Jan 12 2021 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — Canada is not immune from the hate crimes and domestic terrorism perpetrated by white supremacists that afflicts the United States. The difference is that the Americans have pneumonia and, so far, we only have a cold. Last week’s riot in Washington, D.C., provides the most shocking example of the grave and present threat gripping the […]
Oct 26 2020 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — In 1986, a lavish cocktail party in Calgary rolled out a red carpet to welcome Hong Kong’s most successful entrepreneur, Li Ka Shing, after he took control of Alberta oil giant Husky Energy. In an interview I did with him at the time, he praised Canada and said both his sons would become Canadian citizens. […]
Oct 13 2020 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — History reveals that as power ebbs desperate leaders undertake desperate actions. Some monarchs have launched wars and Nero watched Rome burn, as the legend goes. And in the most powerful democracy today, there’s rising concern about an erratic President Donald Trump who thrashes around in a worrisome manner as his polling support sags. “Presidents fabricate […]
Sep 21 2020 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — 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 […]
Aug 24 2020 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — Newly minted Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is the right guy for the job. He will become Canada’s next prime minister. His acceptance speech was pitch perfect. His French was excellent. He reached out to Canadians of all regions and viewpoints with a pitch to consider the Conservatives as an alternative to the divisive, tainted and […]
Aug 17 2020 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — Next week, a new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada will be selected, and will become the next prime minister of Canada. I state this with such confidence for two reasons: the Bloc Québécois leader has signalled that he will support a non-confidence motion to bring about an election, and polls show that Canadians […]
Jul 17 2020 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — Huawei Technologies Co. is not a tech corporation. It is a weapon, created and subsidized by Beijing that ruthlessly gobbles up and spits out competitors and countries. It’s also pushing a technology that will spread China’s surveillance ability around the world. One of Huawei’s early victims was Nortel, Canada’s busted technology champion. Nortel had become […]
Jun 2 2020 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — America is a great country to live in as long as you’re not old, sick, black or poor. This was the reality in the 1960s, when I immigrated from the United States to Canada, and very little has changed since. To my mind, America’s failure to provide a more level playing field for its people […]
Dec 9 2019 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — The “hot mic” video of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mocking President Donald Trump behind his back at the NATO conference is a major diplomatic blunder. I’m no fan of Trump’s either, and Trudeau certainly found a ready audience for his ridicule, but this is school boy stuff, unbecoming the leaders of any of these countries. […]
Nov 4 2019 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — Alberta must adopt Quebec’s playbook and become a “nation” within a nation or threaten to leave. The ballot box does not work and Alberta is Canada’s breadwinner, but is treated like a stepchild. Step one is for Alberta to demand the immediate construction of the TMX pipeline and the scrapping of Bills C-48 and C-69. […]
Jun 13 2019 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — If polls are any indication, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heading for the exit this fall but many of his Liberal MPs have already announced they are leaving or won’t run for re-election. The departures began even before the SNC-Lavalin scandal erupted this year. In September, Ontario Liberal (and former Air Force officer) Leona Allesley […]
Apr 22 2019 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — It was no coincidence that the current unravelling of the Liberal party was caused by the principled objections regarding SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. by two political newcomers against a concerted attempt to subvert justice. It is also no coincidence that both were female and both from outside the Quebec-Ottawa power centre that has controlled postwar Canada […]
Apr 15 2019 — Diane Francis — Financial Post — The Prime Minister’s threatened libel lawsuit against Andrew Scheer enhances the Opposition leader’s stature, and diminishes his own. Scheer’s response — to allegations that he defamed the PM concerning the SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. scandal — was pitch perfect. At a Sunday afternoon press conference, he was passionate but unemotional. He looked Prime Ministerial, was lauded […]