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 […]
Hybrid summer circuit in the cards as politicians try to strike balance between public health and politics
For politicians, the summer is normally a time for the so-called barbecue circuit, to bounce from event to event rubbing shoulders with community members and rebuilding support. For the government, it can fan out cabinet ministers to make funding announcements and—in normal times—Conservative leadership hopefuls would be using these months to build public momentum. The […]
More nuanced, test-focused approach needed to reopen Canada-U.S. border, say experts
With reports of another rolling, 30-day extension to the closure of the Canada-U.S. border to non-essential crossings, border experts say little progress is expected as long as COVID-19 cases continue to climb in the United States, while some say a more nuanced, phased approach should be taken in reopening the border. The border has been […]
COVID-19 has opened the door for conversations about health-care reform, but are we willing to listen?
Since the onset of COVID-19, governments worldwide have introduced new programs and policies to prevent widespread collapse of either economies or health systems. We have witnessed rapid action, and much of it has been creative and experimental. It has awakened new optimism that we can strengthen the systems that support our most vulnerable. As we […]
It’s dictator or bust for Trump
OTTAWA—U.S. President Trump seems increasingly like a mad king—besieged on all sides, raging away in the wreckage of his castle, vowing defeat and destruction to his endless list of perceived enemies. His latest outrage, which led to renewed comparisons of the U.S. under Trump to a Third World dictatorship, came the night of July 10, […]
Feds’ COVID-19 relief measures for businesses should be more ‘agile,’ says Senator
As the government moves toward a phased reopening of the economy, and shortly after it unveiled a projected $343-billion deficit last week, a Senate committee report is calling on Ottawa to tweak its relief programs to reflect a more “progressive” response that reaches more people, as one Senator put it. Independent Senator Tony Loffreda (Quebec), […]
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 […]
