A walk in the park or a minefield? COVID election may break the mould

OTTAWA—All indications are that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will call an election after the week or two of holidays he is currently taking. And there’s no compelling argument against it, since the current Liberal government is on pace to meet the average lifespan of minority regimes. But whether it’s a good political move, from Trudeau’s […]
‘We have to be ready to begin and able to pivot quickly’: tourism marketing arm looks inward to keep the dream alive

Destination Canada’s more recent tourism efforts have looked at the “unexpected” parts of the country, with a new domestic focus that experts say needs to be continued until cross-border and international travel can really start moving again. The current state of the tourism market is “apocalyptic” for some areas like the cities, Greg Oates, senior […]
‘They just said we’d like to be treated like humans’: Senate report an ‘eye-opener’ on rights gaps in prisons

Systems in place in federal correctional institutions do not protect and safeguard the people surrounded by its concrete walls, nor are they designed to respect the human rights of prisoners, say Senators in a report stemming from an exhaustive four-and-a-half year study. The Senate Human Rights Committee’s look into the human rights of federally sentenced […]
It would be fair for all to test whether we have the antibodies or not: Montreal reader
Is this the time to be excessively scrupulous when the statistics are about to show the coronavirus will soon be defeated? In particular, is it necessary to return to normalcy by submitting to the government proposal that we all obtain vaccine passports? Is that reasonable, or an infringement on our liberties? Did we have to […]
So far, the fight against COVID-19 has not recognized the danger of the threat every country on Earth is facing

HALIFAX—The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the Batmobile of history into reverse. It is suddenly 1925 again. That of course was the year that Christianity and science collided in a courthouse in Tennessee with the so-called Scopes Monkey Trial. Did God make us, or did we evolve from leaf and fruit-eating tree climbers? John T. Scopes, […]
To move beyond the pandemic, Canada needs to look globally

It has become evident that COVID-19 does not discriminate between borders or international alliances. Despite this, some of the wealthiest nations are gripped by a zero-sum mentality, as they have made and continue to make policy decisions that solely look inwards. Last year, the World Trade Organization reported that 80 countries banned the exportation of personal protective equipment […]
Hepatitis can’t wait: a plea to Canadian policymakers

During these uncertain times, 2030 can seem a long way away. But our federal government has made a promise to the world, via a signed and dated World Health Organization declaration, that Canada will eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by the end of this decade. With a vaccine for hepatitis B and […]
Lack of Canada-U.S. planning contributed to uncertainty over border reopening, say observers

With delta variant concerns rising and a need to manage the borders to its north and south, a potential reopening of the American land border to non-essential Canadian travellers remains unclear, say researchers and former diplomats, which has been hampered by neither Canada nor the U.S. announcing a complete framework for resuming border operations. While […]
Bring governments back better

To many of us, it might seem like an eternity has passed since the World Health Organization announced in January 2020 the appearance of a mysterious coronavirus-related pneumonia in Wuhan, China. Today, COVID-19 has evolved into four variants around the world infecting 188.3 million people and causing more than four million deaths. Throughout this time, one truth […]
Canada should increase initial investments by CAD$150-million to GFF, help end COVID in low-income countries: reader
It seemed that a few months ago, the only trouble the world was facing was the process of bringing forward a tangible solution to the deadly pandemic. However, when the light at the end of the tunnel appeared in the form of a successful vaccine, new concerns arose and are still prevalent amongst underprivileged countries. […]