Facing labour shortages, Canada needs to mobilize all its talent
Despite having one of the world’s most educated populations, a gender gap in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) still exists in Canada. On Feb. 11, as we celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science, it is essential that we take the opportunity we have to move the dial to […]
Those who can’t hear must feel
OTTAWA—It’s so rare for political pundits to be right—just look at Stephen Maher. Or John Ibbitson. Or Jesse Brown. Or Jen Gerson. But I can assure you that this is not the case for yours truly. I’ve been telling y’all. We are now into Day 12 of the “Freedom Convoy,” which has turned into an […]
Veteran Hill reporter Joan Bryden retires, ‘Canadian politics is poorer for it,’ and Black History Month begins
Early in the morning on Feb. 1, long-time Parliament Hill and federal politics reporter Joan Bryden announced the beginning of her official retirement and an end to her time with The Canadian Press’ parliamentary bureau. “I am officially a retired person today. This will take some adjustment after 40 years in daily journalist, 34 of them […]
Comparing ‘freedom’ protest to other social movements is unfair and dangerous, says MP, activists
Activists and organizers of movements like Black Lives Matter and Idle No More say comparing their movements to the actions by protesters at this week’s anti-vaccine-mandate protest in Ottawa is “ludicrous.” In Question Period on Jan. 31, Conservative MP and deputy leader Candice Bergen (Portage-Lisgar, Man.), who has been criticized for engaging with the group […]
Work across the aisle to advance gender equality in the Arctic
I was raised by a single mother of four boys—not an easy task in the 1960s and ’70s. But she managed to keep food on the table and clothes on our backs and care for us all by working three to four jobs at the same time. After I was born, she needed to change […]
Alexa McDonough and the cost of blazing trails
Trailblazing isn’t easy, but those who knew her say Alexa McDonough had the character and resilience to do it with grace, earnestness, and always a sense of humour. Since her recent death, McDonough has been described as a “role model,” an “icon,” and the reason many women in politics who came after her were able […]
Feminism on the rise in Canada, but experts say more policy action needed to match
Feminism is on the rise in Canada, according to a recent poll commissioned by Independent Senator Donna Dasko, and while gender representation within political parties is improving, concrete policy action still leaves a lot to be desired, experts say. The poll, commissioned by Dasko (Ontario) from the Environics Institute for Survey Research (related to the […]
A Grade 3 teacher and the children of Chelsea spark promising movement to bring down Bill 21
CHELSEA, QUE.— Standing in an ice-covered parking lot outside the office of Gatineau’s CAQ MNA, Robert Bussière, and listening to several protest speeches in French and English doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to spend a lunch hour. But things are not always as they seem. For one thing there were the kids, lots of them, […]
Some interesting reads about Canadian politics in 2021
Political scientists authored many interesting books about Canadian politics in 2021. Here’s a sample published by three of Canada’s largest academic publishers: University of British Columbia Press (UBC Press), University of Toronto Press (UTP), and McGill-Queen’s University Press (MQUP). I am going to begin and conclude this synthesis with women and Canadian political books, for […]
The state of gender justice
At the end of 2021, it’s clearer than ever that 30 years of progress on gender equality is at risk. There are three areas that give us a sense of the scope of the challenge we face today: economic opportunity, safety, and discrimination. Almost half a million women in Canada lost their jobs by January […]
