Ottawa finds ways to work through provinces on training
OTTAWA—Latest estimates suggest that some 387,000 full-time jobs have been lost in Canada since the financial crisis struck in October of last year, in percentage terms the largest drop in a five-month period since the recession of 1982. This is a shock to Canadians not only because these are huge numbers but because we have […]
Media face ‘tsunami’ challenge of internet and financial crisis
Could this be the revolution that the internet has been waiting for? Television and newspaper companies across the board are in trouble like never before. Trouble that has been brewing for some time and the global financial crisis is turning their woes into a perfect storm. Parliament is feeling the heat and MPs want to […]
Seven things that make Obama so intriguing and popular
OTTAWA—Instead of the usual throngs of protesters to greet an American president, a love affair broke out in Ottawa last Thursday. So let’s count some of the things that make U.S. President Barack Obama so intriguing and popular. First and probably the easiest for him: he’s not George Bush and has no ties to him. […]
Government-provided stimulus packages are the new saviour
OTTAWA—The new world which began with the global financial collapse last fall has given rise to a new debate about the role of government. Suddenly we are less concerned about making government operate more like business, and are looking to government to solve the crisis facing business. The content of the debates when the House […]
How one Commons committee can actually make it work on the Hill
OTTAWA—Things have to change. But how and who has to change? It’s safe to say that Canadians are saying all parties have to change, although people are pointing their fingers a bit more at one side or another based on their voting preferences and how they regard the events of the last three weeks. One […]
Obama’s win: it’s time for Canada to look at our slow train multicultural dream
OTTAWA—That Barack Obama is a transformational figure is the cliché of the day, but what does it really mean? To look at him is to recognize that he is the first African American to become president of the United States of America, the most powerful person in government in the U.S. and in the world? […]
Conservatives could be on road to being next natural governing party
Much of the commentary suggests that Quebec was the reason Prime Minister Stephen Harper was denied his majority. That was because it seemed certain he would make a breakthrough. The other voters who did not embrace the Conservatives completely were urban voters in the three big cities, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, and more pointedly the […]
Dovetailing unemployed workers with skills shortages makes good politics
Are we short of workers or are we short of jobs? It depends on where you live and which sector you are looking at. It also determines whether it’s an election issue for you or not. The economy is turning out to be the unexpected wild card in this election, and that’s largely because there […]
There is more than one way to win the so-called ‘ethno-cultural’ vote
There’s much talk about the ethnic vote in the lead up to what will likely be a fall election. The Liberals seem to have it, and the other parties want in. It is a key factor that keeps the Liberals in contention for government and keeps the Conservatives from getting a majority. Multiculturalism minister Jason […]
Diversity and MPs’ summertime BBQ circuit
While Ottawa is obsessed with the fledgling debate on the carbon tax, there is another set of issues bubbling just below the surface that MPs are likely to hear about on the barbecue circuit this summer. It’s about our diversity and where we are going as a country. There’s reasonable accommodation, the human rights commissions, […]
