Julie Payette could grant medically vulnerable, low-risk prisoners respite during COVID-19 pandemic
MONTREAL—Unlike many Canadians who can only contribute to stopping the spread of COVID-19 by staying at home or wearing a mask, with the stroke of a pen Gov. Gen. Julie Payette could save a life. Or many. In 1947, King George VI bestowed on Canada the Letters Patent. The Letters Patent grant the Governor General […]
Priority vaccination can lighten the load on the shoulders of health-care workers
Canadians can see the light. A vaccine is on its way to Canada and the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight. Now the Canadian government is tasked with providing an official recommendation on vaccine prioritization. We want health-care workers around the world to be first in line, and we want Canada to commit […]
There is no vaccine for grief
The holiday season is often a difficult time for those grieving the death of someone they care about. That aching absence will be felt more deeply this year for more than two million bereaved Canadians grieving deaths from all causes, both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19. In a pandemic, bereaved Canadians struggle with the impacts of loss and grief, separated from […]
The Biden presidency: Canada’s opportunity to free the ‘Two Michaels’
The Wall Street Journal recently revealed that the officials at the U.S. Justice Department have discussed the possibility of entering into a “deferred prosecution agreement” with Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou to end the extradition process. Through this agreement, in exchange for accepting certain allegations and admitting wrongdoing, prosecutors would potentially lift the charges laid against […]
National unity is key for climate in 2021
It’s almost time to turn the page on 2020. As vaccines signal some hopeful “light at the end of the tunnel” for that public health emergency, for many, the focus shifts to humanity’s other public health emergency: climate disruption. Some have the impression that nature has had time to breathe during COVID-19, that carbon pollution […]
The European Union: free at last!
LONDON, U.K.—Blaming the victims is never a good look. As Britain finally leaves the European Union, 1,651 days after the Brexit referendum of 2016, we should try to remember that 48 per cent of the turkeys didn’t vote for Christmas. Brexit was not exactly a national act of self-harm; it was really an attack by […]
A historic event is unfolding in India as farmers protest en masse
The last decade has witnessed a rise of populist and strongmen leaders in many countries. The United States, India, Brazil, and the United Kingdom elected governments that rose through dog-whistle slogans against corrupt establishments. Often, these movements begin with nationalism as a tool to counter opposition and control the majority. This has turned out to […]
Why 2020 may just have been Canada’s most important year for nature conservation
A year ago, there was much anticipation in the conservation community that 2020 would perhaps be the most important year ever for nature. Canada’s Nature Fund promised to accelerate the conservation of our wild spaces and species. There was a buzz about the new global initiatives to be shared at the International Union for Conservation […]
Underpants, beards, and consonants
LONDON, U.K.—Surely you don’t want to read about the new, faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus today, or the fourth Israeli election in two years, and I certainly don’t want to write about them. So here are a few matters of lesser import, culled from yesterday’s media. First, we have a transcript of the phone call […]
Canada needs to deliver to stem climate change
Darius Elias remembers childhood summers spent out on the land in Old Crow Flats, northern Yukon wetlands, where members of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation spent months harvesting food each year. But few travel to Old Crow Flats these days, as climate change has transformed the land. Today, dramatic permafrost thaw and drained lakes make […]
