Why intelligence sharing is at risk thanks to the Trump administration
OTTAWA—Donald Trump promised during his presidential campaign that, if elected to the highest office in the land, he would do things differently. No more Washington business as usual, he said. This was welcomed by many who are convinced that the capital, and by extension the government, had fallen into paralysis and inefficiency. What better man than a […]
Preparing Canada’s military for 21st century goes beyond battlefield
The job of defending Canada must evolve to respond to the changing nature of conflict in the 21st century. Since April 2016, the federal government has been conducting consultations aimed at renewing Canada’s defence policy. As deputy chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, I had the opportunity to hear from experts […]
Trudeau’s naive approach on defence on full display
As global leaders gathered in Brussels at the NATO heads of state meeting to compare notes on how each will contribute to the alliance’s collective security, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showed up empty-handed. His Liberal government continuously promised the release of their defence policy review by the end of 2016. As we approach the midway […]
How terrorists justify targeting children
Terrorist acts are often heinous in nature. People targeted at a club in Orlando (or Istanbul) dancing the night away. Passengers on a city bus in Tel Aviv. Young political activists on an island in Norway. When we are happily doing whatever it is that we like and we are felled by indiscriminate terror and […]
RCMP: More reports for the archives
OTTAWA—It’s spring, and the hardiest of perennials in the Canadian policy garden is in full flower. The RCMP and the never-ending wailing about how to fix its “culture of dysfunction” and “insularity,” in the words of two recent reports, is already standing tall among the many other perennials in the government’s garden of things needing […]
MPs don hip waders, grab sandbags to help amid historic flooding
Along every swollen waterway, every eroded riverbank, every washed out road, the plot lines remained identical: hundreds of neighbours, friends, and even strangers to lend a hand to beleaguered residents confronted with surging water levels. Unprecedented flooding along the Ottawa River watershed, and elsewhere in Eastern Canada, has caused untold property damage and heartache, but […]
Potential for extremism in military can’t be ignored
OTTAWA—Every time you attend an Ottawa Senators home game there is a moment, usually during the second period, when a member of the Canadian military is honoured in a commemoration called “Heroes’ Ridge.” Fans stand and give the soldier a standing ovation—even the players on the ice tap their sticks—and I am pretty sure that […]
Liberals should be congratulated for keeping this particular promise
Good for the Liberals for following through on their 2015 election campaign promise to legalize recreational marijuana. The Liberals promised to legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana, and according to legislation tabled earlier this month, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Considering what’s going on with deficits that are way beyond $10-billion a year […]
Border security: what the U.S. wants, Canada gives—to its peril
OTTAWA—It’s been 15 years since that fateful day on Sept. 11, 2001 when the centres of American society and government were attacked. And like July 28, 1914 and Sept. 1, 1939, the world changed. The government and people of the United States in a fit more of anger than sound policy embarked on a series […]
New heads of Liberals’ rural caucus vow to force ‘rural lens’ upon ‘all policies’
With the national electoral landscape dominated by urban ridings, the new executives of the 54-member Liberal rural caucus are vowing to use “all the tools at our disposal” to make sure rural issues are on the national agenda and considered in all decisions. “We’ll use all the tools at our disposal to champion the issues […]
