Emmanuel Macron and the hope of audacity
The victory of the passionately pro-European Union, Bardot-gapped Emmanuel Macron in Sunday’s French présidentielle wasn’t just a triumph of globalism over nationalism, it was a triumph of sanity over political perversity. In an era when the special interests have degraded democracy’s strengths—public trust, freedom of the press, rule of law, equality, legitimate representation—to give it a bad name by […]
Where will Trudeau draw the line on Trump’s trade tactics?
TORONTO—Where are we going on NAFTA renegotiation? Ill-informed grandstanding by U.S. President Donald Trump, along with the threat to terminate the trade agreement, is no doubt intended to intimidate Canada and Mexico into making concessions to advantage the U.S. But how far do we go? Facts don’t matter. The U.S. has a trade surplus with […]
Secret meeting, secret opportunities: the high stakes private sector funding of Canada’s infrastructure
OTTAWA—Secret meetings, secret opportunities: power and influence behind closed doors in Ottawa is always present. Uncovering such nefarious activity is never easy, but through an access-to-information application, one stark example of this came to light where several senior government officials met in secret at a secret location late last year with a corporation powerful enough […]
MPs from all parties defend supply management against Trump, Bernier
Rural MPs from across multiple parties have been hearing concern from their constituents after American President Donald Trump threatened to come after Canada’s dairy industry. Mr. Trump turned his sights, and his tweets, towards Canadian dairy farmers last month, claiming that because of Canada’s trade regulations on dairy products, which block much of the United States’ dairy […]
Trump for dummies: there’s no scapegoat like a foreign scapegoat
OTTAWA—The CNN anchors kept looking at each other, half-laughing. “Canada?” they kept saying, as in United States President Donald Trump is picking a fight with Canada? This was a few weeks ago, when Trump was calling Canada’s dairy policies a “disgrace” that damaged the interests of U.S. farmers. With the 100-day mark bearing down on him, […]
Canada needs a nuclear energy strategy
Justin Trudeau’s government, as many have remarked, is distinguished by its interconnected ministerial mandates. This is good for sharing responsibilities for important political objectives and priorities. However, this could pose a challenge if the objectives are not underpinned by a unifying strategy that recognizes and uses the technologies and tools at hand. This is the […]
The playbook is back in Washington
LONDON, U.K.—It was striking, in United States media coverage of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, that most observers noted with relief that his foreign policy has turned out to be less radical than they feared. In fact, it’s not radical at all. He has already fired cruise missiles at a Middle Eastern country, […]
It’s unhappy hour for a broad swath of industries in Canada
OTTAWA—For the past 150 years, enjoying a glass of wine, beer, or spirits has become part of Canada’s lifestyle, culture, and diet. The value added production of beverage alcohol from farm to glass has evolved, but its linkages with gastronomy, history, tradition, origin, local quality products, and social settings remain a part of everyday life […]
PMO’s Canada-U.S. war room dealing with unprecedented unpredictability of U.S. administration
The PMO’s three-member Canada-U.S. relations team has been wisely playing its cards “very close to the chest” in charting a coordinated whole-of-government approach to navigating relations with an unpredictable Trump administration, say sources. “It’s created a nerve centre,” said Sarah Goldfeder, a principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group and a former American diplomat who worked at the U.S. […]
This just in: Parliament Pub set for a comeback after more than two-year hiatus
The Parliament Pub, the patio for which provides the best view of the Parliament Buildings of any Ottawa establishment, is set to reopen during the May long weekend, weather permitting, after being closed since December 2014. It closed due to renovations the federal government—owner of the historic Birks Building at 107 Sparks St., where the […]
