Better history lessons could stave off false pandemic claims
OTTAWA—During last week’s vice-presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. VP Mike Pence made a rather outlandish reference to the swine flu epidemic of 2009. In defence of President Donald Trump’s current handling of the COVID-19 crisis, Pence claimed that the Democrats had done a worse job of handling the swine flu. “When Joe […]
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty a chance to call for elected officials to act
Governments across the country have rightly prioritized resources and personnel in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic: how it spreads, whom it impacts, how it can be eradicated, and how to recover from it. The same people and communities facing the greatest impacts of COVID-19 also bear a disproportionate burden of poverty and inequity. It […]
Don’t expect the post-COVID economic recovery tide to raise all the boats
CALGARY—What were you thankful for this Thanksgiving? If you were lucky enough to spend it with your family, complete with the illustrious feast featuring a cornucopia of traditional food items, count your blessings. There are many people who weren’t able to do so and the structural discrepancies between the haves and have-nots are growing during […]
Canadians deserve better than the ongoing committee cage matches
There aren’t likely to be many Canadians who could say with all sincerity that the way the government handled the now-infamous and defunct Canada Student Service Grant program was exemplary. The entire business with the WE Charity was an omnishambles that melded some of the worst elements of stereotypical Liberal entitlement with the to-be-expected ball-dropping […]
Swapping out plastic for paper means cutting down more trees, says reader
The federal government vowed to plant two billion trees over 10 years, to soak up carbon dioxide. But now they’re banning plastic bags, straws, food dishes, cutlery, six pack rings, stir sticks, and replacing them with paper? So, cutting down more trees? Plastic is cheap. Metal cutlery on airplanes is heavy, needs sanitizing, and ceramic […]
For Canada, the trade debate never ends
OTTAWA—Former prime minister John Turner, who died on Sept. 19, faced the collective resources and determination of not only Progressive Conservatives, but also nearly the entire Canadian business community in his losing campaign against Canada-U.S. free trade in 1988. The pro-trade push that helped Brian Mulroney win the pivotal battle over Canada’s economic future also […]
Investing in 5G is key to reducing Canada’s carbon footprint
While Canadians remain focused on the challenges of COVID-19, we must not forget the formidable threat of climate change. Without meaningful action, climate change is expected to cause significant, long-term, and potentially irreversible damage to the environment, the economy, and our way of life. While Canada has made progress toward achieving its climate-action goals, meeting […]
ATIPs: a headache in need of a cure
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—One of the jobs public servants most dislike is responding to Access to Information and Privacy requests, known as ATIPs. When I was a public servant, it was the sort of job dumped on junior officers, or those new to a division, as others more senior avoided them like the plague. I had been […]
Re-evaluating the legacy of former U.S. president Carter
Twenty-twenty is a year full of milestones for the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter. On Oct. 1, Carter turned 96 years old. For yet another year in a row, Carter became the country’s oldest-living former president, as well as the first of America’s 45 presidents to reach such an extensive age. Earlier […]
Pandemic risks undoing progress at achieving gender parity
Sunita is 16. She has been married for four years. At the age of 12, she became a child bride—forced into marriage and out of education by her parents in the Indian state of Bihar. “It felt terrible because I was still very young and was attending school with my friends,” says Sunita. “All my […]
