Pre-budget focus, Hill days sustain steady February lobbying
The budget and finance focus of much of the lobbying in February reflected the last-minute push for many groups to get consideration in the Liberals’ fourth and final budget of their mandate. Combined, the budget and finance accounted for 477 subject-matter mentions in the lobbying registry filings, leading international trade (391), health (349), agriculture (341), […]
American exceptionalism: applying a 19th-century belief to the 21st century
Last week, I was in California, a state I had never visited. The trip was a respite from the long Ottawa winter. And while San Francisco was a bit chilly, the choice to go there over a much warmer Florida was simple: California is a state held by the Democratic Party. Travelling to the site […]
Taiwan a natural choice for closer ties in Indo-Pacific
Re: “Tensions with China highlight need to work with Indo-Pacific states with shared values: analyst,” (The Hill Times, March 13, p. 18). In a world of growing tensions, slower economies, and political upheaval, countries like Canada need allies with shared values, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. If Canada is seeking to align itself more closely with […]
Canada collects $1-billion in retaliatory tariffs as trade dispute drags on
Canada collected more than $1-billion in tariffs on U.S. imports in the first eight months after the government imposed countermeasures in response to American tariffs on steel and aluminum, but actual financial relief is slow to get to producers, say experts. Surtax revenues on more than 200 products totalled $1.04-billion between July 2018 and Feb. […]
Peaceful transfer of power key to keeping international standing, says Kazakh envoy
With the surprise resignation last month of Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country’s ambassador to Canada says his diplomatic focus and all government agencies “remain committed to the strategic policies and programmes” put in place by the former Soviet republic’s first and only president since independence in 1991. The resignation is an “important historic event,” […]
Parties must give millennials ‘responsibility and power’ to mobilize their vote: panellists
Parties that want to get youth involved must give their voices power and tackle issues that matter to them outside of campaign season, according to speakers on a panel focused on mobilizing the millennial vote. The 2019 election will be the first time millennials make up the biggest voter bloc, and it’s an open question […]
German envoy warns xenophobia, mounting anxiety threaten world order
Multilateralism is under threat in the face of rising populism and the absence of U.S. leadership, but countries are “ill-equipped” to fill the gap, says the German ambassador to Canada. Co-operation with the European Union has been essential for Germany’s progress as a country “traumatized by two catastrophic world wars” and its part in it, […]
Tories block some House committee travel, want to stay in Ottawa as election looms
The Conservatives are blocking House committee travel, say some Liberal committee chairs, but Tory whip Mark Strahl suggested it’s only some trips. A number of committees have had travel budgets approved by the Liaison Committee’s Subcommittee on Committee Budgets, but have not made it to the next step to get travel authority from the House […]
‘Made in Canada’ should be a source of pride
They say timing is everything in politics, and more than likely in journalism as well. The recent confluence of events in Ottawa and abroad was striking: while Parliamentarians on Parliament Hill and Canadians debated the merits of SNC-Lavalin benefiting from a deferred prosecution agreement, or DPA, a few blocks away at Ottawa City Hall, a […]
Let’s ditch the silos: towards an integrated agri-food policy framework
The Canadian government has identified the agriculture and agri-food sector as an engine of growth, with some pretty ambitious targets over the next decade. The 2017 Barton Report by the government’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth proposed that Canada should boost its agriculture exports by $11-billion and its agri-food exports by $19-billion by 2027. The […]
