Everyone should be working to combat COVID-related anti-Semitism, hate, say advocates
Re: “MPs join fight to stamp out COVID-19 disinformation that’s ‘spreading faster than the virus’,”(The Hill Times, April 8, p. 1, 15). Parliamentarians are to be commended for action to combat the “infodemic” of misinformation and disinformation around COVID-19, just as this publication is to be applauded for covering it. Those of us who confront […]
In a post-COVID-19 world, a smart, simplified infrastructure plan is key
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the world has changed significantly. Communities are devastated, six million Canadians are out of work, lives have turned upside down, and many sectors of the economy are on hold, including infrastructure. In a post-COVID-19 world that will gradually return to normal, investments in infrastructure will be crucial to […]
First, do no harm: Canada’s COVID-19 crisis management
At a certain point in the saga of the 2008-09 financial cataclysm, I ran out of synonyms for cataclysm—calamity, catastrophe, disaster—as nothing seemed to capture the rolling tsunami of that contagion and the same inadequate words became repetitive very early on. Writing about it weekly from Washington between the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September […]
The post-COVID Canada faces many challenges
OTTAWA—Last week, I wrote about international policy in the post-COVID time. Now I want to examine how Canada should respond to the major domestic challenges it will face. First of all, the debt: there will be mountains of it. A debt and deficit like nothing most Canadians have experienced in their lifetimes. At the latest […]
Accountability matters, but Conservatives should reconsider clumsy crusade
OTTAWA—Normally it is not my wont to quote leaders of the Bloc Québécois, but I must admit a bit of personal fondness for Yves-François Blanchet. He just comes across as likeable and can be funny. He nailed the sentiment of many of us this week when he described the days of negotiating over the return […]
Feds should halt tax hike for Canadian brewers amid pandemic
As many Canadian beer makers are pivoting to produce supplies and support Canada’s fight against COVID-19, they are now looking to government for relief. The United States and Germany have allowed brewers to delay monthly excise duty payments, while the United Kingdom has paused planned excise duty increases. Canada’s federal government can do the same […]
Nursing-home care aides are the real heroes
There will be many heroes in the coming days, some already rising to the challenge of COVID-19, including nurses, doctors, paramedics and hospital cleaners, as well as delivery drivers, grocery store workers, and warehouse staff. But there’s one critical occupation that is routinely forgotten when we champion the heroes: nursing home care aides who stayed […]
Is it time for Dr. Fauci to quit?
Brazil’s health minister, Luiz Mandetta, was fired last Friday for criticizing the country’s mini-Trump, Jair Bolsonaro. Like Trump, President Bolsonaro needs a booming economy in order to be re-elected, and denies the threat from coronavirus because shutdowns hurt the economy. Mandetta did what he could to control the berserker president, but eventually called Bolsonaro out […]
Indefinite lockdown can’t be the only remedy for combatting coronavirus
Many countries across the world are in some degree of lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19. The world now faces an uphill battle as people don’t know much about this virus and how deadly or widespread this disease will be. It’s very hard to predict. Lockdown is curbing the spread of […]
Parliamentary accountability need not be a casualty of the pandemic
OTTAWA—The COVID-19 pandemic is not only putting extraordinary pressures on medical care workers, governments and economies, but on Parliament and legislatures. These bodies are required in democracies to pass necessary legislation, provide funding and, most importantly, to hold governments to account. No doubt the present circumstances require expediency, efficiency, and flexibility. But these goals cannot […]
