Ottawa should declare northern flights essential as ‘decimated’ service puts Inuit at risk of losing ‘only link’ to key services, says ITK
The COVID-19 crisis “shines a light on” the inequities between northern Inuit communities and the south on infrastructure and access to health care, says Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed, who is calling on Ottawa to fund and declare an “essential service” the air transportation that alleviates the gaps even as they widen with the […]
Three ways to tackle fear with courage amid COVID-19 pandemic
With the heightening of the COVID-19 pandemic, all Canadians are living through a great threat to personal and economic health. As a country, we have not experienced a threat of this magnitude since the Second World War. Like then, the expected and normal response to the COVID-19 threat is feeling afraid. In addition to being […]
Refusing to commit to firm timeline, Trudeau says it’s ‘realistic’ measures will last until July
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it’s a “realistic scenario” to expect the stringent measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 to be in place at least until July, while refusing to commit to a firm timeline. As other jurisdictions, including the City of Toronto, offer signs indicating the projected duration of measures such as physical […]
COVID-19 illuminating challenges of democratic governance
Is COVID-19 a blessing in disguise? Patients infected or dying from COVID-19 are the least likely to think so. This virus has shaken a number of concepts that many citizens of democratic societies take for granted. Reviews of how this crisis has been handled by governments, and global efforts at bracing for its impacts, will […]
We’re all survivalists now: Coronapocalypse Adaptation 101
Unless you have a history of hoarding canned goods, burying 200-gallon steel drums full of water in your backyard, or securing the perimeter of your bungalow with concertina wire and fougasses, managing the more existential aspects of our current pandemic may not be second nature to you. Hereby, a helpful primer on how to mobilize […]
This pandemic must be understood, not feared, and that’s why good data is crucial
OTTAWA—It’s all about the numbers. In the past few weeks, we have been inundated by data associated with COVID-19. Some make sense, some don’t, some is irrelevant or fake. When I worked for the World Health Organization as an information officer in the late 1990s, my teachers were the best doctors in the world. There […]
Pausing CPC race was the right move, and campaigns should seize the chance to retool
OTTAWA—The Leadership Election Organization Committee (LEOC) of the Conservative Party eventually made the right decision last week in deciding to postpone the leadership vote originally scheduled for June 27. The official reasoning the party provided was that staff resources and logistical challenges made it impossible to continue. It is right the party is making the […]
How to save the Canadian media industry from mass extinction
TORONTO—If current trends continue, Canada’s news media will not survive the COVID-19 recession. Even during the boom years of 2009-2019, nearly 300 Canadian outlets shut down and 16,000 journalists were laid off. But the good times, if you can call them that, are over. In the last two weeks, nearly 500 more journalists have been […]
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men and women shouldn’t be putting the coronavirus egg back together again
OTTAWA—Late last week, U.S. President Donald Trump caused a diplomatic flap when he proposed sending American troops to the Canadian border. Trump was, of course, simply pandering to his voter base by acting as some great protector, deploying combat soldiers to keep COVID-19-infected Canadians from sneaking across the mutual boundary. As soldiers with weapons cannot […]
The U.S. heads into the abyss
OTTAWA—As the COVID-19 crisis has gained momentum, Donald Trump has reduced the office of the U.S. president to a kind of endless, theatre-of-the-absurd talk show routine. His lies, bewildering nonsense, rancour, lack of awareness of what is going on, and inappropriateness defy description. That he has rendered useless any concepts of leadership, public deportment, accountability, […]
