global community to step up its efforts to ensure vulnerable groups receive support needed to protect themselves from the virus. In a report released on Wednesday, Refugees […]
