We need to listen to Inuit on global issues, says Ottawa reader
Re: “True North and true Nordic, new opportunities for global solutions,” (The Hill Times, letter to the editor, Sept. 18, p. 8). I was pleased to read the joint letter by the ambassadors of the Nordic countries in Ottawa in support of the prestigious Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. This […]
Canada’s culture wars will never end
OTTAWA—Canada’s culture wars will never end. Nor should they. Heritage Minister Melanie Joly struck the right tone Thursday when she set out a plan to increase content on multiple platforms without imposing new taxes. The last thing the Liberals need these days is to open another tax front while Finance Minister Bill Morneau is busy […]
Social media gives a platform to hate and lies that newspapers didn’t
TORONTO—With few exceptions, newspapers aren’t very politically relevant any more. Oh, sure, the Toronto Star uncovered the fact that Mayor Rob Ford was using crack. And, yes, The New York Times and The Washington Post have done exemplary work exposing the venality and the criminality of the Trump administration. All true. But, in recent years, the role that daily newspapers played […]
Another troubling court decision on terrorism in Canada
OTTAWA—They don’t call British Columbia the “Left Coast” of Canada for nothing. Our wonderfully beautiful Pacific side is known for its somewhat socialist views, greater tolerance of marijuana and progressive environmental positions, a lot of which is indeed admirable. It is also acquiring a reputation as the province that is “soft on terrorism.” A year […]
Feds looking at ways to fight organized crime in Canada
TORONTO—I learned last week that the federal government is concerned about the popular perception that our institutions are not serious about fighting organized crime in Canada. The justice minister is looking at initiatives to fight this perception and wants to make sure it doesn’t stick in the mind of Canadians. It’s good Ottawa will finally […]
The role of torture in counter terrorism
Well this is a strange move by the Trudeau government. It was announced yesterday that Canada’s national police, intelligence, and border agencies—the RCMP, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and Canada Border Services Agency, respectively—can use “torture-tainted information” in efforts to stop a terrorist act from occurring. The allowance was not unlimited however, as these organizations cannot […]
Healthy communities need an urban forest strategy
Many Canadians may not know that September 27th marks National Tree Day, a day dedicated to celebrating the importance of trees and green spaces in Canada. As a country whose emblems are a leaf and a beaver, and whose historic industries have always been centred on natural resources, Canada’s forests are an integral part of our […]
The first bit of Kurdistan
LONDON, U.K.—The neighbours are very cross about Monday’s independence referendum in the Kurdish part of Iraq, which is currently known as the Kurdistan Autonomous Region (KAR). They can’t go on calling it that if and when it gets formal independence, and the leading candidate for the new name is “South Kurdistan.” Which is precisely what […]
A playlist for our Trumpian moment
In these days of gratuitous political ugliness, divisive rhetorical bomb-throwing, and tactically fuelled disharmony—all of it perpetrated by the president of the United States—I’ve repurposed this column as a musical interlude to help us transcend this moment in a way that only music can. As Lewis Lapham put it in his preamble to the latest—music-themed—issue […]
The rise of the right in Germany
LONDON, U.K.—Angela Merkel’s slogan in her campaign for a fourth term as chancellor was terminally bland and smug—“For a Germany in which we live well and love living”—but it did the job, sort of. Her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is back as the largest party, so Merkel gets to form the next coalition government. But […]
