George H.W. Bush and the value of good intentions
Whatever you believe or don’t about an afterlife, when George H.W. Bush woke up last Friday and asked James Baker where they were going, Baker’s response of “heaven” likely seems more accurate than the alternative, the old maxim about good intentions notwithstanding. And Bush did seem the embodiment of good intentions, a quality that sometimes, […]
USMCA IP provisions make for uneven playing field for Canadian, U.S. farmers
Farmers in North America generally did well in the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). But there is one nasty surprise buried in the agreement that should unite all Canadian farmers—intellectual property rules that prevent circumvention of digital locks on electronics including sophisticated farm equipment like tractors and combines that will apply to Canadian, but not to […]
Liberal fortunes on the hook if Trump follows through on tough talk to scrap former NAFTA deal
OTTAWA—It’s pretty clear that Donald Trump doesn’t like rubbing shoulders with other world leaders, many of whom probably don’t go out of their way to hide their distaste for the U.S. president. As soon as he climbs back on Air Force One after these events, he lashes out in a way that is certain to […]
Eastern promises: Canada should look to Asia to shift away from a sole export market, say experts
With a rapidly dropping oil price, experts suggest looking across the Pacific Ocean to divest its traditional, north-south oil trading route, but the delay in pipeline construction inhibits Canada’s oil and natural gas reaching B.C.’s coast. A backlog of oil is the result of low pipeline capacity, creating a lot of supply and driving down […]
Better to help improve than shun a company trying to recover after CSR challenges
Anyone listening to the news knows we live in a climate of high expectations. Corporations, governments, financial institutions, and companies of all sizes are under the microscope in terms of whether they conduct business in a responsible way. Where once corporate social responsibility (CSR) was a nice-to-have, it’s now an imperative. However, responsible business practices […]
Good prospects for Canadian companies in Cuba, says Cuban trade minister, as expert urges Canada to step up investment
With increased focus on foreign investment opportunities in Cuba, the Cuban foreign trade and investment minister was in Canada last week to promote new ventures, but a former Canadian ambassador to Cuba says Canadian companies haven’t yet taken full advantage of new opportunities. Canada and Cuba have more than $1-billion worth of annual trade, and […]
Ontario PCs taking notes from House of Cards, problematic practice of politicising the naming of legislation
TORONTO—In the latest season of house of cards there is a scene in which the vice president is sitting with members of his staff deliberating what they should name their newest act. Should we call it the “Comprehensive Safety Act, or the Comprehensive Chemical Safety Act?” Then the secretary of state pipes up and says […]
E-governance a ‘mutual interest’ with Canada, says Estonian envoy
Just over quarter century ago, before the Iron Curtain lifted and with it the Soviet Union’s control of Estonia, Toomas Lukk was starting his career as a scientist. In the early 1990s, Mr. Lukk—who started as the small Baltic country’s new ambassador to Canada in September—was using his background in geography to focus on marine research, […]
Canada tackling link between early marriage, preterm birth
KIGALI, RWANDA—As a humanitarian worker from Ontario, I’m proud to put Canada’s feminist foreign policy into action by championing the health and rights of women and girls around the world. Earlier this week, I was in Rwanda for the International Conference on Family Planning, along with the federal government and other international agencies, to advance […]
Work with Southeast Asia to help stem fentanyl flow, says UN rep
The explosion of synthetic opioids, in many cases originating from Asia, and record-level overdose deaths in Canada means Ottawa needs to engage with the region “in a way that they didn’t have to before,” says a United Nations representative for Southeast Asia. That means paying attention to drug flow and “precursor issues” such as where […]
