While America…seriously?
A few years ago, within 24 hours of the publication of a column I’d written about human rights and China, I clicked on a link in an email about the story from a source whose allegiances were not quite as they appeared. Within seconds, my laptop self-extinguished and would not reboot. When the cocky young […]
Norman case sheds light into deliberately dimmed chambers
OTTAWA—Last week, there were numerous twists and turns in the legal tribulations of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. Formerly Canada’s second-highest-ranking military officer, Vice-Admiral Norman was relieved of his duties in January 2017 and subsequently charged with a single count of breach of trust. The charge stems from the allegation that Vice-Admiral Norman leaked information about a […]
New modernized Chile-Canada trade deal another step toward more open, inclusive trade
In 2017, just a year after celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Chile and Canada commemorated another milestone: 20 years of the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), in force since July 1997. While the assessment of two decades of bilateral free trade was positive, it also seemed evident that our FTA […]
Church leaders step into political realm to show they’re serious about scrapping nukes
EDMONTON—Donald Trump’s administration in the United States is withdrawing from participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), Russia’s Vladimir Putin has retaliated with similar action, and the modernization of nuclear weapons races ahead. We are witnessing nuclear brinkmanship, a horror that we thought the end of the Cold War buried. Who can stop this […]
Critics decry new minister as election ploy, say Liberals dropping ball on rural internet access
Shifting responsibility for getting better internet connectivity in rural areas to a new cabinet minister may just be a “smoke screen” for the Liberals dropping the ball on the file and other rural issues, say opposition MPs. But Liberals and stakeholders say there’s time for real progress on broadband and other rural files before the […]
New American lawmakers need ‘continual massaging’ to grasp Canada-U.S. dynamic, say MPs
With 100 new members in the Congress, MPs in a friendship group of Canadian and American legislators say work needs to be done to establish new relations with their incoming southern counterparts. The outreach effort has heightened importance as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), commonly known as the “new” North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), […]
Helping make House history: meet Cree translator Kevin Lewis
The first person to simultaneously translate an Indigenous language in the House of Commons has devoted almost half his life to preserving his language. Kevin Lewis helped make history last week, simultaneously translating the Cree spoken by Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette in the Chamber on Jan. 28—something the rookie Winnipeg MP had been fighting for […]
Look to Cuba for how Canada can emerge battered, but intact, from China spat
The news that the U.S. government has finally filed charges to make its case for Canada to extradite a Huawei executive detained in Canada may bring the current situation toward closure, but it will not bring relief for Canada from either the U.S. or China. In the short term, it may even increase our duress […]
Fiscal con game lives on while poor suffer
OTTAWA—In the next nine months, we’ll be hearing a lot about the current federal government’s budget deficit and alleged wasteful spending. So far, the deficit issue appears to pass for most of what the Conservatives would call a campaign platform, with leader Andrew Scheer suggesting, like United States President Donald Trump, that he alone can […]
Is marijuana really the problem?
Recreational marijuana has been legal for months now, and despite the doom and gloom forecasted by some, Canada continues to move forward. As a Senator of Indigenous descent, I had to look at the legislation through two lenses. The first was the lack of consultation with Indigenous peoples who largely held the perception that cannabis […]
