Ontario: dope dealer extraordinaire
OTTAWA—While I know the chances of anyone shedding any tears for me is akin to a snowball in hell, it is hard not to feel like in Central Canada these days governments are out to stick it to the business community. You’ve read my laments about the federal Liberals’ plan to change the way private […]
Quebec separatism isn’t dead
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—My neighbour here flies his Quebec fleur-de-lis flag proudly. There is a fresh blue flag on his immaculate, six-metre flag post every summer. Down the road at the Kamouraska cemetery, the member of the legislature from 1936 to 1952, René Chaloult is buried. There is a monument in front of the church praising his […]
Macdonald’s other legacy: francophone migration south
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—Whenever friends visit from elsewhere, I make sure to bring them to a small graveyard and chapel located about five kilometres outside of the current town of Kamouraska. A large sign identifies it as “Le Berceau de [The Cradle of] Kamouraska.” Between 1691 and 1792, this was the religious and political centre from Rivière […]
Quebec unimpressed with NDP
MONTREAL—The numbers are in and they don’t bode well for the NDP in Quebec, regardless of the outcome of the party’s upcoming leadership vote. The enthusiasm that attended the 2011 orange wave has given way to widespread voter indifference as well as internal discomfort within the province’s depleted NDP ranks. None of the four candidates […]
Atlantic boost on front bench noteworthy in shuffle aimed at getting action, say strategists
The creation of a new portfolio and the splitting of Indigenous and Northern Affairs were the big surprises out of the recent Liberal cabinet shuffle, but also of note was Atlantic Canada’s increased representation on the front bench, says Greg MacEachern, a senior vice-president at Environics Communications. “The Liberal Party in the last election, in […]
Opportunities missed in rural Canada without adequate investments
When you travel throughout Canada there is a certain expectation of safety. At our airports, you expect innovative navigational aids to be used for safe landings and you expect the runway to be paved and well lit. When travelling by land, you anticipate our roads, especially the Trans-Canada Highway, to be safe and well maintained. […]
O’Regan’s humility will get him far in Ottawa
OTTAWA—Justin Trudeau changed up parts of his cabinet this week, in response to Judy Foote’s departure and an apparent dissatisfaction with the state of the Indigenous Affairs Department. Having worked in that department in a previous life, it comes as no surprise that yet another prime minister finds the place backwards. However, one of the […]
Illegal border crossings can no longer be overlooked
GATINEAU, QUE.—The influx of mostly-Haitian asylum seekers across the Quebec border could hardly have come at a more delicate time. In the United States, of course, the embers of racism and xenophobia are regularly fanned by an unstable president with no moral centre and little common decency. While Canada isn’t immune from the contagion, so […]
Canadians want Trudeau to offset Trump on welcoming refugees
OTTAWA—Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t. Such is the dilemma facing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the increase in ambulatory migrants arriving from the United States in the wake of American removal rumblings. News reports say that more than 7,500 people have streamed across the Canada-United States border in the past three months. […]
Politics This Morning: Freeland to deliver speech urging public support for NAFTA overhaul
Good Monday Morning, All eyes are on Ottawa today as Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland heads to the nation’s capital to drum up public support for reforms to the North American Free Trade Agreement, in advance of the start of renegotiation talks later this week. Ms. Freeland will be at the University of Ottawa […]
