Cross-party cooperation can ensure success of Paris Agreement
Remember the Copenhagen Accord, the decade-old global climate agreement? Apparently no one in the Canadian government does, since it is never mentioned. Jan. 29 was the 10th anniversary of Canada sending its Copenhagen pledge to the UN. That included a promise to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020, the third climate […]
Time for Correctional Service of Canada to take front-line workers seriously
Last week in Québec City’s suburbs, Eustachio Gallese violently murdered a 22-year-old woman while he was on day parole, after already serving a 15-year prison sentence for gruesomely killing his female spouse in 2003. The public, media, and elected officials—including Quebec MP Pierre Paul-Hus and Quebec’s Justice Minister Sonia LeBel—expressed outrage that someone with such […]
Will the government seek independent patient input on drug policy?
HALIFAX—In the lead-up to some form of national pharmacare, the Trudeau government plans to launch a new national Canadian Drug Agency as policy central for the regulation of prescription drugs. Accommodating voices from patient communities will be a challenge, because health advocacy organizations have long made competing claims across a wide chasm. I’m cautiously hopeful […]
Opportunity knocks with Finance Canada’s upcoming tax expenditure review
Hats off to the federal government for committing to a tax expenditure review as an early priority. Canada’s tax system desperately needs repair, and the tangle of tax credits is a good place to start. Yet we worry the government might focus the review too narrowly and miss the chance to improve the system for […]
Federal silence on Wet’suwet’en tensions a ‘worrisome’ sign of faltering Liberal push on reconciliation, say advocates
As the new Wet’suwet’en blockade enters its fourth week, some advocates say the tensions are revealing gaps in the Liberal reconciliation effort, laying bare the need for new models of Indigenous self governance and respect for land rights. Rose LeMay, CEO of the Indigenous Reconciliation Group, says she’s been “cringing” as she watches the federal […]
Foreign policy needs to be less about narrow self-interest
QUEBEC—Quebec is the last walled city in North America. The wall, the promontory on which its upper town stands, its culture, and history are key reasons why the city is such a draw for tourists from abroad. But it is a reminder that there was a time when the wall and the cliffs were necessary, […]
Don’t go down ‘rabbit hole’ in Trade Committee’s study of new NAFTA implementation bill, warn trade experts
As the bill to implement the new NATFA moves towards a committee study, trade experts warn against a marathon review of the pact, which they say could lead to greater uncertainty for the Canadian economy. A bill to implement the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)—known as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) north of the border—will be […]
A new Canadian peace centre could make a world of difference
Who isn’t concerned about our shared global challenges? It’s hard to miss overlapping crises, many fuelled by militarism, marginalization, and inequality. Canada provided pivotal leadership and ideas in the past and it could definitely help again. The recently announced Canadian Centre for Peace, Order, and Good Government therefore is a much-needed step in the right […]
Don’t let the horrors of the Holocaust fade from international memory
OTTAWA—Jan. 27 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day and this year it commemorated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp. It is estimated that more than 1.1 million Jews perished at Auschwitz, and when you add in the death tolls of the other notorious concentration camps such as Treblinka, Bergen-Belsen, and […]
We all need to be on the same page to protect the natural world
At the end of January, staff and volunteers from the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) will gather in Ottawa. We will pause to celebrate our progress and to explore how we can accelerate efforts to conserve Canada’s lands, waters, and wildlife. The NCC was founded in 1962 by a group of naturalists who saw Canada’s […]
