Trudeau government needs to address alarming mental-health impacts of coronavirus
No force in modern history has so infected our social interactions, our economic productivity and our health as the COVID-19 pandemic. But what might prove to be even more contagious and destructive than the virus is the trauma it is inflicting on the mental health of millions of Canadians. As Nadine Kaslow, professor and vice-chair […]
Analysis: Did the feds flip-flop on closing the border or wearing masks amid the COVID-19 outbreak?
The federal government says science and expert advice is behind its decision to shut the border to travellers and its changing advice on whether Canadians should wear masks amid the COVID-19 outbreak. While Canada’s top health official pointed to new science related to using face masks, one expert says there is no scientific evidence that […]
Some MPs donate their automatic salary increase to charities in effort to help fight COVID-19
MPs from all political parties, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, and Green Party Parliamentary Leader Elizabeth May, say they’re donating their automatic 2.1 per cent salary increase this year to various local, national, and international charities and non-profits to help the fight the negative economic effects of […]
Garneau must step in on behalf of air travellers
OTTAWA—Most people just want to know when this will be over. But the bigger question is just how long it will take to dig us out of the hole that the COVID-19 global pandemic has created. From students, to minimum wage workers, from small business owners, to retirees, everyone is hearing the giant sucking sound […]
What now for the environmental movement in Canada?
OTTAWA—Until recently, the environmental protest movement was definitely on the rise. Protests in British Columbia, Ontario, and elsewhere against the construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline had attracted national attention. Many Canadians supported those blocking access to construction sites or railways as a necessary way to stop the initiation of projects that would develop our […]
Hey Parliament, how about we take this online?
OTTAWA—There is an increasing amount of timely, and useful, discussion taking place about strategies for ensuring Canadians have an effective legislative branch of their government during the pandemic and its aftermath. This debate is being driven by the need for Parliament to exercise its oversight responsibilities and the necessity to have Members of Parliament “social […]
In the time of the pandemic, Liberals holding national caucus meetings seven days a week
The federal Liberals have been holding daily national caucus meetings via teleconference, seven days a week, to discuss the devastating impact of the international COVID-19 pandemic on the economic security, health, and the livelihood of Canadians since the House adjourned on March 13. In an interview with The Hill Times, two-term Liberal MP Ken Hardie […]
Inside the Campaign: Managing Elections In Canada: a new book pulls curtain on the people and machinery behind the vote
Crashed buses and a blackface scandal highlighted the 41-day campaign of the 2019 election. A new book with contributions from political staffers, campaign managers, pollsters, and journalists takes readers inside Canadian political campaigns. From the day the writs are issued and the race is off and running, politicians crisscross the country stumping, but behind the […]
Politics-as-usual likely to return after COVID-19, but chance for change down the road, say politicos
Although politicians across the country are working across party lines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, pollsters and politicos are split on whether partisanship and politics will change much, if at all, as a result of the crisis. But some say the personal relationships formed between politicians during the pandemic could last and help in resolving disputes […]
Back to normal is still a long way off
LONDON, U.K.—It’s wrong to say that there is no exit strategy from the anti-coronavirus lockdowns that have proliferated across the world. There is, and the first phase is to keep the lockdowns going long enough to bring new COVID-19 infections down to a manageable number. Maybe by June. Then you start playing whack-a-mole until there […]
