Canada is on the cusp of a historical energy transformation, let’s do it

The year 2020 is expected to be the largest and most abrupt economic contraction since the Great Depression. The cautious expectation is that, once a vaccine for COVID-19 becomes widely available, the economy can enter a quick rebuilding phase. In the months to come, the federal government will be seeking to kick-start Canada’s economic recovery, […]
Experts and parliamentarians look ahead to SMR action plan to be released in near future

When Seamus O’Regan was sworn in as minister of natural resources on Nov. 20, 2019, his mandate letter didn’t explicitly mention nuclear energy, although it did use language like “clean technology” but he’s clearly communicated his intention to make nuclear a big part of Canada’s clean energy future. “He’s been more active on this file […]
Approaching the Biden administration on energy: don’t lead with Keystone

A Biden administration represents opportunities and challenges for Canadian energy, but to be successful in its relations with Washington, Canada needs to think differently about how it approaches the U.S. Gone are the days when the U.S. looked to Canada as a pivotal energy supplier and crucial pillar of national energy security. What happened? Two […]
Federal government has failed to champion Canada’s aerospace sector—and not just during COVID-19

Canada’s aerospace sector has been increasingly in the news during COVID-19, but the federal government has been failing to champion our country’s highly innovative and reputable aerospace sector long before now. We have an industry that is punching above its weight—ranked fifth in the world as an aerospace nation—but too little has been done to […]
Air transport system’s road to recovery will be long and challenging

The air transport system was severely hit by the global pandemic due to restrictions on air travel—locally nationally, and globally. While the path to recovery will require diverse measures to safeguard players in the system, sustainability must be top of mind in the process. The air transport system consists of a number of key players, […]
Canada and Artemis Accords drive Soviet-era space rules into the 21st century

Finally, after 50 years of relying on broad, Cold War-era rules, Canada and other nations are taking serious steps to establish a modern framework to govern activities in space. Earlier this year, NASA announced the development of the “Artemis Accords,” a set of operational principles to guide the American-led initiative to return humanity to the […]
Aerospace sector looks to government for help as pandemic grounds once high-flying industry

The Canadian aerospace sector and parliamentarians are calling on the government to help the once-mighty industry ahead of the Nov. 30 fiscal update, as the pandemic has slashed revenues, jeopardized jobs, and has cast a dark shadow on the medium- and long-term prospects for a return to some kind of normalcy. But even before the […]
Stakeholders push feds to quickly reach transitional U.K. trade deal, as government says new pact ‘close to the finish line’

With Canada’s export competitors in the midst of trade negotiations with Britain, stakeholders are urging Canada to quickly finalize a transitional trade agreement with the U.K. Canada-U.K. trade will stop being covered by the Canada-EU trade deal—called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)—following the end of the Brexit transition period at the start of […]
Superclusters’ long-term economic impacts, benefits will only become evident over next few years

The Innovation Superclusters Initiative is a flagship co-investment with private industry in five sectors in which Canada has demonstrated significant competitive advantages: digital technologies, protein industries, next-generation manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and ocean science. These sectors represent the world-leading ecosystems of tomorrow, and will unleash Canadian innovation further and faster through public-private partnerships. The five superclusters […]
An innovative economy requires an innovative government

We’ve got to do more with less. I’m betting that every minister has uttered this phrase more than once during his or her mandate. The trouble is, if you really want to do more with less, you need to innovate. You must embrace change. You must be willing to throw out your current assumptions, procedures […]