Foreign policy, defence left in the cold by political wannabes
OTTAWA—Right down to the wire in the 2019 federal election, no political leader offered up a vision on Canada’s role on the world stage. At no point in the campaign did any party issue specific statements regarding their position on defence or foreign affairs issues. In his successful run in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau […]
New Parliament should put best foot forward to address climate change
The health and wellbeing of Canadians is irrevocably tied to the health and wellbeing of the planet. Our newly elected government needs to demonstrate they understand what this interdependence implies. In 1987, the Bruntland Commission published a report with the title, Our Common Future. The commissioners presented a straightforward argument: the planet’s resources are finite […]
The neglected humanitarian impact of the Venezuela crisis
Far too often, in my view, politics overshadows people. Here in Canada, the humanitarian emergency in Venezuela has drifted in and out of the headlines. News stories have explained to us the consequences of the economic turmoil triggered by a spiralling inflation. Politicians have taken a stand on who is, according to their partisan preferences, […]
Turkish offensive should pressure feds to act on repatriation of Canadian citizens in Kurdish-controlled ISIS detention camps, says expert
In the midst of an uncertain future in northeastern Syria where Turkish forces have been attacking Syrian Kurdish positions for more than a week, some experts say the situation should press Canada to act on repatriating its detained citizens in ISIS detention camps. Turkey launched its offensive into Syria on Oct. 9 after U.S. President […]
Is the federal government still running a deficit? It depends
OTTAWA—During the 2015 election campaign, the Liberals announced that, if elected, they would temporarily run a deficit of approximately $10-billion to stimulate the economy and reduce poverty. However, they expected to return the federal budget to a surplus position in the 2017-18 fiscal year. Pointing to Public Accounts data, the Conservative Party and business journalists […]
What’s your issue? Taxes, climate change, health care top leaders’ campaign pitches this election
With less than a week to go until Oct. 21, there’s been plenty of lamenting over the issues that aren’t being talked about this campaign. So, what have the leaders spent their time spotlighting? And what issues have media definitively brought to the fore? The Hill Times took a look at the issues raised by or with […]
Which federal party will stand up for veterans in this election campaign?
As the federal election day approaches, veterans will be vitally interested in the positions to be adopted by the government and the opposition parties to remedy the longstanding injustice and inequity impacting Canada’s disabled veterans and their families. It remains our position that there is much to do in improving veterans’ legislation in order to […]
How would the Liberals achieve our 2030 emission reduction pledge and move on to net zero emissions by 2050?
TORONTO—If there is one thing most Canadians seem to agree on, it is that the English-language leaders’ pre-election debate was a disaster. The purpose of such debates should be to help Canadians decide how to intelligently cast their votes. On that test, the English-language debate failed spectacularly. The big issues facing Canada were not addressed […]
The Arctic is being overlooked in this election
The silence is deafening. Unless you live in the Arctic, as I do, you probably haven’t heard anything about the region that makes up more than half of Canada’s territory. That’s frustrating, given the attention the Arctic received before the election was called when the Government of Canada made a number of announcements and released […]
Betting on technological and financial innovation to fight climate change
With everyone talking about climate change these days, it is important that we keep a level head. As problems become more serious, this becomes more difficult, but one’s chances of surviving a fire in a theatre are considerably greater if the crowd remains calm and exits in an orderly fashion than if it starts panicking. […]
