The road to clean growth
The climate change trend is stark. With rising emissions of global greenhouse gases, high-impact climate events will occur more often, and with greater severity. This reality imposes a two-pronged strategy. First, action is required on an urgent basis. Adaptive measures must be taken now, because the costs of inaction are great, both in financial and […]
Once a hero, not always a hero
If statues can be built, they can be torn down. The clash between neo-Nazis and those who were protesting them in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month had its roots in a debate about taking down a statue commemorating Confederate general Robert E. Lee, a U.S. civil war leader who, in the eyes of many, remains […]
Still no sign U.S. gets the whole point about free trade
OTTAWA—No one seemed to notice United States President Donald Trump’s analysis of his trade negotiation aims at a Buy American event at the White House last month. Trump, who looks at trade through a simplistic protectionist lens and accuses the rest of the world of mulcting the United States, vowed his administration will restore “a […]
‘Tax fairness’ move a golden opportunity for Conservatives
OTTAWA—Until recently, one of the sneakiest political plays of the summer of 2017 was getting little notice. Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s supposed tax fairness initiative and consultation announced in July seemed to have been an easy lay-up when it was first announced. Who couldn’t be against taxing the rich, as the Liberals framed it? The […]
Why our waterways matter to me
Right now, the federal government is reviewing the Navigation Protection Act—that’s the law that should give all Canadians the right to paddle up and down this land’s waterways. That right is very important to me. In recent years, 99 per cent of Canada’s waterways lost navigation protection under the act. Unless our waterways have full […]
Supply management: Canada’s sacred cow no more?
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—In 1976, many commentators outside of Quebec attributed the victory of René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois to the leader’s charisma and the desire for independence. Within Quebec, some were astute enough to note traditional Liberal ridings in rural areas had swung significantly to the PQ. These ridings were not hotbeds of Quebec nationalism, […]
The joyous rebuke and rainbow diplomacy of Montreal Pride
MONTREAL—“A small minority—angry, frustrated group of racists—don’t get to define who we are as a country.” It seemed so easy when Justin Trudeau said it. No prevaricating, no moral equivalence, no discernibly conflicted allegiances. Just a direct statement summing up the moral principle and stakes at hand. Trudeau made that statement about a looming Quebec […]
Barcelona and Charlottesville: similar crimes, very different Trump responses
OTTAWA—In a scene from the 1980 classic comedy movie The Blues Brothers, the title characters are stuck in a traffic jam. The cause of the delay is a group of Nazis blocking a bridge while police restrain a heckling mob of anti-Nazi protesters. When informed by a policeman that the protesters had won a court decision authorizing […]
Feds in serious danger of betraying environmental assessment reform promises
Unless the Trudeau government takes a sharp turn, fixing Canada’s environmental assessment law will be just one more bold commitment it won’t deliver on. The recent discussion paper outlining the federal government’s plans suggests little more than tinkering with the 2012 devastating re-write of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. The […]
Schools ought to follow court decision on copyright
Re: “We shouldn’t be paying more for Canadian content,” (The Hill Times, Aug. 14, p. 16). Since the Federal Court of Canada’s decision on Access Copyright v. York University last month, several universities across the country have largely disregarded the court’s guidance, just as Gerald Beasley does in his op-ed. This is odd, since many […]
