Cannabis legalization a Green ideal
The Green Party of Canada was the first federal party to advocate for the legalization of cannabis. In our view, criminalization only helped organized crime to reap benefits while using marijuana to introduce young Canadians to harder and more dangerous drugs. In 1998, the Green Party endorsed policies governing the production and distribution of marijuana […]
Permanent residents should pay the same price as Canadians who drive impaired
It has been more than a month since the Cannabis Act and its companion legislation, Bill C-46, Impaired Driving Act, have come into force. While the Cannabis Act itself was widely discussed in public, there was comparatively little debate about Bill C-46, which may have disastrous consequences for permanent residents in Canada. As per the […]
Weed or feed? A Canadian food security issue
In December, the University of Guelph and Dalhousie University released the 9th edition of Canada’s Food Price Report, and while the report paints a generally rosy picture of 2019 food prices, partly due to decreasing meat prices and small increases across most food categories, a sobering statistic from the report was that overall food prices are expected to increase by 1.5 to […]
Ford should do the right thing, show people he cares
OTTAWA—Ontario Premier Doug Ford should do the right thing and show people he cares. He should reconsider cuts to French-language services affecting Ontario’s 600,000 francophones, including the cancellation of plans to create Ontario’s first French-language university in Toronto (a promise he renewed during his recent election campaign) and the rescinding of a $3-million grant to Ottawa’s French theatre company, “La Nouvelle Scene.” […]
Canada should pull troops out of Iraq
OTTAWA—A weapons cache valued at about $10-million is sitting in limbo in a Montreal warehouse, Postmedia reported last week. This arsenal includes .50-calibre sniper rifles equipped with silencers, 60-millimetre mortars, Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket launchers, pistols, carbines, thermal binoculars, cameras, scopes, and medical supplies. The intended recipient of this sophisticated, lethal hardware was the Kurdish militia in northern Iraq. At […]
Feds promote DMs who can stickhandle tough provincial, U.S. relations
The prime minister has promoted top bureaucrats, including a new deputy head of the public service, with experience handling sticky issues at the top of its agenda, including provincial and U.S. relations, as it gears up for October’s election. Beginning their new jobs this week are several top public servants the prime minister announced would be […]
Let’s remember: climate change is not ideological, it’s fact
As 2018 came to a close, I spent part of December in Katowice, Poland. As president of Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada) I was there to bring the Inuit voice to the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting. The Conference of the Parties (COP) has been held annually since 1995, when the […]
Give Transportation Safety Board ‘more teeth,’ says Senator, after agency misses half its performance targets
The Transportation Safety Board is behind on half of its performance targets, most stemming from the length of time to close investigations and industry’s failure to respond to its safety suggestions, according to its recent results report. Independent Senator Rosa Galvez and NDP MP Brian Masse say these outcomes suggest that the board needs enforcement […]
‘At least it’s a start’: AFN national chief Perry Bellegarde says Scheer’s attendance at recent chiefs’ meeting was a good step, despite boos
Despite Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer receiving boos at a recent Assembly of First Nations meeting in Ottawa, Perry Bellegarde says his attendance is a step in the right direction. The AFN’s national chief, who was elected to another three-year term in July, told The Hill Times in an end-of-year interview that he invited all party […]
The House is home to a lot of memories
OTTAWA—In the 1970s, anyone could walk into the Centre Block. Lately, it has become an armed camp. There’s no need for a lot of nostalgia—only recognition of how much things have changed. The ‘70s began with what was the biggest political cataclysm of the era: the FLQ kidnappings in Quebec, which led to police over-reaction […]
