We’re moving forward on northern development
I believe three coordinating pieces are necessary for northern development to better proceed: governance evolution, social investment, and economic development. Reviewing the actions our government has taken so far during our mandate, I am pleased to see forward and positive movement on all of these fronts. In the governance arena, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and […]
Territorial Development
Fighting for carbon price, burying pipeline headlines key for Trudeau nabbing green voters in 2019, says pollster
Battling an anti-carbon tax premier in Ontario or Alberta could shore up the Trudeau Liberals’ reputation as an environmental champion, says pollster Greg Lyle, after a series of blows to the Grits’ green credentials in recent weeks. Ontario PC leader Doug Ford and Alberta United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney each have strong support in […]
Who’s lobbying who on the Trans Mountain pipeline?
The company behind the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline extension and other energy-related stakeholders are looking to the federal government for reassurance the pipeline will get built and a timeline for construction as legal and political wrangling plays out in the courts and on Parliament Hill. Parliamentarians who have been communicating with lobbyists from Kinder Morgan—which […]
Political realities will turn Notley against Trudeau
OAKVILLE, ONT.—The most improbable political alliance in Canadian history is coming to a predictably inglorious end. I’m talking, of course, about the “Entente Cordiale” that was forged between Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley and Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a once beautiful friendship that’s now unravelling before our eyes. Mind you, it’s something of a […]
Another approach to Canada’s bitumen quagmire
There will be both a significant financial and political cost no matter what decision is taken to resolve the current impasse on the Kinder Morgan pipeline project. Why not investigate an alternative? What if governments helped finance a refinery in Alberta to refine the bitumen to a state that it is less hazardous for transport? […]
Trans Mountain pipeline project is good politics, bad policy
Is it clear why Canadians—and even Albertans—should support the Trans Mountain pipeline project? I’m not so sure. The Senate is debating public bill S-245, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project Act. It was drafted by my colleague, Senator Doug Black, and it seeks to declare that the Trans Mountain project is for the general advantage of […]
‘I think it’s done,’ NDP MP Stewart doubts Trans Mountain pipeline expansion’s viability, but feds say it’s going to happen
As the federal Liberals face mounting pressure to get the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion approved, NDP MP Kennedy Stewart, who was arrested for protesting the pipeline in March, says he doubts it will actually be built because of dozens of still unmet conditions and permits, but Trans Mountain says it doesn’t need all permits […]
Parliamentary Centre celebrates 50 years with 300-person gala
The Parliamentary Centre started out to support the Canadian Parliament. Fifty years later, it’s expanded to help 120 legislatures in 45 countries better serve the people they represent. On the evening of April 23, the Ottawa-based non-governmental organization celebrated 50 years of promoting and supporting democracy around the world at a gala reception hosted at the […]
With fed-prov tension rising, court deals provinces another high card
OTTAWA—The fault lines in Canada’s federal-provincial arrangement never disappear; they just lie dormant from time to time. With the system already under renewed pressure from the Trans Mountain pipeline dispute between Alberta and British Columbia, the Supreme Court of Canada came down with its long-awaited decision in the so-called “free the beer” case, an epithet […]
