Mulcair owes Canadians consistency on Keystone XL pipeline
Tom Mulcair is just the latest resident of Stornoway to engage in a rite of passage that leads south. But this time an opposition leader lands in Washington to find the elephant in the room is too massive to dance around. The fate of the Keystone XL pipeline is perhaps the most contentious bilateral […]
Provinces need to protect against boom and bust cycle
Resource-heavy provinces like Alberta need to “rethink” their budgets so their poverty or prosperity aren’t at the mercy of how much their commodities are fetching at market, say economic experts. “One thing that is obvious from Canadian economic history is that staples-driven booms can end as quickly and dramatically as they begin,” writes the […]
Feds must get more involved in Canada’s natural resources to benefit country, say critics
Canada needs to have a national conversation about how to develop its natural resources, divvy up the riches and deal with climate change, says Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives executive director Bruce Campbell. “First and foremost there has to be a national conversation. I think the federal government has to take the leadership [role],” […]
Dutch disease debate ‘generating more heat than light,’ says former Environment Canada deputy minister
Economist and former Environment Canada deputy minister Paul Boothe says he doesn’t put much stock in claims that Canada’s manufacturing sector is a victim of so-called Dutch disease, but admits that the resource-rich Canadian dollar has made it harder for manufacturers to sell their products abroad. “Resource booms do have exchange rate impacts and […]
Canada’s pipeline options numerous: NRCan briefing notes
Despite the frenzied push by federal and provincial officials to sell the U.S. government on the economic benefits of approving the Keystone XL pipeline, there are multiple projects on the horizon that would send more Alberta crude to tidewater where it can command a higher price. Canada’s oil industry has “a number of pipeline […]
Humanity should dine out on our huge productive capacity of the waters of the Earth
OTTAWA—With more than two billion more people expected to be living on the Earth by 2050, more food will be eaten in the next 50 years than in the whole rest of human history. Feeding those hungry mouths will be made harder because the Green Revolution that super-charged our ability to produce food in […]
The North
Canada’s Arctic in the crucible
There are many different visions of the Arctic. There is Stephen Harper’s annual summer trip with its proclamations of “use it or lose it.” Yet, his promises for deep sea ports, ice breakers, and new research stations are now more noted as absent than fulfilled. For example, the ice-breakers were promised in 2005 and […]
Northern sovereignty must be more than a photo-op; Prime Minister must listen to and meet needs of northerners
Two weeks ago, at the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Québec City, Olivier de Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, was introduced as someone who had achieved “rock star” status in Canada. This was not a good thing. De Schutter’s report last spring was devastating. Canada has a serious food insecurity […]
Lack of infrastructure keeping North from realizing new economic opportunities
The federal government has big plans for the Arctic’s economic potential, but a lack of infrastructure is holding back development. NDP MP Dennis Bevington (Western Arctic, N.W.T.), whose riding covers the entire Northwest Territories, said the feds need to “step up to the plate” if they want to see northern economies flourish. Mr. Bevington’s […]
