How the CPP could make Canadians much richer
Through exceptional investing, the CPP has accumulated a surplus of $100-billion. Experts predict it will increase, rapidly. The CPP should consider revisions. First, give pensioners any surplus above the $100-billion, resulting in six million pensioners probably annually receiving $3,500 more. (This could halve our deficit through increased income tax, increased HST, and reduced OAS.) Second, […]
Canada’s law enforcement and security services are in crisis
PARLIAMENT HILL—Last spring, after almost a year of delay, the government accepted Senate amendments to Bill C-7, an Act to Amend the Public Service Labour Relations Act, and the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board Act, which will allow RCMP officers to form a union and negotiate a collective agreement. Unfortunately, passage of the […]
Appointing officers, agents, ambassadors and more
TORONTO—Who will be Canada’s next chief justice? Who will be the country’s new chief electoral officer? When will the federal government finally get its act together and replace or make permanent several officers of Parliament? Will the chief of the defence staff be replaced before the next federal election? As Justin Trudeau’s Liberals begin serving […]
Opposition research may finally bring Trump down, that’s the ticket
TORONTO—The 70 per cent of Americans who self-identify as Democrats or Independents share one thing: they hate, hate, hate Donald Trump. They want him gone. Impeached, indicted, whatever. Gone. The 30 per cent of Americans who still call themselves Republicans, however, love him. They adore him. They stick with him. No amount of controversy and […]
Leonard Tilley: unlikely saviour of Confederation, ‘rare example of a politician who knew when not to talk’
OTTAWA—When British North American colonial leaders gathered at Québec City in 1864 to shape the details of the Confederation project, one man stood out, in historian P.B. Waite’s words, as “the rare example of a politician who knew when not to talk.” This was Samuel Leonard Tilley, a Saint John druggist and leader of the […]
Echo chambers, strategists and Scheer
OAKVILLE, ONT.—A recurring theme in politics is that “behind-the-scenes” guys, a.k.a political party strategists, don’t always remain behind the scenes. Every now and again one of their number flashily pops into the media’s consciousness, sometimes popping in voluntarily; sometimes, involuntarily. An instance of the latter case occurred recently when The Walrus, a left-wing magazine, ran […]
We live in a world where we jump to terrorism conclusions too fast
OTTAWA—There is no question that the world has terrorism on the brain. So much has changed since 9/11 that we are both more attuned to and frightened by the spectre of terrorism that it has affected our ability to accurately measure what is happening and, perhaps more importantly, what we are doing about it. This, […]
Trudeau and cabinet should work on real reconciliation
Re: “First Nations leaders break with Ottawa on environmental policy,” (The Globe And Mail, Oct. 19). The day before he died, First Nations leaders contradicted Gord Downie’s endorsement of Justin Trudeau as the right man for the job of righting Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples. In a letter to the prime minister, three members of […]
Milewski shouldn’t have questioned Singh about Indian politics, says letter-writer
Re: “Why don’t you go back to where you came from?” by Charelle Evelyn (The Hill Times, Oct. 25, 2017). This was an excellent story. As for CBC’s Terry Milewski asking NDP leader Jagmeet Singh about Indian politics: is Mr. Milewski now going to ask every Canadian MP of Irish origin about the IRA, or every MP […]
Duncan drags universities kicking and screaming into 21st century
OTTAWA—Show me the money and I will show you the path to equality. Just last week, the university sector announced groundbreaking news about a new nation-wide plan to collect and publish data on how each institution is doing when it comes to diversity. The Action Plan for Inclusive Excellence, a five-year strategy unveiled Thursday by […]
