Worst-case scenario gains traction for Brexit-bound U.K.
OTTAWA—How’s that Brexit thing working out for you? One can’t help asking that question of the British these days. In 2016, before the referendum vote to leave the European Union, the United Kingdom was a leading business power, proud of its role as the world’s most important financial centre and blessed with low inflation, an […]
NDP fundraises more than $872,000 in second quarter, but lags behind Grits, Tories
The NDP raised far below what the Liberals and Conservative parties were able to in the second quarter of 2018, newly released financial returns show. It brought in a total of $872,401.72 during that period, with help from some 12,451 supporters, which averaged out to $70 per contributor. In comparison, the Conservatives received $6,045,466.13 in […]
Canada must do more to tackle Central America’s refugee crisis
As repercussions from United States President Donald Trump’s inhumane family-separation policies continue to play out, Canadians should not pat ourselves on the back. It is only in recent weeks that our media and government have begun to pay attention to a crisis of violence that is years in the making in Central America’s “Northern Triangle:” […]
Score one for the Conservatives, or maybe not
OTTAWA—The lazy days of summer are always a good time to draw attention to a political issue. Except when they are not. Last week’s “emergency session” on asylum seekers managed to secure major media exposure and testimony from three ministers. So the Conservative opposition succeeded in its goal of shining a light into a little-known […]
Sohi brings finesse, not ferocity to $4.5-billion Trans Mountain Pipeline file, say Alberta political observers
The federal Liberal government’s new point man for the $4.5-billion Trans Mountain pipeline is known in Alberta as a politician with a soft touch and the skills to soothe pipeline opponents, but not to fight a nasty public battle over the most important file in the province, say Alberta political observers. Amarjeet Sohi (Edmonton Mill […]
Who to blame for Toronto gun violence
TORONTO—Thoughts and prayers are fine. Certainly can’t hurt. Shrines of flowers and stuffed animals are fine. A community wants to express its sorrow when tragedies strike, although we’ve become so cynical that small gestures are often ridiculed as shallow sentimentality. Programs to engage youth, diverting them from gun and gang culture, are fine. Nobody is […]
Those of us in the media have a role to play, too
TORONTO—After the shock wears off—after it’s replaced by anger and fear and then sorrow—we continuously end up in the same intellectual cul-de-sac: what can we do? What should we do? Everyone plays their assigned role, like we are trapped in some grim kabuki play that always, always ends the same way. The gun nuts take […]
LeBlanc will have to play ‘hardball’ in a portfolio ‘critical’ in 2019 election: political insiders
Newly minted Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc will have to play hardball, on occasion, in navigating the politically sensitive issues such as the carbon tax, immigration, and the energy file, as the changing provincial political landscape will make federal-provincial relations critical to the outcome of the 2019 election, say political observers. “They will be critically […]
Trans Mountain pipeline and groping allegation open opportunity for NDP to grab back progressive vote
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to authorize and buy the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, and his handling of the groping allegation against him has given an opening to the NDP to reach out to progressive voters who opted to vote for the federal Liberals in the last election, but it remains to be seen if […]
A big ask: have pity for shooter’s family
TORONTO—A tombstone: One child. A freshly dug grave: Another child. A hospital room, its occupant forever oblivious, somewhere in the hovering world between life and death: Another child. How any family can bear so many tragedies is beyond imagining. With the added burden of two murders and multiple wounded, some grievously, wreckage inflicted by a […]
