Feds sign three more contracts with unions, final four deals held up at labour board
Unions representing the foreign service, border guards, and correctional officers are breathing a sigh of relief, albeit a short one, having recently signed contracts before the next scheduled round of bargaining ramps up once again. The latest agreements bring the total number of negotiated contracts between Treasury Board and its federal employees to 23 out […]
Syrian gas-attack story doesn’t add up
OTTAWA—On Saturday, April 7, I awoke to catch a breaking story on CTV’s news channel. It was being reported that a chemical weapons attack had been perpetrated in a rebel-held town in Syria. A veteran news anchorman deadpanned a warning to viewers that the video images they were about to see were “graphic and disturbing.” […]
Canada must hold drug companies accountable for opioid crisis
Canada is the world’s second-biggest consumer of pharmaceutical opioids—second only to the United States. To put that in perspective, retail pharmacies across Canada dispensed 19 million prescriptions for opioids in 2016, up slightly from 18.9 million in 2015. That’s more than one prescription for every two Canadians. The opioid crisis has now claimed the lives of more than 10,000 […]
‘We’re not immune’ on the Hill: Sen. Bernard launches Senate debate on anti-Black racism
An Independent Senator launching a debate in the Senate on anti-Black racism nationally and on Parliament Hill says recent accusations of racism against a fellow Black Parliamentarian who called others out for denying that systemic racism exists are “disturbing.” Sen. Wanda Thomas Bernard (East Preston, N.S.) gave notice on March 1 that she would “call […]
Trudeau’s problem is he can’t cut a deal
OTTAWA—Right now, Justin Trudeau has a deal problem. Specifically, the prime minister hasn’t really closed a significant major trade or pipeline project of his making thus far in his mandate. Even his climate change plan is in potential jeopardy as new provincial actors appear on the scene bearing down for a big racket with the […]
Can the PM move Mountains?
Notwithstanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to double down on the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, the plan faces the same hurdles today as it did before he hauled the feuding premiers of Alberta and British Columbia to Parliament Hill for a meeting. The federal bid to take a financial stake in the project […]
Les Linklater’s job is to fix Phoenix—including for himself
Les Linklater’s job leading the team fixing the Phoenix pay system can be frustrating, daunting, and pressure-filled, but he empathizes with public servants’ payroll frustrations because he’s dealt with them firsthand. His base salary hasn’t been affected, he said, but he has issues related to parking and benefits. “I know they will catch up, but […]
Author Ted Rowe on how ex-Newfoundland PM Robert Bond became ‘the greatest’ Islander
The banking crisis of 1894 had been building for years. Newfoundland’s two commercial banks were unregulated, and they had been allowed to deplete their cash reserves and borrow, from the government Savings Bank and lenders in England, to fund their loans. St. John’s fish merchants appointed as bank directors (including Augustus Goodridge) were approving outsize […]
Politics This Morning: Trudeau meets Theresa May, Sadiq Khan, Jacinda Ardern, and the Queen; Chagger takes part in PayPal Canada panel; Poloz holds presser; Senate questions parliamentary budget officer
Good morning and welcome to Wednesday. Here’s hoping your weekend isn’t taking as long to show up as Ottawa’s spring. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will probably enjoy the 23 Celsius high today in London, U.K.—his first full day in the country. The visit looks to build on Canada’s strong economic and trade partnership with the U.K. […]
Climate change will impose huge human costs, government will need to deliver on big issues
TORONTO—Like climate change, the future of jobs is one of those looming issues that cannot be avoided. Technology is on the march and has its own seemingly unstoppable momentum, dividing us because it delivers both benefits and costs. So far, the future of jobs has led to two disparate camps—the techno-optimists who are confident that […]
