Canadian government needs to have a more unified China strategy across all domains including innovation and research direction
Questions have been raised around Huawei’s funding of 5G research in Canadian universities and whether the government should continue to allow this or not. Stimulating the debate are the current Canada-China geopolitical and trade tensions and the ongoing investigation around the potential national security threat of implementing a Chinese network infrastructure. The decision is still […]
Universities play a crucial role in Canada’s competitiveness
TORONTO—Talent and innovation—and therefore universities—play a crucial role in Canada’s competitiveness. Canadian prosperity was built on the foundation of a rich stream of natural resources and commodities; and has been fostered by liberal trade policies. Recent international developments are complicating the global trade of goods and services. We need new competitive advantages to sustain and […]
‘Canada is warming at twice the rate of the global average. Is the government doing enough to combat climate change? Is your party offering anything powerful on that front?’
Cory Hann Conservative strategist “Canadians trusted Justin Trudeau when he said he would protect the environment and lower Canada’s emissions. Instead, all they got was a carbon tax. Not only is Canada failing to hit our Paris Agreement targets, we are getting further away. As an environmental policy, the carbon tax is a failure. It […]
Canadian Digital Service challenged to digitize government by 2025
At just a little over two years old, the growing team at the Canadian Digital Service is busy thinking about an ambitious goal—how to make many government services available online by 2025. Just under a year ago, the federal government convened a group of Canadian industry leaders to establish economic strategies for the country, including […]
Canada’s government needs to think harder about our aging society
TORONTO— In my column last week I argued that Canada was an under-performer, that we lack the ambition and strategies to realize our full potential. A key reason is a lack of serious and far-seeing vision and leadership in both our private and public sectors: our top business executives, politicians and senior civil servants do not […]
AI, climate crises converging
LONDON, U.K.—Maybe we can get through the climate crisis without a global catastrophe, although that door is closing fast. Maybe we can cope with the huge loss of jobs caused by the revolution in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) without a social and political calamity. But can we do both at the same time? We […]
PSAC head says avoiding Conservative government ‘No. 1’ election issue
The head of Canada’s largest federal public service union says the number one issue for the Public Service Alliance of Canada is “not to end up with another Conservative government” and to “get the NDP elected wherever we can.” “There’s no way we can have more of Stephen Harper, and that’s exactly what Andrew Scheer will […]
Federal government must do more to advance innovation
TORONTO—The Trudeau government likes to portray Canada as a world leader in innovation. But where do we actually stand? Locating a country’s ranking in innovation is no easy task. But one of the more serious attempts comes each year from the World Intellectual Property Organization, and it ranks Canada 17th in the world in its […]
Last chance to lobby MPs sees June numbers shrink, with influencers eyeing the campaign season
The waning days of the House’s busy legislative calendar were coupled with an unsurprising dip in lobbying, but some were making the most of the last month with MPs in Ottawa before an extended break for the campaign ahead of an October election. With party platforms still being written, June was a good time for […]
MPs should be asking better questions about innovation and technology; this is huge
TORONTO—There are many reasons to worry about the state of our democracy. But one reason is the decline in the role of MPs and their self-imposed failure in exercising their constitutional authority in holding government to account. The House of Commons is no longer a Chamber of representatives engaged in debating the big issues facing […]
