The 1995 Quebec referendum: recalling a ‘near-death’ experience
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—This has been quite a year for anniversaries in Quebec: the 50th since the October Crisis, the 40th of the 1980 Quebec referendum and, this week, the 25th of the “near-death” referendum of 1995. They are an opportunity to feel old, to reminisce, and for some analysts, to offer a different take on history. […]
The N-word is hate speech, not free speech
CALGARY—The aroma of burning crosses dotting the landscape of this “multicultural” nation sure smells like the anti-Black racism most “leaders” are purported to stand against. The proliferation of N-word usage, primarily among educators in publicly funded institutions is becoming a crisis of mental and emotional abuse that manifests itself in structural violence. Coined in the […]
Wolves in Canadian military personnel’s clothing
OTTAWA—Last week, there was a bizarre little story in the Ottawa Citizen that, at first glance, appeared to be so ridiculous that it had to be satire. Reporter David Pugliese revealed that a letter from the Nova Scotia government sent out to residents in Annapolis Valley to warn about a pack of wolves on the […]
Tam says ‘extremely difficult balance’ lays ahead in second wave of COVID-19
The country’s top doctor called on leaders Tuesday to consider “fine-tuning” any reopening plans to avoid the possibility of more cases and a “yo-yoing” effect in the pandemic’s second wave. Speaking to reporters, federal chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam noted jurisdictions like Quebec and Ontario are facing an “extremely difficult” balance, as parts […]
Incumbency, ‘cooperation, and a multi-partisan approach’ electoral advantages for conservative-leaning provincial governments during pandemic, say pollsters
With a number of popular, conservative-leaning provincial leaders either heading to the polls in the near future, fresh off a recent election win, or facing pressure to call an early election while riding particularly high approval numbers, pollsters, and political insiders say incumbent provincial governments are at an advantage politically at this point in the […]
Let’s not turn COVID-19 fight into Canadian versus Canadian
OTTAWA—Last week in this space, I wrote about the need to consider gradually opening the Atlantic Bubble. Let me just say, the reaction from my home region was not overwhelmingly positive. Note the sarcasm—if they could have burned me in effigy, they would have. I had not been called some of the names I was […]
Parliament returns with the theatre of building back better
CALGARY—It’s Fall 2020 and we still have a government. That’s nice. It’s the best one can hope for in the midst of a global pandemic, economic disintegration, and a society that is held together, not by a common purpose, but the tenuous glue of predictable racial fragmentation. A lot of people are telling on themselves […]
Co-managed approach, self-governing fisheries the answer to long-simmering lobster dispute, says Senator
The federal government should pursue a co-managed fishing system that accepts First Nation treaty rights and an Indigenous governance model as a path forward to the long-simmering lobster fishery dispute, says Canada’s first Mi’kmaq Senator. “The status quo isn’t sustainable, it’s actually very dangerous at the moment, so we have to look at other options,” […]
The Atlantic bubble needs to burst
OTTAWA—This year has been brutal for so many people and we still have nearly 4 months to go before 2021 is upon us. While I have never been a big fan of wishing time away, I am close to adopting it as a short-term strategy. Atlantic Canada has had a particularly brutal year. At the […]
Pandering to Quebec is unseemly, and it rarely works
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—This week’s word is “pander,” defined as “to please other people by doing or saying what you think they want you to do or say.” Canadian politicians have a rich history of pandering, notably in Quebec. In the summer of 1967 then-Conservative leader Robert Stanfield embraced an idea from his Quebec lieutenant, Marcel […]
