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 […]
‘B.C. is burning and we’re only right at the very beginning,’ says MP Doherty as British Columbia’s wildfires season officially starts
British Columbia is in a state of emergency as the forest fires continue to burn out of control in the province, and the MPs whose ridings have been impacted the most say that while the federal government’s response so far has been adequate, resources are tapped, emotions are running high, and much more assistance will […]
Feds should match wildfire donations
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited parts of British Columbia this week where wildfires have burned down homes and businesses and have displaced thousands of people. The federal government has done a lot of good things in responding to this crisis. It acted quickly to set up an ad-hoc cabinet committee chaired by Minister for Sports […]
