National security ‘comes first’ on Huawei 5G review: infrastructure minister
Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says national security must come first in deciding whether to allow Huawei Technologies to take part in developing Canada’s 5G telecommunications network. In an interview, Champagne says Canada needs to be prudent and rely on the input of its intelligence services before ruling on whether the Chinese firm should be involved […]
Omar Khadr to ask for Canadian passport to travel, permission to speak to sister
Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr wants to be granted a Canadian passport to travel to Saudi Arabia and permission to speak to his controversial sister. Khadr, who is now 32, will be back in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton Thursday to apply for changes to his bail conditions which were imposed while […]
British Columbia NDP MP Fin Donnelly says he’s not seeking re-election in 2019
New Democrat MP Fin Donnelly says he will not be seeking re-election in 2019. Donnelly has represented the British Columbia riding Port Moody—Coquitlam, previously called New Westminster—Coquitlam, since 2009. Donnelly says in a statement that it’s time for him to step aside and spend some quality time with his family. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh thanked […]
Ontario’s fiscal watchdog says this year’s budget deficit is $12.3 billion — $1.2 billion lower than Finance Minister Vic Fedeli has projected. But financial accountability officer Peter Weltman also warned huge shortfalls will continue into the future unless the Progressive Conservative government makes dramatic spending cuts or increases taxes.
Read MoreSaskatchewan’s Court of Appeal is allowing all applicants to intervene in an upcoming case between the province and Ottawa over a federally imposed carbon tax. The federal government, arguing the party’s interest in the case is political and speculative, had opposed a request by Alberta’s United Conservative Party to be an intervener on the side […]
Read MoreThe federal government needs to put in place a strategy to help retrain workers in the fossil-fuel industry to transition to the green-energy sector, says an Alberta NDP MP. But unless construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline starts now and with Albertans “super angry,” the Liberals should forget about winning any seat in the province […]
Read MoreWeeks after child killer Terri-Lynne McClintic was returned to prison after being transferred to an Indigenous healing lodge, the victim’s father is now reporting that her co-conspirator in the murder, Michael Rafferty, was transferred to a medium security prison in March. The transfer was revealed by Rodney Stafford, father of murdered eight-year-old girl Tori Stafford, […]
Read MoreQuebec will receive $13.1-billion in equalization payments next year – a $1.4-billion increase – while Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador continue to be left out even though Canada’s oil-producing provinces are facing deficits and hard times. The three energy-producing provinces petitioned Ottawa last year to rework the federal transfer formula but Finance Minister Bill […]
Read MoreDespite trailing in fundraising and opinion polls, and a steady loss in vote-share in federal byelections since 2015, NDPers say they’re optimistic the party can turn things around and be competitive in 2019, but much hangs on new leader Jagmeet Singh’s upcoming byelection campaign. “There’s a corridor available for the NDP to do the critique […]
Read MoreFeatured Ink
The wins and washouts for women in the political arena
From the NAFTA front lines to Rideau Hall and the campaign trails of Ontario and Quebec, women were very much on the political centre stage in 2018. Here is a look at some hits but also some striking misses.
The UN Global Compact on Migration: We’re Evolving Global Norms, not Eroding National Sovereignty
Tomorrow, Canada will sign the United Nations Global Compact on Migration in Marrakesh, Morocco, and so it should. For Canada, at least, this is a no-brainer. At least, it seemed to be, until Andrew Sheer shot up a flare in Question Period last week. Now everyone has a view. Sheer claims that the Trudeau government […]
Trudeau’s heaven will be Alberta’s hell
We hear enough from politicians these days so it’s with trepidation I step aside for a few paragraphs to provide a platform for our prime minister to regale us with his worldview. You see, while hardly Churchillian in tone or content, his expressed view is vital in gaining true insight. Therefore it needs reading and […]
Hate crimes are on the rise as bigotry creeps into politics
Bears might be prowling the stock indexes, but shares in hate are enjoying a bull market like we haven’t seen in generations. Western democracies, once justly proud of their openness and tolerance, are seeing the intolerant minority growing bolder and more violent. In Canada, federal statistics captured almost 2,100 hate crimes reported to police in […]
Trudeau’s got gall accusing Ford of moving emissions goalposts
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusation Ontario Premier Doug Ford is “moving the goalposts … (a) step backwards” on the province’s industrial greenhouse gas emission targets is laughable, given the Liberals’ sorry history on this issue. To say nothing of hypocritical. First, a brief explanation of why this controversy about “goalposts” erupted at Friday’s first ministers’ […]
Real political leaders don’t burn bridges
Among the craziness that has slowly taken over democratic politics in this century is the conviction that in campaigning, policy-making, and in governing itself, it is always and necessarily a zero-sum game. “I won because you lost, sucker!”
