A Trump decoder ring, 100 days in
OTTAWA—When Justin Trudeau met Donald Trump for the first time back in February, it was all smiles, handshakes and cross-border hugs. The Trudeau team had done an excellent job with the White House in paving the way for a friendly and productive meeting. There was none of the belligerence that Trump had shown Mexico, and […]
U.S. dairy industry better off adopting Canada’s supply management system
SAANICHTON, B.C.—It is because the United States dairy industry does not have a supply management system like Canada’s excellent one that their dairy farmers suffer at the mercy of their unregulated system and regularly go through boom and bust cycles. Canada is one of the few countries in the world that had the foresight to regulate the production […]
We need to do what’s best for the people of Canada
Now that Donald Trump has singled out dairy supply management as unfair for trade, all of the laissez-faire folks are coming out of the woodwork to argue that we need to do away with supply management. It would do us well to keep their argument clear in our head. Because supply management is more efficient […]
‘I hope he will stay,’ Bernier would consider O’Leary as Finance minister if he wins leadership and government
Conservative leadership candidate Maxime Bernier won’t say if he’s willing to work within a Kevin O’Leary-controlled Conservative caucus, but he is open to making Mr. O’Leary his Finance minister. “I think Kevin O’Leary would be a good Finance minister,” Mr. Bernier (Beauce, Que.) said in an interview at The Hill Times’ office last week. “I […]
Five things to watch for in Tory leadership race
MONTREAL—Now that the deadline has passed for Conservative rivals to sign up new members for the May leadership vote, here are a handful of observations on the fluid state of play in the battle for Stephen Harper’s succession: 1. There are still 14 names on the Conservative ballot, but a consensus is emerging that the […]
How to make NAFTA great again
MONTREAL—During the American election campaign, Donald Trump criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement on several occasions, going so far as to call it “a disaster,” and he clearly stated his intention to renegotiate it. Although the new president is wrong to target it as the source of the economic ills afflicting his country, it […]
Ottawa’s innovation strategy should focus on cities
TORONTO—There was plenty of good news for Canadian tech companies in the Liberals’ innovation-heavy budget. There was $400-million for the Business Development Bank of Canada to invest in late-stage companies, a package worth $2.2-billion to support clean technologies, and new investments in talent development to help Canada attract the best and brightest. One of the […]
Welcome to the Great Disruption
TORONTO—It is correct to call the times in which we live the Great Disruption. It is hard to think of many periods in human history where such a combination of disruptive trends has threatened the very foundations of society and the global order. This is not only a time when governments at home are faced […]
Few signs of life for Canada’s dead money
OTTAWA—It’s been five years since Mark Carney kicked up a storm with his suggestion that for the sake of the economy Canada’s corporations should start spending some of the huge piles of “dead money” they were hoarding. “The level of caution could be viewed as excessive,” Carney, then head of the central bank, said of […]
Trade policy about more than just reminders to export
Historically, free trade agreements were regarded as self-evidently beneficial; no efforts were needed to prepare Canadians for their effects. Experience, however, has taught us otherwise. Of the 12 free trade agreements to which Canada is a signatory and have come into force, seven of them have seen our merchandise balance of trade worsen with our respective […]
