Aug 31 2021 — Bruce Campbell — Monitor Mag — In an August 2021 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded the Paris Agreement climate targets could soon be out of reach without immediate and massive greenhouse gas emission reductions this decade. António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, warned the report “is a code red for humanity.” The climate crisis and unprecedented wealth inequality […]
Jul 6 2021 — Bruce Campbell — Toronto Star — The Lac-Mégantic oil train derailment on July 6, 2013 was the worst industrial disaster on Canadian soil in over a century: 47 people killed; 26 children orphaned; the town centre incinerated; an unprecedented six million litre spill of toxic shale oil; ongoing environmental, physical and post-traumatic health issues affecting community members.
May 18 2021 — Bruce Campbell — Monitor Mag — For more than four decades the economic paradigm that prioritized private market-led policy has been embraced by corporate, academic, bureaucratic and political elites. The paradigm enlisted a variety of well-known policy tools, including inflation control, deregulation, privatization, austerity, balanced budgets and globalization. The corporate-government power relationship that underlies this paradigm is one of capture and […]
Apr 22 2021 — Bruce Campbell — The Conversation — The 724-page federal budget made vital spending commitments to extend supports to Canadians as the pandemic shock waves continue. It also made critical social safety net improvements, most notably universal child care and increases in old age security and supports for eldercare. But where is the road map to reduce Canada’s carbon emissions? If we […]
Apr 22 2021 — Bruce Campbell — The Conversation — Canada’s latest federal budget did little to tackle climate action or income inequality, two problems with strong ties. Alberta’s Bow Lake is seen in this photo. Josh Woroniecki/Unsplash Bruce Campbell, York University, Canada The 724-page federal budget made vital spending commitments to extend supports to Canadians as the pandemic shock waves continue. It also made […]
Apr 12 2021 — Bruce Campbell — Monitor Mag — April 19 will mark the first Liberal government budget since it was re-elected in 2019—and the first since the coronavirus pandemic struck. Budgets are about choices. Given the monumental challenges going forward and the consequences of not facing them head-on, this budget will have only one precedent: wartime budgets during World War II. The budget […]
Mar 1 2021 — Bruce Campbell — National Newswatch — Last Thursday [February 25] the Auditor General [AG] released a series of reports, including the lack of government supports to ensure safe drinking water for indigenous communities, and mismanagement of the government’s shipbuilding plan. Receiving much less attention was its report on rail safety, the first since the 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, which claimed 47 […]
Feb 11 2021 — Bruce Campbell — National Observer — The year 2021 is still largely unwritten. Once the world returns to a semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy, what will the new normal look like? Will a more inclusive, climate-focused economic recovery start to take shape? Is the groundwork currently being laid? Or will the year close with growing social unrest, political upheaval, and a continuing […]
Feb 9 2021 — Bruce Campbell — The Conversation — As major oil and gas producers and exporters, Norway and Canada share a particular responsibility for confronting the planet’s existential climate threat. However, their different political, economic and cultural features have resulted in major differences in their climate policy track records. Overall, Norway is a leader on climate change performance and Canada is a laggard. […]
Feb 9 2021 — Bruce Campbell — The Conversation — Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg greets Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 leaders summit in La Malbaie, Que., in June 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Bruce Campbell, York University, Canada As major oil and gas producers and exporters, Norway and Canada share a particular responsibility for confronting the planet’s existential climate threat. However, their […]
Dec 6 2020 — Bruce Campbell — The Conversation — The federal Liberal government came to office five years ago promising “real change,” including action on the climate crisis and unprecedented wealth and income inequality. Justin Trudeau was re-elected in 2019 reiterating these same promises. But shortly after his second mandate began, the country — and the world — was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
Dec 6 2020 — Bruce Campbell — The Conversation — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland gets a fist bump from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after delivering the 2020 fiscal update in the House of Commons on Nov. 30, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Bruce Campbell, York University, Canada The federal Liberal government came to office five years ago promising “real change,” including action on the climate […]
Dec 3 2020 — Bruce Campbell — National Observer — With COVID-19 cases soaring in Canada and abroad, the immediacy of the pandemic is understandably sidelining public attention on the climate crisis barrelling down the tracks — with catastrophic effects if not reversed over the next 10 years. The federal government introduced Bill C-12 on Nov. 19, mandating carbon-reduction accountability from governments on the path […]
Sep 26 2020 — Bruce Campbell — Rabble.ca — As it should, the coronavirus pandemic took centre stage in the Liberal government’s speech from the throne. Getting through this global crisis, which affects us all, must take precedence. With some notable gaps and a last-minute push from the NDP to ensure workers affected by COVID do not see their incomes reduced in the transition […]
Sep 9 2020 — Bruce Campbell — The Conversation — The speech from the throne is only weeks away. Moments like these — pandemics, depressions, wars — are historical turning points, often marking a time period when fundamental change toward social and economic equality become possible. Unlike the apparently failed state south of the border that seems to be trudging toward a dystopian future, the […]