Extremism is not far from home
It has barely been two months since the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand rocked the international community, and we now have local extremist groups who are using Quebec’s new secularism legislation, Bill 21, as an opportunity to further their message of intolerance. Extremism is not too far from home after all. Storm Alliance, a far-right group, appeared to […]
Anger in politics is neither appealing nor productive
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—May 20 marked 39 years since the first Quebec referendum, which resulted in a 60-40 rejection of the Parti Québécois bid for independence. I remember it well, as a member of the “Non” organizing committee. We had spent six weeks of gruelling 18-hour days, culminating in a 5 a.m. start on the day of […]
Feds should make like a hiker meeting a grizzly and speak to, not fight with, Alberta
PRIDDIS, ALTA.—In one of his most memorable songs, the folk- and country-music icon Ian Tyson sang of Springtime in Alberta as the time of snow melting, cattle branding, and the land reawakening after a long winter. This year, springtime in Alberta also heralded the arrival of the new United Conservative Party government, which is bound […]
If this week’s dumb shrieking battles are any sign, this election won’t be pretty
OTTAWA—The past week provided a sadly predictable look ahead at this fall’s federal election. Dynamism was eschewed for dumb shrieking battles that we have seen a million times before and ultimately advance nothing but the same old partisan pepper spray. Sprinkle in the silly and you get a feel for what is coming our way. […]
Floods remind us we haven’t learned lessons of the past
OTTAWA—In 1791, after a century of habitation in the flat plains along the Saint Lawrence River, an earthquake hit the parish of Kamouraska, Que., damaging the church and some of the town’s buildings. The priest at the time, Joseph-Amable Trutault, called it a “sign from God” the parish should move. However, he had an ulterior […]
Quebec’s relationship with the oil industry: it’s complicated
The Lac-Mégantic disaster remained seared in Quebec’s consciousness. The train that exploded in July 2013—one example of the fiftyfold increase in oil-by-rail between 2009 and 2013—had come through the American Midwest, crossed into Canada at Windsor, then passed through Montreal before heading toward the Maine border to cut across the northern part of the state, […]
P.E.I. election another sign Liberals should be concerned about Atlantic losses, say pundits
The Prince Edward Island election last week creates an opening for Conservatives and Greens to capitalize on the success of their provincial counterparts, while the Liberals that own all the current federal Atlantic Canada seats should be “wary” of a growing unfriendly sentiment toward them in the region, pundits say. While the Green Party could […]
Canada’s Arctic needs investments in infrastructure, health, economic development, education
What if someone came into your home, took away your food, your livelihood, your kids, your land, lied to you, told you to move, abused you, assigned you a racially based identification number and commanded you to wear it at all times, eliminated your only means of transportation and hunting for food for your family […]
Kenney’s Alberta win both good, bad for Trudeau, Scheer, say strategists
Alberta premier-designate Jason Kenney’s victory may deliver the political boogeyman Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to ward off the federal Conservatives, but it will also further test his—and the official opposition’s—ability to manage dynamics with the provinces, say political observers. Tuesday’s election capped the end of Alberta’s four-year flirtation with the NDP and return to […]
Territories spent less on infrastructure than without feds’ funding boost: PBO report
The territories spent $111-million less on infrastructure projects in the past two fiscal years than they would have without the federal government’s funding boost, according to a report released April 9 by the parliamentary budget officer. For every federal infrastructure dollar that, on average, they received, the three northern territories spent $3.70 in 2017-2018, a […]
