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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Invictus is more than an event, it’s a mindset
“I am.” That’s a very powerful phrase. These two words, “I” and “am,” together, followed by specific characteristics, give people the power to define themselves. The effect of this kind of mind over matter is not to be downplayed. It can deliver the strength you need to stand up when the world seems to be […]
Why Canada stands to lose its UN Security Council bid
OTTAWA—My father was no expert in political science, but he gave me some advice many years ago that stuck with me when I ran for office: “When someone tells you they are going to vote for you, they are probably fibbing. Knock on another 10 doors.” This wisdom stemmed from his loss in a workplace […]
MPs have the tools to help young people take charge of their mental health
Compassion. Over the last five years, my efforts as a mental health advocate have taught me many things, but none more important than the value of compassion. Throughout the ups and downs of life, we all seek to ground ourselves in something: a person, a place, a sense of belonging. I believe that we can […]
Truth isn’t dead, it’s just a casualty of war
I was going to lead this column with the quote from Greek playwright Aeschylus on truth being the first casualty of war but, apparently, he never said it. He did say, “If you will take me as your teacher, you will not kick against the pricks.” So, let’s give him a wide berth for now, shall we? […]
How many have to die before U.S. wakes up to gun insanity?
OTTAWA—What can you say about a country where there’s a hierarchy of mass shootings that allows everyone to state that the incident in Las Vegas was the worst in modern American history? Or how a 64-year-old would-be mass murderer can keep 20 firearms in his hotel room for four days without anyone noticing anything unusual? […]
Canada has gotten as far away from peacekeeping as possible
OTTAWA—One of the persisting myths in Canada is that we are a nation of peacekeepers. Hell, we practically claim that former prime minister Lester B. Pearson during the Suez Crisis in 1956 invented the concept of deploying neutral troops to enforce ceasefires between belligerents. A certain nostalgia exists for those days when Canada was front […]
