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 […]
Trudeau delivers important message of patience
OTTAWA—When he landed in Alberta for two days of meetings this week, Justin Trudeau had a number of options. I suppose he could have charismatically willed the price of oil back up to $100 per barrel. He could simply, as the Conservative opposition in Ottawa keeps telling him, just build a pipeline already. He could […]
More government grants is not the solution
One of the key observations when it comes to evaluating Canada’s innovation performance is that compared to our peers among industrialized countries, we spend more public money than average, but a lot less private money. We are actually at the very bottom of the ranking for venture capital investment and business R&D. Yet, over the […]
Academics call for federal government investment in Bombardier
If the government wants a Canadian company to become a global player in the aerospace sector than it will have to pony up the cash to help it along, because that’s the nature of the business, according to some industry watchers. The iconic Canadian company, Bombardier, manufacturer of the troubled C Series plane, is facing major […]
