Articles by John Ivison

Apr 3 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the projected spread of COVID-19 in the country’s largest province “stark and sobering”. Ontario is the first jurisdiction in Canada to share the modelling on which public policy decisions are being made, including projected fatalities. No wonder the premier, and health minister, Christine Elliott, looked ashen-faced. The province is expecting […]

Apr 2 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — Justin Trudeau’s reluctance to level with Canadians by releasing the government’s death-toll projections has understandably led to nervousness. Are the forecasts so bleak the prime minister is worried we can’t handle the truth? Yet key decision-makers suggest that the main cause for apprehension in Ottawa is not over the immediate health crisis, or even the […]

Mar 31 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — As the body count at the Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ont., rose to 13, it was fitting that the chief medical officer said her greatest concerns are about vulnerable populations who reside in “enclosed settings”. Long term care homes are already being referred to as “war zones”. Yet much less prominence has been given […]

Mar 30 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — How many of the two million Canadians who have been thrown out of work started the month of March worrying about their employment prospects? Probably not many. Carla Qualtrough, the employment minister, said Sunday that 1.6 million people have applied for Employment Insurance in recent weeks – government sources suggest the current number is closer […]

Mar 24 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — It was the classic curse of the commentator. No sooner was Monday’s oeuvre published, commending Justin Trudeau for ditching wedge politics, than word started to leak about a Liberal plan to effectively neuter Parliament for 21 months. The draft bill that magically found its way into the hands of reporters, after the government shared it […]

Mar 23 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — Bill Clinton secured his reputation as the “Comeback Kid” with his response to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The widely-ridiculed president with a woman problem channelled the nation’s grief, handling the tragedy with empathy and compassion. “It was the moment he was born to be president for,” said George Stephanopoulos, Clinton’s communications director – […]

Mar 19 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — In Homer’s Odyssey, the hero Odysseus was forced to sail through a narrow strait guarded on one side by the sea monster, Scylla, and on the other by her counterpart, Charybdis. He successfully navigated the strait but lost six sailors who were devoured alive by Scylla. The grisly old Greek myth came to mind when […]

Mar 18 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — The portent that things are about to get much worse was given by the finance minister and the central bank governor in their press conference to flesh out the $27 billion coronavirus relief package. Bill Morneau said the measures unveiled on Wednesday were just “the first phase”. He said the government is prepared to “do […]

Mar 16 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — As we confront what may prove to be the defining event of our lifetime, Michael Ryan’s call to action is proving persuasive for many policy-makers. The World Health Organization’s rumpled Irish executive said the lesson he has learned after fighting numerous ebola outbreaks is that you need to move quickly and have no regrets. “If […]

Mar 13 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — The road of life is paved with flat squirrels that couldn’t make a decision. Ottawa’s initial response to COVID-19 was tentative and irresolute. The World Health Organization declared a pandemic and called for “urgent and aggressive” action. The Trudeau government’s reaction was neither, with the result that Canada’s health system and economy risked being squashed. […]

Mar 12 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — It was as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over the House of Commons and its members suddenly started seeing things as they really are. As late as question period on Wednesday, Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer, were engaged in tone-deaf, sectarian bickering that ignored the looming coronavirus crisis. Scheer denounced Trudeau […]

Mar 11 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Will we look back on the prime minister’s COVID-19 press conference as a missed opportunity to slow the spread of the virus? I fear we might. The package of measures unveiled was underwhelming – $1 billion in funding for provinces, vaccine research and personal protective equipment, among other things. Justin Trudeau said the government is […]

Mar 10 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Justin Trudeau hosted the most important cabinet meeting of his time as prime minister on Tuesday morning. Nothing – not even the ministerial deliberations over NAFTA – were as critical to the health and wealth of Canadians as his government’s response to the twin threats of the COVID-19 outbreak and tumbling financial markets. The word […]

Mar 6 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — Anyone who has recently tried to solve an immigration, taxation or benefits problem knows the federal government’s service delivery is often sluggish, capricious, inept and unresponsive. We are inured to a system where the welfare of citizens appears bottom of the priority list. Yet sometimes a story comes along that shakes you from your lethargy […]

Mar 4 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Countries affected by COVID-19 should incur massive deficit spending to shore up their health systems and economies, according to Kenneth Rogoff, professor of economics at Harvard University and one of the most prominent commentators on the Great Recession of 2008/09. “The point of saving for a rainy day is to spend when it rains,” he […]