Canada needs a rising fee on carbon emissions, revenue returned to households
Re: “The myths about Energy East, just to clear the air,” (The Hill Times, by Susan Riley, Oct. 16, p. 10). Our climate is becoming more and more inhospitable. The recent hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria have cost $300-billion. The wildfires in British Columbia and California are adding to that. Our unstable climate is putting […]
MPs should strengthen Conflict of Interest Act at its five-year review next year, do it for Canadians
Two years ago, Canada’s Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson advised Finance Minister Bill Morneau that there was no requirement under the Conflict of Interest Act for him to place his assets into a blind trust, and she did not suggest at the time that the finance minister might do this just to be on the safe […]
Rachel Notley and Alberta’s female firsts
In celebrating Persons Day every year, Canada salutes five tenacious women from Alberta, the “Famous Five,” who 90 years ago insisted that women be regarded as persons. In 1927, after hitting a roadblock with Canada’s own justice system, they appealed to the highest court of the land, which at the time was the Judicial Committee […]
At least Bill Morneau attempted tax reform
Bill Morneau may not be the world’s most adept politician. But as federal finance minister, his truncated tax reforms are at least still going, barely, in the right direction. Let’s hope that he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau don’t back off from them entirely. They did continue their backtracking Thursday. Morneau announced he won’t proceed with […]
Observations from Jim Carr’s Generation Energy conference
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr hosted the Generation Energy conference in Winnipeg from Oct. 11-12, a culmination of a national discussion on Canada’s future energy needs that took place over 25 weeks, with online input form 320,000 Canadians and another 30,000 from outside our borders. At the 600-person gathering, many interesting things were said and […]
Answers desperately needed in Boyle kidnapping saga
“Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable.” This statement to ABC News comes from Jim Coleman, the father of American Caitlan Coleman, who alongside her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle were kidnapped in Afghanistan some five years ago and freed some two weeks […]
Canada must rethink trade strategy after a half-century of U.S. special access
OTTAWA—On Jan. 16, 1965, prime minister Lester Pearson sat next to U.S. president Lyndon Johnson at an outdoor table at Johnson’s ranch in Texas to sign the papers bringing the Canada-U.S. Auto Pact into existence. Old footage shows Johnson looking vague about the whole thing while Pearson exuded satisfaction. At the time, there appeared to […]
What does victory look like for Canada in Iraq?
OTTAWA—With more than 800 Canadian troops committed to be deployed in what is still recognized internationally as Iraq, one would think that there would be a lot more news about the ominous developments in that war-ravaged country. The problem is that when Canadians first entered the fray in 2014 the Harper government of the day […]
Scrap Chapter 11 investment mechanism from NAFTA
There has been a great deal of coverage about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trip to Washington for NAFTA renegotiation, but I haven’t seen very much coverage of what NAFTA is doing to us here at home right now. Currently, an oil and gas company, Lone Pine Resources Inc., is using the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) […]
Why Saudi Arabia, Israel praise Trump’s Iran nuclear-deal strategy
LONDON, U.K.—Five months ago, during Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, he was invited to open the “Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology.” (I’m not making that up.) The huge, darkened room he was in looked like a cross between a starship bridge and a television control room. And there was a photo-op, as there […]
