Tokyo Olympic Games a really bad idea, city under COVID-19 state of emergency
HALIFAX—A few weeks ago, I wrote that holding the Tokyo Olympic Games was always a bad idea. I was wrong. It is far worse than that. These Games amount to premeditated stupidity by governments that makes a complete mockery of their attempt to fight COVID-19 with reason and scientific fact at home. When you send […]
Roadmap to Recovery: Health, Innovation, & Technologies
Cannabis beverages in Canada: the glass is not even half full
Imagine trying to explain to a consumer why they can purchase only five cannabis beverages but can purchase 17 vape cartridges, 30 grams of flower, or 100 bottles of cannabis oil. You could start by explaining that Canada’s cannabis possession limit of 30 grams is based on dried cannabis or its equivalent. And that these […]
Raising minimum age for tobacco product sales in Canada is good public policy
Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in Canada, and is currently responsible for more than one in six Canadian deaths. Most people who use tobacco products start doing so as a youth or young adult. The use of vaping products and e-cigarettes has become a public health crisis. E-cigarettes are the most commonly […]
Politics in the age of conspiracy
OTTAWA—Yielding to conspiracy theories has been a human habit worth recording going back at least to the late 1800s, and has contributed to all kinds of mass hysteria, catastrophes, murders, and other mayhem. But this kind of thing has generally been associated with fringe elements of society. Until recently. At least in part because of […]
Beyond lip service: global care economy gets unprecedented boost from Canada
TORONTO—Women are at a breaking point. They have been on the frontlines of the pandemic response representing over 80 per cent of Canadian health-care workers. At the same time, they have experienced rampant job losses, reductions in pay and the devastating rise in gender-based violence. On almost every issue, women have been bearing the brunt […]
Post-pandemic euphoria will not last
TORONTO—No matter how rosy things may look as the pandemic lockdown draws to a close and shoppers rush out to spend, that should not be taken as sign that we are on the road to a new era of economic gain. After a period where shoppers found themselves locked in, spending is one way to […]
Are federal subsidies rewarding hospitality employers who undercut ‘inclusive’ recovery?
Banquet chef Julie Borris served prime ministers and other dignitaries at Sheraton Ottawa for 15 years until the pandemic hit. She expected to return to work once the COVID-19 crisis passed. Although hotel owner, Keck Seng, tapped nearly $500,00 from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), the hotel terminated over 80 per cent of its […]
Opioid misinformation is out there and the government can do something about it, experts say
Opioid misinformation runs the gamut, from a lack of clarity around illicit usage to fear around medically prescribed opioids, but experts say the federal government can do more to tackle these myths, including by helping facilitate a guideline for prescribing opioids and exploring decriminalization. The latest 2020 figures on the opioid epidemic indicate that 6,214 […]
Real estate nation: putting the economy at risk and disadvantaging a generation
OTTAWA—It’s been a decade since the commercial bank borrowing rates influenced by the Bank of Canada shifted permanently downward as the central bank adopted a policy that came to be known as “low for long.” Central bank officials holed up down the street from Parliament were forced to keep their trend-setting interest rate well below […]
