Coping with Trump, there’s no such thing U.S. government policy, especially foreign policy
LONDON, U.K.—We have to face facts: there is no U.S. federal government any more in the normal sense of the word. Social Security payments still get made and the 2.79 million federal civil servants still get paid, but there is no such thing as U.S. government policy—especially foreign policy. Take the U.S. defence secretary, former […]
Nicholls’ divisive politics belongs in a museum
Re: “Scheer should apologize fro his apology,” (The Hill Times, Gerry Nicholls, Oct. 2, p. 10). “Well, first off, when you’re apologizing, you’re not attacking and when you’re not attacking you’re losing,” Mr. Nicholls writes. Wow. If there ever was an argument for modifying our adversarial political system in favour of a more collaborative one, […]
Foreign workers should be eligible to apply for permanent residence prior to or upon arrival to Canada
This past weekend we gathered around the dinner table with family and friends to give thanks. Often we acknowledge the delicious bounty that’s before us. If grown in Canada, this bounty is often tended to and harvested by people like Gabriel from St. Lucia in the Caribbean who works on a produce farm near Guelph. […]
Two years from now, we’ll be in midst of election 2019 campaign: let’s look at the leaders
TORONTO—It may be hard to believe, but two years from now we could be in the midst of a federal election campaign. In barely a month, we will be at the mid-point of the Trudeau government’s mandate. Next year, we will start to see positioning for the 2019 federal election. If Canadians are to be […]
On climate change, feds must catch up not slow down
The recent report by the federal environment commissioner shows that the government has to work harder to meet Canada’s greenhouse gas reduction targets under the Paris Agreement. The report is a wake-up call. Canada is not on track to meet its 2030 climate commitments, while timelines on policy implementation are getting longer and measures to […]
Enough talk, time to act on climate change
Julie Gelfand, Canada’s commissioner of environment and sustainable development, who tabled five audit reports last week, gave a “failing grade” to 14 government departments, including Environment Canada and Finance Canada, for their work to assess and to prepare for the risks of climate change. Only five of the 19 departments she looked at had identified […]
The return of politics
OAKVILLE, ONT. —To paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of politics in Canada has been greatly exaggerated. And, yes, in case you missed its obituary, politics was basically declared dead and buried in this country after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took on the reins of power. Trudeau, it was widely assumed by many, would replace the […]
Joly’s cultural calamity is page-one news in Quebec
TORONTO—There’s no longer any other rational or compelling explanation for Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly being a “minister” because she is, hands down, the worst cabinet minister in the Trudeau government. She is a disaster. She is incompetent. She is inept. She makes Bev Oda look like a PR whiz—and Vic Toews a model of self-restraint. […]
Public debt ought to have public airing
I am mystified why not a single newspaper, radio station, or TV news channel says a word about the situation with the Bank of Canada. Our country is almost bankrupt and almost every dollar that goes into our treasury in taxes is sucked out as interest payments on Canada’s debt. There was a recent lawsuit against […]
A national poverty reduction strategy must include forgotten single adults
One of the most alarming trends in Canada’s food bank network is the increase in the number of single, working-age adults seeking food assistance. Single people have grown from 30 per cent of households helped by food banks in 2001, to 45 per cent in 2016. One in every three single adults in Canada lives […]
