Senate to decide if environmental protection is legitimate in the Anthropocene
TORONTO—The signs may have never been clearer. Scientists are concerned about mass extinctions taking place the world over. Ecological economists are suggesting that half the Earth be preserved for nature’s crucial life support systems. International climate scientists are suggesting we have just over 10 years to drive “unprecedented action” on human induced climate change. In […]
How the rail industry’s culture of innovation benefits Canada
Canada’s rail industry has come a long way since The Last Spike. Whether they’re leveraging big data to prevent accidents or using aerial drones to inspect their infrastructure, Canada’s railways are constantly evolving to make their operations safer, more efficient and built for the future. Railway innovation has obvious benefits for Canada. New technologies and […]
Electricity lineworkers: modern day ‘heroes’
Resilient. It’s a word we don’t use lightly in the energy sector. Whether we are building infrastructure to endure extreme weather events, which have become the new normal, or guarding against the growth industry of cyber attacks, the word is a critical part of our vocabulary. It is also at the heart of our actions. […]
Canada needs IP incentives to be globally competitive
In its 2019 pre-budget consultations, the federal government’s House Finance Committee wanted to focus on ensuring Canada’s competitiveness on the global stage. Improving Canada’s business and economic competitiveness is key to the work of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), the association that represents patent agents, trademark agents, and lawyers practising in IP law […]
Modernization of courts martial: a matter of priority
OTTAWA—In January 2018, an interim report from the Department of National Defence (DND) considered the many impediments to the military’s court martial system. The results were anything but surprising. The report provides an overview of the courts martial system, a comparative study of military justice systems from around the world, as well as an analysis […]
Europe’s latest upheaval, in Sweden, is ample warning of racism’s power
OTTAWA—Sweden, long a beacon of successful democratic socialism, has in the past few weeks seen its political establishment thrown into chaos by the rise of the Sweden Democrats, a right-wing anti-immigration party. Although the party polled below some expectations in the recent election, it took 17.6 per cent of the vote and became the potential […]
Canadian funding doesn’t measure up to lofty foreign-aid goals
When Emchjargal Dambii surveys the small slipper factory she’s managing in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia she can hardly believe her eyes. When she signed up for an urban gardening project supported by the Canadian government six years ago, she never thought it would radically change her life. “I just wanted to plant vegetables,” she says with a […]
Humanity’s turkey is cooked while politicians play hot potato with climate change
OTTAWA—Over the Thanksgiving weekend Canadians were reminded again of the perils of unaddressed climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a gloomy report. Effectively the panel argued that limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels means the world can keep “a semblance” of the ecosystems we have; conversely, adding another 0.5 […]
Proposed Quebec ban on religious symbols isn’t freedom, it’s oppression
After defeating the ruling Quebec Liberals earlier this month, premier-elect François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec announced that some public employees may be banned from wearing religious clothing under a proposed “secularism law” in the province. Restrictions would be placed on all religious symbols, including a kippah skull cap or a hijab, and would apply to […]
Canadian troops do a lot around the world, but achieve very little
OTTAWA—The Canadian Armed Forces are committed to and deployed on five overseas missions, none of which has a clear-cut or achievable objective. Of course, the old Cold War warhorses will claim that our battle group stationed in Latvia has been successfully deterring Russian aggression into the Baltic states. You could similarly argue that a tinfoil […]
