The cities’ problem with CETA
POWELL RIVER, B.C.—The trouble with demonizing the leader of an unpopular government is that it gives the next leader a way too much slack. I remember writing a column years ago comparing Brian Mulroney with Paul Martin (who more or less ran Jean Chretien’s government). Who was more destructive to the public interest and progressive […]
Canada 150 incidents ‘wakeup call’ on progress not yet made on indigenous issues
Evident amid the hoopla of Canada 150 was a lack of celebration among many indigenous people, which a high-ranking First Nations chief and an academic both say should be seen as a “wakeup call.” There was the unexpected erection of a teepee on Parliament Hill, days before Canada Day, organized by an indigenous group from […]
Why young people voted
VANCOUVER—In the recent British election—if you can believe the exit polls and a number of newly elected Labour MPs—young people came out and voted. But the millennials, aged 18 to 24, stayed home for the Brexit vote. Only 36 per cent of them voted then, versus 80 per cent of those over 65 who voted. […]
We need international rules to protect public interest against greedy, too-powerful Big Tech
TORONTO—Our prime minister loves to hang out with the Big Tech world. Google opens a big new software lab in Waterloo and Justin Trudeau is there. Amazon opens a big new warehouse and distribution centre in Brampton and Trudeau is there. In China, Trudeau hangs in with Jack Ma, the founder of the giant Chinese […]
Cannabis legalization: good intentions, but is it good policy?
The recently introduced legislation to legalize nonmedical use of cannabis follows reasonably closely the recommendations of the task force set up last year to advise government on the best way of doing it. But is it really good public policy? The intended goal of legalization is not a single problem to be solved or benefit […]
‘How cool is this, little guy from Stony Plain, Alberta, and he gets to walk in and work in this place every day,’ Keller reflects on Hill work as he mulls ‘next challenge’
PARLIAMENT HILL —As with many a career in politics, Garry Keller’s started off knocking on doors—lots and lots of doors. He helped then Reform MP John Williams get elected for the first time in 1993, and then four years later and fresh out of university, Mr. Keller again hit the pavement in the 1997 federal […]
‘British Columbians do not want this,’ Trudeau faces tough task on $7.4-billion Kinder Morgan pipeline with incoming B.C. government
The Trudeau government is facing a difficult scenario with a pipeline project in British Columbia it supports now that a provincial government is coming in that’s firmly opposed to it, experts say. What’s at stake is the $7.4-billion expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline between Alberta and British Columbia. The project was approved by […]
How a farm boy from Logan Township became one of the biggest procedural nerds in the House
For rookie Conservative MP John Nater, it all started at an auction sale in his hometown of Mitchell, Ont. He was in his early teens and his MPP Hugh Edighoffer, a former speaker in the Ontario legislature, was selling some of his collection of books, including 30 years worth of Hansard from Queen’s Park. “I […]
Former Conservative leadership candidate Rick Peterson considers run in Ambrose’s riding
Former Conservative leadership candidate Rick Peterson won only four votes in the Alberta riding of Sturgeon River-Parkland in his unsuccessful leadership contest in May, but the British Columbia-based venture capitalist is considering a run at his party’s nomination to succeed the outgoing MP and former interim party leader Rona Ambrose. “I grew up in Alberta […]
New world requires new arguments
OAKVILLE, ONT.—We hear a lot these days about how we need to prepare for global climate change, but there’s another kind of global change happening right now, and it too requires our attention. Or at least it requires the attention of those who pontificate on politics, because the global change I’m talking about is dramatically […]
