Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami serves up its sixth annual A Taste of the Arctic
The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national voice of Inuit in Canada, hosted its sixth annual A Taste of the Arctic event at the National Arts Centre last Monday night. It was a packed house with around 500 attendees for the marquee event, but, despite the new president of ITK Natan Obed’s charm offensive, the event slightly underwhelmed, […]
Trudeau-Obama meeting should focus on Arctic
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama will hold their first formal summit tomorrow, and are expected to sign a continental environmental and climate change strategy. But at the top of their agenda must be the need to address a global crisis—the unraveling of the Arctic due to climate change. For millennia, […]
Gender equality strong in Canada, not so much elsewhere
OTTAWA—This International Women’s Day; Canada can afford to take a short bow. With equality in the Cabinet and historic numbers in the House of Commons, the country certainly seems to be heading in the right direction. And with a Senate nomination advisory board dominated by women, chances are the Red Chamber will follow suit. So […]
East, West on same side of pipeline debate
When all is said and done, there is no rational reason for this week’s climate-change gathering of first ministers in Vancouver to feature an East-West brawl over pipelines. Unless the premiers of the energy-producing provinces are irresistibly inclined to lead a charge on windmills, they have no reason to get on their high horses in […]
What Canada can learn from Britain’s EU referendum
An in/out referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union has been called for June 23. Britons will be asked to vote Yes to remain in a reformed EU or No to leave. Although there are many critical issues at stake in this campaign, it is unfortunately more likely that more mundane issues will dominate […]
Conservative leadership race could be crowded
MONTREAL—Depending on the day of the week there are no less than eight and as many as a dozen Conservatives testing the federal leadership waters. Should they all enter the race to succeed Stephen Harper, this could make next year’s Conservative leadership vote the most unpredictable federal contest in a decade. Past history suggests that […]
CentrePort links Manitoba to global trade opportunities
Manitoba is trying not to let the fact that it is a landlocked province hold it back from becoming a hub for international trade and investment. While the idea of a port may conjure images of a coastal hub taking products from sea to rail, the province’s CentrePort facility is a big investment and the […]
Federal, provincial, local politicians need to work together for sake of Alberta: Marks
As an Albertan, I am blessed with two new governments, provincial and federal. Both are seen as centre-left and controversial. Red Deer, the city where I reside, elected a new mayor and three new city councillors two years ago, and they did have the deer-in-the-headlights look about them for a while. Unsurprisingly, they have found […]
When the going gets tough, tough get slagging
OTTAWA—When the going gets tough, the tough get slagging. It is a political game as old as the hills. Politicians play it for the simple reason that it works. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark had to know what kind of reaction her Throne Speech critique of Alberta would provoke. She planned it because nothing detracts […]
Politics This Morning: Liberals changing F-P-T relationship, says NWT premier
The upcoming First Ministers meeting shows the Liberal government has turned a page on the federal-provincial-territorial relationship, says Northwest Territories premier Bob McLeod. “I believe so. I mean, obviously in the past, I had a good relationship with the previous prime minister—we would deal on a bilateral basis—but I think it would be very helpful […]
