Data is the next frontier for environmental entrepreneurs
More than 150 Canadian entrepreneurs and other senior leaders in business and government recently gathered in Ottawa at Sustainable Development Technology Canada’s annual summit to discuss the changing global competitive environment for clean technologies. Not so long ago, the discussion would have been dominated by talk about money—or the lack thereof—and the challenges of starting […]
Dilemma over electricity rates and innovation
For over 100 years, Canadian electricity companies had a very simple mandate: provide reliable, safe power to all. Keep the lights on, as some would say. And they did just that. Today, however, they are expected to also provide a broad range of energy services through a data-driven, customer-centric system operations platform that can manage, […]
Kinder Morgan deal reminds us we’re still hewers of wood, drawers of water
OTTAWA—I remember well the afternoon in 2010 at what used to be called the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade when our policy team was invited to listen to one of the so-called “geniuses” in the Asia division. He detailed a plan to export unprocessed bitumen to China and Japan for refining. The rationale […]
Bill banning marketing of unhealthy food and drink faces final hurdle
There is an obesity crisis in Canada and a look through the lobbyist registry helps explain why. My bill, the Child Health Protection Act, passed the Senate in September. Since then—and I’m borrowing a phrase that has too often been used to describe bills being considered by the Senate—it has languished in the House of […]
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: why the government’s Copyright Board plans threaten to spark another lobbying battle
OTTAWA—Copyright reform has long been viewed as one of the more contentious policy issues on the Canadian agenda, pitting creators, education groups, innovative companies, and a growing number of individuals against one another in processes that run for years and leave no one fully satisfied. Indeed, the copyright review currently underway before the House Industry, […]
The politics behind the PM’s pipeline gamble
To understand the counterintuitive political calculus behind Justin Trudeau’s controversial decision to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline, one has to go back to the fundamental equation that has governed this prime minister’s energy and climate change policies since his days in opposition. That Trudeau had no choice but to take over the pipeline if he […]
Sajjan says $2.3B of defence budget not spent, promises increased transparency
National Defence did not spend its entire $6.2-billion budget, with $2.3-billion left over in the first year since the feds unveiled its new defence policy, said Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan on Wednesday during an industry event, where he gave an update on the government’s spending plan. Mr. Sajjan said the unspent funds were a result […]
Trans Mountain pipeline myth-busting, of a different sort
PARLIAMENT HILL—In last week’s Hill Times online, Colleen Collins of the Canada West Foundation promised to bust myths about Kinder Morgan. Instead, she gave us just another dose of propaganda. Allow me to respond. Diluted bitumen spills can’t be cleaned up Collins claims that the 2010 Enbridge spill in the Kalamazoo River proves diluted bitumen […]
Canada needs to throw off the yoke of economic complacency to play in the big leagues
Canada, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will soon host G7 leaders in Charlevoix, Que., with members are poised to descend on the region from June 8-9. Much has changed since members first got together in 1975 at the Château de Rambouillet, situated outside of Paris. Back then, the G6—minus Canada, which was not yet part […]
Majority of Canadians says pipeline could lift economy, but generational divide in support exists: poll
Ottawa is ensnared in a legal battle with British Columbia over concerns of the environmental impact of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, but one recent poll suggests that a significant proportion of Canadians thinks that the project could be a boon to the economy, though there’s a sharp generational gap in support that could dampen […]
