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 […]
Bill 21: a return to Quebec’s dark past
In the 1930s, the start of a time referred to in Quebec as “la grande noirceur” (the great darkness), the government of premier Maurice Duplessis passed the Padlock Law, otherwise known as An Act to Protect the Province Against Communistic Propaganda. Under the law, authorities could shut meeting places of anyone suspected of being a […]
Infrastructure is Canada’s backbone
Critically important infrastructure is too often poorly maintained or lacking in sufficient future planning. Delaying maintenance is a misplaced budgetary economy. Insufficient planning is symptomatic of a lack of realistic forethought. Both represent a much greater cost than is often acknowledged. The railway to the northern port town of Churchill, Man., is a prime example. […]
SNC-Lavalin nuclear contracts at risk if it’s convicted
If SNC-Lavalin is denied a deferred prosecution agreement and is convicted of fraud and corruption, this could prevent the engineering company from bidding on federal government contracts in Canada. But it could also jeopardize its current and future contractual obligations with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), power producers Bruce Power, China National Nuclear Corp., […]
