Think-tank urges Canada’s oil and gas majors to invest in renewables—or risk playing catch-up in decades ahead
As concerns grow about the long-term economic viability of drilling in the Alberta oil sands, a Vancouver-based think tank focused on creating a greener economy says big Canadian oil and gas companies need to invest in more in renewable energy projects in order to stay competitive against global firms already throwing billions towards wind and solar. […]
Why Kathleen Wynne is likely to lose Ontario’s provincial election
TORONTO—There are all kinds of clichés about how and why governments lose. That they defeat themselves. That they die by degrees. That they become the very thing they had once pledged to always oppose. Mostly, though, governments forget the plot. All of governing—all of the politics—is telling a story, every single day. Some folks call […]
The important difference between Trump and Ford
TORONTO—Forget the comparisons to Donald Trump. Doug Ford, Ontario’s new Progressive Conservative leader, is very much a homegrown phenomenon. If he and his party win the June provincial election, it will be for homegrown reasons. Ontario is usually a Red Tory province. Voters tend to elect parties, whether they call themselves PC, Liberal or New […]
On the road again: how rookie Liberal MP Hutchings tackles riding bigger than Switzerland
Representing the riding of Long Range Mountains, N.L., which covers an area larger than Switzerland and includes more than 200 communities, means a lot of time spent on the road for Liberal MP Gudie Hutchings and her constituency staff team. On top of that is casework to help residents of the riding, which, according to […]
Championing the green economy: why values matter more than logic
Carbon tax—“unfair”, according to the new Ontario PC leader Doug Ford. His colleague, Tanya Granic Allen, a former candidate for the leadership, suggests that she has always known “right from my gut” that carbon taxes are “wrong.” Such knee-jerk, “gut” reactions to a strategy that behavioural economists know to be a rational way to curb […]
Phoenix backlog down 4,000 cases last month, but could still climb, feds say
There was some good news for the public servants affected by the troubled Phoenix pay system today: for the first time in more than half a year, the backlog has dropped. The February update of a government website tracking the issue—known as the Public Service Pay Centre’s “dashboard”—showed 4,000 fewer open cases in the backlog […]
True reconciliation will only happen when the feds stop interfering with Indigenous governance
When Europeans arrived in North America in great numbers after 1600 they assumed that their civilization was superior in every respect to that of First Nations. They were wrong in a number of ways, and Canadians who cling to such views are still wrong. Grudgingly, those first visitors had to accept that First Nations did […]
The councillor from Crazy Town has morphed into a premier-in-waiting
Premier Doug Ford. Say that three times fast. Then take a breath and let it sink in because it could happen. This candidate is not to be underestimated, regardless of his perceived shortcomings and the circus that often travels with Ford family campaigns. At the outset of the now-concluded—although you never know with this crowd—Progressive […]
Don’t underestimate Doug Ford
After a topsy-turvy sprint of an election campaign, former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford is now leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. And he may just become premier after Canada’s most-populous province goes to the polls in June, given the mood for change in Ontario after 15 years of Liberal rule. The gas plant […]
Ten reasons Doug Ford could win and did
TORONTO—When I quit the Olivia Chow Toronto mayoral campaign in 2014, guess who was the first person to call me? Doug Ford. “Warren, old buddy,” said Doug Ford, brother of former Toronto mayor, the late Rob Ford. “We’ve had our differences but I want you to chin up. Rob and I like you and respect you. […]
