Resolute Bay should be a major government Arctic security hub
A number of years ago, I recommended that Resolute Bay be developed as a major government Arctic security hub. A number of recent events make it timely to revisit this recommendation. Global warming has continued to make the waters of the Arctic Archipelago more accessible to maritime traffic. Data from the National Snow and Ice […]
Fort Mac rebuild a ‘long term’ effort, outpouring of support ‘overwhelming’: Alberta MPs
As residents anxiously await news of when they can return home, Alberta MPs are stressing that work to rebuild Fort McMurray, will be a “long-term” effort, but say they’ve been impressed by the “overwhelming” response of Albertans and other Canadians in lending a hand to the more than 80,000 evacuees. “We have to rebuild, we […]
Politics this morning: Trudeau heads to the Alberta fire frontline
It’s Friday, May 13. Aside from the predictable Friday the 13th superstition chatter, and Justin Bieber parading around town, here’s what people will be talking about today: Sophie Grégoire Trudeau stirred up a cloud of public criticism bordering on ridicule, after publicly stating on Wednesday that she was feeling overwhelmed by the workload that comes […]
MP Saganash pushes Liberals to support his indigenous rights bill, says no need for more consultation
NDP Member of Parliament Romeo Saganash hoped that when Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould went to the United Nations earlier this week to announce Canada’s plan to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that they would have supported his call for a legislative framework […]
Politics this morning: Paul Martin portrait to be unveiled
Good morning, It’s Wednesday, May 11. Here’s 10 must-know topics to start your day. Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would be travelling to Fort McMurray on Friday. He came under heavy fire for declining international offers of assistance from countries such as Russia, Mexico, Israel, and the U.S. to help fight the […]
Canadian Arctic territorial claim dependent on inclusivity and collaboration with Inuit
Canada’s claim to its extended Arctic continental shelf can only be legitimized through an inclusive and collaborative engagement with circumpolar Inuit peoples. This was the sentiment that grounded panellists’ comments on Inuit and Canadian Arctic territorial claims at the Senate Liberals’ Open Caucus on Wednesday. Rapid ice melting in the Arctic has resulted in a […]
Trudeau sets himself a high bar on promises to First Nations
OTTAWA—Perhaps it was the impatience of youth. More likely, it was the impatience of a First Nations generation meeting a prime minister who has raised expectations sky high. When Justin Trudeau visited Saskatoon’s Oskayak High School last week, he got his share of selfies and delighted squeals, but he got something else—tough questions from First […]
Dragon boat season on the horizon
Public servants and embassy staff are signing up once again to shed their business-wear for life preservers and a chance at glory. Entries are already rolling in for the annual Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, a contest for bragging rights among 200 teams of paddlers at Ottawa’s Mooney’s Bay Park on Riverside Drive that will […]
Trudeau flirts with betrayal and political backlash
GATINEAU, QUE.–Is the Northern Gateway pipeline dead, or isn’t it? The fact that people are asking raises serious doubts about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s honesty, not to mention his environmental cred. Trudeau was never against pipelines per se; indeed, he endorsed the since-rejected Keystone project. But he spoke unambiguously against the Northern Gateway, which would […]
Want to defeat Donald Trump, North America?
PUNTA NIZUC, MEXICO—A wall. Donald Trump, the bilious billionaire who is edging ever closer to the Oval Office, wants to build a great big wall between this country and the United States. He says he is going to get Mexicans to pay for it. The reason? Mexicans are “rapists,” he says. “Murderers,” too. Now, like everyone […]
