Increase in longevity a remarkable success, but can also pose big economic, social risks
TORONTO—How much health care, education, and other public goods we value can we afford? It’s an important question for Canada as we face the challenges of an aging society and weak productivity growth. It’s certainly something each of our political parties should be thinking about as they prepare their platforms for next year’s federal election. […]
‘It’s nice to put it behind us,’ says Green Party leader Elizabeth May after being cleared on harassment allegations
Green Party leader Elizabeth May says she is “pleased” after bring cleared by an investigation into workplace harassment allegations, and that the party could put the controversy behind it. “To have the investigator find that the complaints were without any merit whatsoever, that is nice to put it behind us so it doesn’t float out […]
France at a crossroads as battle over Macron reforms intensifies
OTTAWA—Although Emmanuel Macron used a speech last month to the United States Congress to pointedly criticize American foreign and environmental policy, many will remember the French president’s glitzy state visit to Washington, D.C., above all for the chummy goings-on between him and U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump had made no secret of his affection for […]
‘This is a high-stress job that takes years off people’s lives’: MPs reflect on their own well-being after Gord Brown’s death
Conservative MP Tony Clement says his caucus colleague Gord Brown’s death is “just another indication that this is a high-stress job that takes years off people’s lives,” but isn’t sure MPs will meaningfully change their habits. “Every time someone passes away we say the same things to one another, you know, hug your family, strike […]
Push for diversity, cooperation in the research community goes beyond ‘business as usual,’ say industry groups
Observers are applauding the government’s decision to use this year’s budget to promote diversity amongst researchers and collaboration between the three main research granting councils, saying it shows the government is serious about science. However, despite the widespread celebration, both Universities Canada and HealthCareCAN say there is still more work to do to implement the […]
Internationally, Canada’s a beacon for science and scientists
Take a look at the world right now and you will see that there are countries where support for science is on the decline. In some instances, scientists have been muzzled or funding for research has been scaled back. That is not the case in Canada today. In fact, internationally, we are viewed as a […]
Senate picks new post-Phoenix payroll provider
The Senate has signed a contract with a new payroll administrator for more than $902,000 over five years, taking a substantial step in ditching the problem-plagued Phoenix pay system. Ontario Liberal Senator Jim Munson (Ottawa-Rideau Canal), a deputy chair of the powerful Senate Internal Economy, Budgets, and Administration Committee, broke the news Wednesday at a media availability […]
Can young voters break out of the trickle-down trap?
OTTAWA—Assessing the way the rich and the corporate-CEO class have reshaped the distribution of income in their favour, contributing to today’s glaring wealth gap, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz put it like this: “Those at the top have learned how to suck out money from the rest in ways that the rest are hardly aware […]
‘Disturbing level’ of bullying, intimidation in public service must be rooted out, says PCO clerk
Canada’s top bureaucrat says while the kind of sexual harassment that sparked the #MeToo movement exists within the public service and needs to be addressed, there is a “disturbing level” of other harassment such as bullying, intimidation, and conduct issues. “We need to get to the bottom of where that’s coming from and how to […]
‘Canada’s greatest prime minister was a mama’s boy,’ Unbuttoned: A History of Mackenzie King’s Secret LifeÂ
Canada’s greatest prime minister was a mama’s boy. Not only that, he was a sexually repressed, hypocritical, ghost-talking, spiritualism practising, guilt-ridden, prostitute-visiting mama’s boy. Or so Canadians learned in 1976. That was Mackenzie King’s annus horribilis, when the “Weird Willie” phenomenon reached a climax amidst a mounting din from books, documentaries, poetry, newspaper stories, and […]
