The incredible shrinking country
OTTAWA—Think back through the years and see if you can remember a more petty, vengeful act by a political leader than Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision to raise the number of seats needed for a party to reach official status at Queen’s Park. The Progressive Conservatives are hiking the required seat total in the Ontario legislature required […]
Canada making real procurement progress, but still falling short
Canada is once again under fire for not spending enough on defence. At the NATO Parliamentary Assembly meetings in Halifax this past week, an American congressional delegate called Canada out for not having a plan to spend two per cent of GDP on defence. In response, Canadian officials referred to the spending increase baked into […]
Canadians should be concerned about fighter jet replacement process
Canada’s process to replace its CF-18 fighter jets stands as one of the strangest in the country’s history. It has witnessed four major decisions on the purchase of new fighter jets: in 2010, 2014, 2016 (for interim Super Hornets), and 2017 (for surplus Australian jets). Notably, the first three decisions were cancelled. Even as the […]
Nurse practitioners are the innovative solution to Canada’s health care woes
It was recently national Nurse Practitioner Week, but you would be forgiven if you’ve never heard of nurse practitioners. Most Canadians haven’t—and most don’t know their value to our health-care system. You may be even more surprised to learn that nurse practitioners could be the innovative solution—or at least, a critical part of it—to Canada’s […]
Toronto, major Canadian cities have to better position themselves for a new kind of global economy
TORONTO—Toronto lost out on its bid as the location for Amazon’s second headquarters, a competition which Amazon promised would allow the winning city to attract 50,000 high-paying jobs. But it’s not a big loss—indeed, Toronto may be better off for losing since winning would have meant intensified competition for talent and further pressure on a […]
The changing landscape of Canadian infrastructure
OTTAWA—Even with the billions of dollars spent on infrastructure by governments in Canada, Canada’s infrastructure deficit (estimated by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to exceed $200-billion) continues to pose a significant challenge for all levels of government in Canada. Governments are continually pressed to decide how limited resources should be spent. A transportation artery like […]
One day, we’ll break the door right off its hinges and let in light we need to address mental illness without shame
Talk. Ask. Listen. Encourage Action. Check In. These are the tenets of Movember’s campaign to raise awareness about men’s mental health. The wildly popular initiative was created to bring men’s health issues to the fore—encouraging screening and early intervention for a range of illnesses that affect young, middle aged and older men in communities across Canada. The […]
Universities heading towards a crisis
There’s a crisis emerging in Canadian universities. From institutional over-reliance on low-paid, contract academic staff, to the gutting of early-career research capacity, we’re losing the ability to provide reliable, high-quality, and truly comprehensive education. And while things are worse in some provinces than others, the overall picture has serious implications that urgently require action at […]
Feds have a long way to go to make progress on plastics pollution
The federal government has promised to release a draft of its long-awaited national plan for cutting plastic pollution at this Friday’s Council of Canadian Ministers of the Environment (CCME) meeting. Unfortunately, the CCME has a history of voluntary agreements with little bark and no bite. But on plastics, we need something more. In Canada, just […]
Mortgage finance regulations: it’s time to level the playing field
One of the fundamental lessons learned from the 2008-09 financial crisis is that the stability of the economy is substantially predicated on the health of its residential mortgage-lending system. An essential contributor to that health is an effective and efficient regulatory regime applied to the mortgage market. Canada’s regulations are among the best in the […]
