Feds should fund indigenous environmental guardians network
OTTAWA—When it comes to protecting the land, water, flora, and fauna around mining operations, companies use a wide range of tools, technologies, and expertise. Increasingly, that expertise comes in the form of traditional knowledge from local indigenous communities. But innovative solutions are needed to enable communities to contribute on a larger scale. What we’re talking […]
Making good on food promises
In 2012, the then-United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, visited Canada at the government’s request. It was the first such mission to an industrialized country. Government ministers at the time were vocal in their disapproval that a UN office focused on food security should consider a rich country like Canada worth a visit. […]
Trudeau ‘the changer’ has morphed into ‘the compromiser’
OAKVILLE, ONT.—If for some odd reason, Canada’s opinion leaders had to choose a fairy tale character to be our prime minster, my sense is they’d pick Goldilocks. I say that because with her “not too hot, not too cold” porridge policy, along with her “not too hard, not too soft” bed strategy, Goldilocks instinctively understand […]
Next budget should fund Indigenous Guardians Network
One year ago this month, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report. Its pages described the anguish caused by residential schools and the gaps remaining between indigenous and non-indigenous people in terms of education and prosperity. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised the report, saying “This is a time of real and positive change. […]
Bennett: Senate Committee could study meaning of ‘nation to nation’ over three years
A Senate committee may be undertaking a hefty study to examine just what exactly a nation-to-nation relationship looks like, possibly over the course of three years. In an interview with The Hill Times last Tuesday, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett (Toronto-St. Paul’s, Ont.) said she was “excited by the prospect that maybe […]
Pipeline decisions about getting resources to market sustainably, says Natural Resources Minister Carr
The government’s decision to approve the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain and Enbridge Line 3 pipeline projects “speaks volumes about what the government of Canada thinks of the necessity of building infrastructure to get our resources to market sustainably,” Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr told a crowd of Alberta businesspeople at a Calgary Chamber of Commerce event […]
Canada’s natural resource sector suffering
Canada’s natural resource sector is suffering. Since the election of the Trudeau government, 100,000 energy workers alone have lost their jobs and face a very bleak Christmas. The challenges facing our oil and gas sector are well known. Our land-locked oil and gas sector is constrained by a lack of pipeline capacity to tidal waters […]
Feds hearing more from industry than environmentalists on pipelines, according to lobbyists registry
There has been a steady stream of lobbying activity related to pipelines lately, the federal lobbyists registry shows, and there are indications that pipeline proponents are getting the ear of government more than pipeline opponents are. Thirty-one communication reports for contact with government since Sept. 1 were shown on the registry when doing a search last […]
Politics This Morning: Norway’s royal couple starts Canada tour, with emphasis on Arctic relations
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway are in Canada and will be visiting the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa at 2 p.m. They will be there to celebrate the opening of a Norwegian photo exhibit on the Arctic, compiled in partnership with Laval University, ArcticNet, Arctic Frontiers and the Royal Norwegian […]
Feds to serve up both good, bad news to weather looming pipeline storms: lawyer
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet have three weeks to make a final decision on the fate of one of the most controversial energy projects backed by the former Conservative government, the Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia’s rugged northwest coast, as opposition rises to another pipeline that has faced nearly […]
