Chaotic management of the pandemic is bringing government into disrepute
OTTAWA—The COVID-19 pandemic is enough to give a semanticist fits. As provincial government consultants have gone into overdrive to coin phrases for measures to reduce caseloads, the public is increasingly confused and restive. “Lockdown, shutdown, moveable curfews, circuit breakers, emergency brake”—the lexicon is becoming meaningless. As are the measures themselves. In Ontario’s “emergency brake,” some […]
Quebec has to come to grips with systemic racism
MONTREAL—I love Quebec. It is why I moved back last fall, splitting my time between my ancestral home in Kamouraska and my pied-a-terre in Montreal. There are so many enriching aspects of life in this province, especially its people. Whether in the dynamic metropolis of Montreal or the countryside of the Lower Saint Lawrence, this […]
Fight to save proposed Line 5 shutdown needs Team Canada approach, provinces say
Three provincial energy ministers are urging the federal government to intervene in a legal dispute between the state of Michigan and Enbridge Inc. and “keep all options on the table” to avoid the threatened shutdown of the Line 5 pipeline. The representatives for Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan told a parliamentary committee Tuesday there would be […]
Ontario’s electricity operator must make energy diversification more than a pipe dream
One of the first things U.S. President Joe Biden did was cancel the Keystone XL pipeline, the main artery for oil between the United States and Canada. Suffocating this was called “a gift to China and Russia” because it allowed international adversaries to swoop in and fill an energy demand that had been previously filled […]
Newfoundland and Labrador’s suspended animation continues, raising new questions
OTTAWA—As the self-appointed Hill Times correspondent for Newfoundland and Labrador, it is my duty to report to you that our provincial election is still going on. In fact, results will likely not be known until early to mid-April. Just a reminder it was called Jan. 15. Yes, Jan. 15, and was originally supposed to conclude […]
Hydrogen key to breaking Alberta’s energy logjam
Hydrogen is an important next energy step for Alberta and the province already has everything it needs to get there—it’s another way to get long-term value out of Alberta’s resources. In the new global clean energy economy transformation taking place, hydrogen is a key player and an enormous opportunity for Canada—it also provides a potential […]
In a COVID election, all bets are off now
Three elections and three majority governments sent the message that a government managing COVID-19 is rewarded by the voters. That was the general school of thought when Newfoundland and Labrador called its COVID election. But the arrival of the variant crisis has changed all that. The Newfoundland and Labrador government was forced to call an […]
Provinces should knock off the Oliver Twist act when it comes to health care
Provincial premiers have united to play the part of victims of a malignant federal partner as they appeal through the press for a bigger annual health transfer. “If the federal [government] doesn’t increase the transfer, there’s a risk provinces and territories won’t be able to pay for all the services their populations need. At the […]
NACI’s call to prioritize at-risk racialized Canadians reflects ‘deliberate attempt’ to recognize inequities, says expert
The feds’ immunization task force’s recent recommendation to prioritize racialized adults in the second stage of Canada’s vaccination campaign is a “deliberate attempt” to acknowledge the barriers faced by those disproportionately affected by the pandemic, but it will need to be adopted on a wide scale to be effective, says one expert. Carl James, a […]
The fight about academic freedom in Canada is whitewashed
OTTAWA—Quebec Premier François Legault used social media on Facebook last week to share his belief that “a handful of radical activists who are trying to censor certain words and works” are the problem, in reference to the recent use of the N-word by university professors in Ottawa and Montreal and those tyrannical students. It’s ironic when […]
