Canada needs a major housing investment to ensure health, climate, job security
This month marks a sombre first anniversary for Canada. On March 16, 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the decision to close our borders. If you need to come home, said Trudeau, do it now. Stay safe, we were told, stay healthy. Stay home. Home. Shelter in place. These are loaded words in a pandemic. […]
Wear masks, wash hands, and have a little more patience please
A number of lessons can be taken from what the world has gone through over the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrates just how small our globe actually is, not only in terms of how the virus has impacted countries but also in how different political regimes have managed it. Where some democracies have adhered […]
Canadians awaiting competing visions of a post-pandemic recovery from the government and opposition parties
Justin Trudeau’s government is expected to unveil its budget in the coming weeks, and Canadians are eagerly waiting on the governing Liberals and opposition Conservatives to elucidate their competing visions of the post-pandemic recovery. Considering the recent ramping up of the vaccination rollout, Canadians expect to turn the page on the devastating pandemic in the […]
COVID crisis or change point: how agriculture can lead out of pandemic recession
Canada’s Conservatives understand the many challenges that the agricultural sector has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these challenges, Canadian farmers have remained resilient and continue to put world-class food on our tables to feed our families. John F. Kennedy famously pointed to the Chinese characters for “crisis” as signifying both danger and opportunity. However, […]
Canadian agriculture in the age of COVID-19
The past 12 months have been anything but ordinary. Challenging, unprecedented, and uncertain have all been terms we have heard time and time again since the novel coronavirus was first recorded in Canada. Many of us have also likely become a little too familiar with the phrases “you’re on mute” and “the new normal” during […]
It’s called Zoom 101 and it takes former parliamentarians back to school: Waddell
As a former parliamentarian who represented Vancouver Kingsway, B.C., from 1979-1988 and Port Moody Coquitlam, B.C., from 1988-1993, and now president of the Foundation of Former Parliamentarians (my friend Dorothy Dobbie of Manitoba is president of our association), like many of my colleagues, I struggle with the new technology including my recent experiences with Zoom […]
Unleashing the potential of Canadian agriculture
Feb. 23 was Canada’s Agriculture Day, a yearly celebration of the women and men who make our agriculture and food industry the best in the world. And while it shouldn’t take a crisis for us to show appreciation for our farmers, this year’s event took on additional meaning in light of the incredible work they […]
Vaccine rollout revives Libs’ fortunes, but WE Charity scandal still an ‘open wound,’ say political players
The recent ramping up of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has triggered an upward trend for the Liberals, but the WE Charity controversy is still an “open wound” that could cause more political damage, and the bombshell allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour in the highest ranks of the Canadian military—and who knew what, and when—could also […]
Resilient farmers need a responsive government
At the start of the pandemic last March, the House Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee had just begun a study, based on a motion I moved during our first couple of meetings, looking into the suite of Business Risk Management Programs (BRMs) offered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to aid farmers and producers in times of […]
UN food summit an opportunity for Canadian agricultural leadership at home and abroad
In approximately six months, world leaders will meet at the United Nations Food Systems Summit. Whether the summit takes place on Zoom, or in person in New York, our representatives will share Canadian insights, help write policy, and set goals for the world’s food systems. As Canada crafts its position, what should we consider? What […]
