Venezuela’s trauma underscores volatility facing Latin America
OTTAWA—Only rarely these days do societies collapse in the way Venezuela has. Once one of the richest countries in Latin America, it has descended into complete disorder, with failing power supplies, severe shortages of food and medicine, rampant political repression, a failing economy, an exodus of 3.4 million residents, and an authoritarian ruler propped up […]
Phoenix is the gift that keeps on taking
OTTAWA—I am pissed off with the government of Canada. Not with the current debacle/debate over SNC-Lavalin, the Prime Minister’s Office, the attorney general or the director of public prosecutions. Not even the clerk of the Privy Council, who showed he is, first among all things, the prime minister’s deputy. No, the reason for my anger […]
Can Israeli democracy survive with Netanyahu?
Israel’s democracy, existing as it has as an island surrounded by non-democracies, has a reputation for being that beautiful euphemism for an array of scrappy qualities: “robust.” Debate in Israel is not for the faint of heart, running for a seat in the Knesset is no more for the squeamish than standing and speaking in […]
A job killing facts free-for-all
The hyper-politicization of carbon pricing has led to a fact free-for-all. A church here and a long commute there are both facing economic ruin with that carbon tax on everything. Alternatively, it is all sunshine and rebates with families magically better off with the carbon action incentive. While this crescendo of polarization will only increase […]
Liberal Party, feds launch campaigns to get Canadians aware of carbon price rebate
The Liberal government is pushing a broad public opinion and awareness campaign to get Canadians in the know about carbon pricing rebates, but one expert says a return at tax time won’t guarantee a bump in popular support for Ottawa’s pricing policy. The federal benchmark carbon pricing system will go into effect on April 1 […]
Plugging their methane leaks is the least oil companies could do on climate
There are no silver-bullets on climate change—but dealing with industrial methane is as close to “easy” as it gets. Or at least, it should be. It’s cheap, it will have a noticeable benefit for health and climate change in the short term, and it will create good jobs in regions where workers are hurting. The […]
Another messy compromise: carbon pricing in Canada
Climate policies differ wildly from one part of the country to another. The federal government aimed to smooth these differences with its Pan-Canadian Framework. Provinces had to meet a standard or have the federal system imposed. In practice, politics won over policy. October 2018 saw the release of long-awaited details on provincial carbon pricing policies, […]
The problem with the carbon tax
Opposition to a carbon tax has mushroomed in a short period of time, suggesting it needed little water to sprout and grow. This would not be surprising to carbon tax advocates if they had been more rooted in the importance of local circumstances in gaining public acceptance of new policy regimes. North America has always […]
Trudeau needs to show he’s serious about working collaboratively with our provincial, territorial partners on climate change
The Liberal government’s imposition of a carbon tax on every province which refuses to do so itself flies in the face of Justin Trudeau’s stated commitment to ushering in a new era of federal-provincial/territorial relations. Like so many of the prime minister’s other broken promises, this one has left Canadians, including our provincial and territorial […]
Liberal government’s carbon tax will hit farmers harder than many other Canadians
The Liberal government’s carbon tax will hit farmers harder than many other Canadians. Don’t take my word for it: the government admits it themselves in their own documents. To quote a release from the Department of Finance: “The government recognizes that particular groups or sectors require targeted relief from the fuel charge—in particular because of […]
