Most throne speeches are primarily political affairs, designed to either obscure some kind of scandal or poor performance or to usher in some emerging initiative by putting immediate wind in its sails.  Occasionally it deals with both, as is the case with this week’s attempt to change the channel. Rumors abound, with some maintaining that […]

They often say that one of the difficulties of discussing racism and prejudice in Canada is our reputation for being “nice.” Our supposed “niceness” acts as a veneer that covers up serious underlying issues. Not everything in our nation is covered by a nice veneer. Take Bill 21, Quebec’s so-called secularism law. The law openly […]

Parliament gets a restart this week, and returns to what is highly likely to be an uncertain session as parties negotiate their priorities and figure out how to conduct legislative business. As a former trade communications director to Jim Peterson in Paul Martin’s minority government from 2004-2006, something is — eerily? — familiar to me […]

The Legault government has pushed the language file onto the front burner and it’s Justin Trudeau’s Liberals who have to be careful not to get singed. Any port in a storm. The abject incompetence of the Quebec government in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has seen it search for any distraction and debating language laws […]

In an age of often deafening and confusing political rhetoric, the true nature of governments is laid bare through what they spent their money on. This past Thursday’s announcement by BC’s Premier John Horgan and Finance Minister Carole James of the “Stronger BC” economic recovery plan spoke volumes about the government’s priorities. At a time […]

What’s next?” That is the question on the mind of every Canadian since the economic shutdown in March. While the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and subsequent extensions have helped ease the financial burdens of 8.6 million recipients, it is still unclear what Canada’s economic safety net will look like in the future. Now more […]

Liberals often share two common myths: that running deficits and racking up debt can continue indefinitely; and that there is no limit to how high taxes can be raised. Both must be debunked. Deficit spending may have to continue in the wake of the pandemic. But Canada’s problem is that the Liberals, pre-COVID, were a […]

The presentation next week of the second speech from the throne in less than a year will formally reset the clock on Justin Trudeau’s second term government. But for how long? Minority government typically survive the confidence vote associated with a throne speech and there are many reasons to believe it will again be the […]

For ambitious feminists living in this country, the challenges facing our head of state in recent weeks have been difficult to watch. Julie Payette has faced several waves of criticism since she was first invested as Canada’s 29th Governor General in October 2017. Initially it was just from news media. But more recently — and […]

In the olden days, before the pandemic, the four men sitting behind a long table in an Ottawa hotel on Friday represented Justin Trudeau’s biggest problem — the “real” opposition. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, Quebec Premier François Legault and Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister were in Canada’s capital to remind the prime […]