Intergenerational war afoot in Nigeria
LONDON, U.K.—The young Nigerians who were protesting at Lekki Toll Plaza in Lagos on Oct. 20 were not the African touring company of Les Misérables. Lekki is one of the poshest suburbs of Lagos, full of gated communities, and most of the protesters were literate, media-savvy youths who reeked of urban cool. The army killed […]
It’s time to step up investments to achieve a net-zero economy
In the months to come, various levels of government will be seeking to stimulate Canada’s economic recovery and create jobs. Whenever Canada is ready to begin investing in recovery, those investments need to create the green infrastructure we need to accelerate Canada’s transition to a net-zero economy: a national electrical energy grid, and digital, Indigenous, […]
Create eco-district pilots now to show how to live, work, and play in next-generation cities
Green infrastructure investments are on everybody’s agenda and are well in line with the carbon reduction targets that Canada committed to under the Paris agreement. With only a few decades to go to become completely carbon neutral, it is surprising that we still do not see pilot eco-districts that demonstrate how zero carbon can be […]
The future belongs to collaborative infrastructure building
In recent months, Canada’s infrastructure has strained under the intense pressure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Crises in long-term elderly care homes, unaffordable housing, homelessness, poorly ventilated school buildings, and gaps in public transit have all been revealed and accelerated. In response to the pandemic, infrastructure development has become a key focus of the recovery […]
Harnessing the power of technology to manage the public infrastructure gap
Canada’s infrastructure gap is in the hundreds of billions of dollars and the reprioritization likely to occur following the current public health crisis will widen this gap. Routinely, we are reminded of this gap; a burst water main flooding the basement, or a bridge collapse, or simply driving over a pothole. Federal stimulus funding can […]
Digital infrastructure is the new frontier
Generations ago, Canada was built through major investments in critical infrastructure that improved the quality of life and created opportunities to grow. The Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway, Trans-Canada Highway, TransCanada Pipeline, and St. Lawrence Seaway are examples of historic, impactful infrastructure investments that were designed with Canada’s future in mind. More recently, governments […]
New audit committee will bolster Senate accountability, transparency
Earlier this month, Senators unanimously agreed to create a new committee on audit and oversight that will be responsible for reviewing and publicly reporting on the Upper Chamber’s spending. The Senate’s Audit and Oversight Committee (AOC) was created in response to the auditor general (AG) report of 2015. It is a strong step forward that […]
Climate change is here to stay: let’s build forward better and safely sail the storm
Earlier this month, it was announced that $10-billion of the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s (CIB) $35-billion budget would be assigned to create jobs and grow the economy. The six featured measures include $2-billion set aside to invest in large-scale building retrofits to increase energy efficiency and help make communities more sustainable. This is a welcomed focus […]
Carleton marks 75th J-School anniversary in a time of crisis
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—These are not easy times for journalists. Newspaper readership is down, most print media have not yet figured out how to monetize their social media presence, and declining advertising revenues in the midst of a struggling pandemic economy have forced cutbacks in print and electronic media. Throw in the accusations mainstream media are “fake […]
Cut the crap about conservation, when it’s colonialism that rules the conversation
CALGARY—Land acknowledgements are the kind of performances Canadians love to engage in that substitute platitudes for justice. And now the feces have hit the fan. For the past few weeks, the Mi’kmaq people have been asserting their rights to trap lobster off-season, first negotiated in a series of Peace and Friendship Treaties with the British, […]
