Massive secrecy inroads and barriers to access near approval in the Senate
OTTAWA—The Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee is winding its way, clause by clause, through Bill C-58. But it’s already approved the most divisive change to the Access to Information Act by agreeing to divide the act into two parts—one for accessible operational records (part 1) and one outside the Access Act’s reach only for government-promoted records […]
Next generation of aviation professionals: threats and opportunities
Internationally, aviation is a highly dynamic and interconnected industry that substantially contributes to the global economy. With an economic impact of $2.7-trillion USD, aviation supports 62.7 million direct and indirect jobs around the world. As the second largest country by area, with a dispersed population and the need to support remote regions in the North, […]
Veterans aren’t fooled by Liberal alchemy
OTTAWA—It was a flagship promise to veterans made personally by Justin Trudeau in 2015 and a priority in the mandate letters for four different Veterans Affairs ministers. But it took until April 1, 2019, to conjure. It is the Liberal commitment to “reinstate lifelong pensions.” Did the Liberals fulfill their promise to Canada’s perennially scorned […]
A tale of two aircraft sales
In the wake of the horrific crash of the Ethiopian Air flight on March 10, killing all 157 persons on board, questions have been raised about the issue of captive regulators. Could all those lives have been saved, and the 189 more from the Lion Air flight that crashed in October into the Java Sea, […]
Canadian aircraft certification process in need of an overhaul
In testimony last week in Washington, D.C., the acting administrator of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration disclosed the lack of understanding among high-ranking FAA staff of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System installed on Boeing’s 737 Max series aircraft. While such an admission by the U.S. aircraft certification authority is both shocking and unnerving, what I […]
Aviation Policy Briefing
Marking 70 years since the mass deportation of Estonians, including my great-grandmother
Operation Priboi (“Tide” in Russian) in Soviet-controlled Estonia began with a pounding on the door in the early hours of March 25, 1949. This was a wake-up call that changed the lives of many Estonians forever. NKGB (People’s Commissariat for State Security) agents and their collaborators went from home to home, reading a decree that […]
Senators crack down on ‘culture of delay’ in access-to-information regime
Senators say they are trying to tackle the “endemic” culture of delay in the federal access-to-information regime as they propose changes to a bill meant to overhaul the system, C-58. But the Upper Chamber’s sponsor of the government legislation says “delay tactics” are at play as the committee studying the bill gears up for its […]
Time to implement Canada’s resettlement policies for Central Americans fleeing violence
I recently returned from a humanitarian mission in Venezuela. I witnessed an entire people’s survival being instrumentalized for political aims. Food and medicine have become luxuries and people dream of safe refuge. One in 10 Venezuelans has been forced to flee since 2015. Out of necessity. Not out of choice. The situation in Venezuela is […]
A call for coherence on official languages
The federal government is at a crossroads in its championing of language rights. On the one hand, it is resolutely moving towards a full modernization of the Official Languages Act. This law, which is meant to serve not just as a lifeline for official language communities but as a driver of their vitality, is failing. […]
