The lessons of COVID-19 apply to cybersecurity, too, and we must learn them
As security experts know, one of the biggest areas of risk is simple human nature. Consider that it was accepted wisdom that a global pandemic was a matter of when, not if. But in the face of so many competing, pressing, or timely priorities, it’s hardly surprising that pandemic planning sat at the bottom of […]
In the next wave of economic recovery, ‘speed, scale, and simplicity’ need to make way for sustainability
When Finance Minister Bill Morneau provided Canadians with a fiscal update July 8, he described how the federal government helped pull Canadians and businesses back from the brink of financial insolvency due to the country entering lockdown in response to COVID-19. Three principles, he said, were applied to all new programs: speed, scale, and simplicity. […]
The price of everything and the value of nothing
HALIFAX—The King of Quip once said that the cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Oscar Wilde could have been writing about how some people are reacting to the staggering sums run up in Canada’s fight against COVID-19. The Trudeau government is on track to post a deficit of $343.2-billion, and […]
The other side of Canada’s deficit coin
For every transaction in the economy, there is someone on the other side: someone who is paying money always has someone on the other side receiving it. Last Wednesday’s economic and fiscal snapshot revealed a historic $343-billion deficit, 15 times higher than where the federal deficit stood at the end of last year. This came […]
Opposition MPs decry lack of transparency around government’s COVID-19 advertising spending
Opposition MPs from the Conservatives, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois condemned the government’s spending plan for advertising related to the COVID-19 pandemic last week, following the allocation of an additional $48-million for the ad campaign in the most recent round of supplementary estimates. The government has already spent tens of millions on communications and […]
Pandemic forcing big changes in Canada, not all of them bad
OTTAWA—The Paris runway just featured virtual models. The good news was that they looked a little heavier than usual because the camera has a tendency to add a few pounds. The bad news is that this may not be the only year for COVID haute couture. With the unrelenting rise in Americans testing positive for […]
Government must help businesses, not just households, to sustain economic recovery
What should the federal government be doing to help the private sector sustain its recovery, rather than sustain its mere survival for another quarter or two? Without a recovery of the business sector, there will be no ongoing growth in Canada. Ensuring firms survive only to be swamped by too much accumulated debt just postpones […]
Too soon to say if StatsCan will bring in more racialized researchers, says official; ‘we’re just building those relationships’
Canada’s statistics agency is working with an expert advisory committee to better collect race-based data, but it is too early to say whether it will hire more racialized on-the-ground statisticians and researchers to help, says one official. Marc Lachance, acting director of health, justice, diversity, and populations with Statistics Canada, acknowledged in an interview last week […]
Remote working brings a new set of challenges
“Presenteeism,” in general, refers to being physically present at work but functionally absent. It results in suboptimal productivity. The reasons vary. You are unwell; you have reason to be absent but you are at work because you have a deadline to meet, you have expectations to fulfill, you fear being “out of sight and out […]
MPs back more modest option for Parliament visitors’ centre as Centre Block renos roll on
A House Board of Internal Economy’s subcommittee overseeing the decade-long project to renovate Centre Block says the government should opt for a more modest and less costly option for the next phase of the Visitors’ Welcome Centre. In a Friday briefing before the Board of Internal Economy, or BOIE, Conservative MP Bruce Stanton (Simcoe North, […]