Get ready for a transformation of our migration policy
Next week in Marrakesh, Morocco, Canada will sign the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration which Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said our government was actively involved in drafting. Canada will then be politically and possibly legally committed to migration principles that could erode our sovereignty, weaken our borders and cost billions. Yet […]
Michelle Obama sets stellar example for future change-makers
As Michelle Obama embarks on her global book tour, connecting with audiences in promotion of her first book Becoming, she is proving herself to be a powerful political force for the causes she chooses to support. While she has been clear that she has no intention to run for public office herself, she has turned […]
Set the age to buy pot at 21 across Canada
Last week, the newly elected Quebec Premier Francois Legault and his party the Coalition Avenir Quebec introduced legislation to raise the minimum age from 18 to 21 in Quebec to consume and purchase all cannabis products. The bill will also ban the consumption of all cannabis products in all public spaces including parks and playgrounds. […]
Presidential successors put Bush Sr. in a new light
Many believe that, in politics, your successor is your legacy. Consider the straight-as-an-arrow Sunday school teacher Jimmy Carter after the Machiavellian Nixon years. Or the steady, competent, experienced John Tory after the roller coaster term of Rob Ford. Or more recently, Doug Ford’s approach to smaller government focused resolutely on every day family affordability after […]
The last first ministers conference of Justin Trudeau’s current term in office was the most acrimonious. The imminence of a federal and an Alberta election certainly contributed to the tensions. But those tensions will outlast next year’s federal and provincial votes.
Read MoreWhat is the point of a First Ministers Conference? There is no actual necessity for them, you understand. The federal and provincial governments are quite able to function within their respective jurisdictions without their leaders dashing off across the country at regular intervals to quiver their jowls at each other. The first such meeting was […]
Read MoreIt’s safe to say that there will be ramifications after Canada arrested the CFO of Huawei technologies last weekend at the behest of the United States. And they will be felt both here in Canada and around the world. Just what those will be, what form they will take, and what the next step is […]
Read MorePremier Doug Ford owns this. The three Washington state commissioners who sat in judgement of Hydro One’s proposed $5.3-billion (U.S.) takeover of Spokane-based Avista Corp. could not have been more clear on this point.
Read MoreJohn F. Kennedy once explained that America’s founding fathers sacrificed efficiency for liberty, dividing power as a guarantee against ill-considered action. Canada has been similarly hamstrung by its constitution when it comes to getting anything done. Trying to explain to a Chinese diplomat this week why this country cannot build an oil pipeline to saltwater […]
Read MoreThe Justin Trudeau government’s use of back-to-work legislation effectively put an end to the rotating strikes waged by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). But the legislation could haunt the governing Liberals in the months and years to come. First, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, known as CUPW, has a history and culture […]
Read MoreCanada may have had little choice but to arrest Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou as she was transferring from one flight to another at the Vancouver airport, this past Saturday. This country has an extradition treaty with the United States, and the U.S. had asked Canada to make the arrest, so that was that. But […]
Read MoreTalk about champing at the bit. United Conservative leader Jason Kenney wants Alberta’s election day to be in the first week of March 2019. That is, as soon as the law allows. “This government, I believe, is living on borrowed time and it should not seek to prolong the pain.”
Read MoreThey say he was from another era, another point in time when respect mattered, humility was a virtue and decency was effective. They also follow these observations by noting that such times are gone forever, relegated to history, never to be resurrected. But maybe that’s not right. The tributes that poured in following the passing […]
Read MoreSince he became Conservative leader, it has been a matter of speculation: how far would Andrew Scheer go to pander to the populist-nationalist right, specifically on the matter of immigration? His predecessor had pulled in both directions at once, one minister building bridges to immigrant communities even as another was blowing them up. But candidates […]
Read MoreEntertainment Plus
Ellen Page steps up attack on Nova Scotia pulp mill’s effluent pipeline
Hollywood actor Ellen Page is doubling down on her criticism of a Nova Scotia pulp mill that wants to build an effluent pipeline into the ocean. In a tweet this morning, the Halifax-born movie star said the provincial government must stop its “corporate welfare” for Northern Pulp, which Page said is “literally destroying the province.” […]
International
Climate Corner
Think Tanks
