Scott Taylor, not NATO, rewrote Latvian history
Re: “NATO film rewrites history to demonize Russians” (The Hill Times, Sept. 13, p. 10). Scott Taylor picks a recent documentary video on Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia to further illustrate his ongoing disgruntlement with NATO, and its presence in Latvia and the region. The NATO video shows how brave Latvians, Lithuanians, and Estonians went into the forest after their […]
Liberal stance on S-3 undermines its feminist message
Liberal Senator Lillian Dyck told The Hill Times last week there is “no compromise” on amending Bill S-3, after the House Liberals rejected changes earlier this year that would have removed the last shred of sexist language on status. The genesis of the bill, forced by the courts, was to address discrimination still written into the […]
Trudeau’s divisive tax rhetoric mirrors Harper, Trump
OTTAWA—When Justin Trudeau came to power he promised a different tone and approach than his predecessor Stephen Harper. He was going to be more respectful and not play people off each other, or that is at least what he suggested. To give him credit, for the most part he has done that. But the prime […]
Why one procedural change is putting asylum seekers at risk
Canadians are recognized around the world for their hospitality and generosity, especially when it comes to refugees and asylum seekers. Many asylum seekers flee to Canada because of our reputation as a humanitarian country. Unfortunately, the same system that is working to assist these refugees is also re-victimizing them once they have entered Canada and […]
Government putting money where its mouth is on innovation: Bains
As the world celebrates Global Biotech Week, it’s high time for our companies and researchers to do something that most would consider rather un-Canadian: pat themselves on the back. After all, it’s Canada that has led the way in the global biotech industry for so many years with advances in areas like genomics, stem cell […]
Canada should tackle a tougher climate target
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reconnected Canada to its most enduring foreign policy tradition: internationalism, which above all demands pursuing multilateral solutions to international problems. But what does this mean for Canadian climate policy and climate diplomacy going forward? In short, it allows Trudeau the licence to take on a more ambitious greenhouse gas emissions […]
Investments in discovery have never been more important to Canada
Recently, I joined Science Minister Kirsty Duncan for an announcement of a major investment in cutting-edge research and hundreds of post-graduate scholarships, both funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). What NSERC does best, year in and year out, is invest in ideas and talent for the benefit of Canada. […]
Criticizing Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi not the answer
The current crisis involving the Rohingya people in western Myanmar is both tragic and complex. There have been calls in Canada to strip Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship and even demands to have her Nobel Prize revoked. Such calls are both short-sighted and misplaced. On Aug. 25, Myanmar […]
Parliamentarians were right to pass law against genetic discrimination
One consequence of the Human Genome Project was a vast increase in the variety and availability of genetic tests. In response, governments in most Western countries passed laws to protect their citizens from genetic discrimination. On May 4, Canada caught up, when the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (Bill S-201) received royal assent. Your genetic information has […]
Donald Trump: free-range chicken?
When Donald Trump used that counterintuitive, but ironically symbolic, descending escalator to enter the 2016 presidential fray, the thought crossed my mind that if he actually won the GOP nomination, he’d destroy the Republican Party. (If this were unfolding in our dystopian future, we’d all be tricked out with neuro-surveillance devices, and you could check […]
