Jun 28 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As the Conservative Party of Canada lurches its way to choosing a new leader in August, many are asking what it means to be a conservative, especially an urban conservative. As party members consider that question, along with what it means to be all different kinds of conservatives, the candidates for leader are being asked […]
Jun 21 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Ever since that poignant morning in 2016 when Hillary Clinton took the stage in bipartisan, conciliatory purple to concede defeat to Donald Trump, I have used this space to urge people to remain calm. To remind them that America is a mature and stable democracy that will cope just fine with the tumult of a […]
Jun 7 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — In January 1909, a group of notable Americans signed their names to a statement that called for a national conference focused on the civil and political rights of Black Americans. The “Call” was signed by the likes of W.E.B. Dubois and Ida B. Wells, and it contended that the upcoming centenary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth […]
May 31 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — When it comes to China, the Trudeau government has acted with the deference a pageboy would show a queen. As they have muddled through a long series of skirmishes, from the arbitrary and unjust kidnapping of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor to the trade disputes over canola, soybeans and meat, the objections of the federal […]
May 24 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Of all the inequalities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is none more glaring than the profoundly unequal effect it has had on the lives of women. The impacts are felt everywhere. Primary caregivers have been forced to balance their professional and personal lives like never before, as children stay home from school and […]
May 17 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — This week, a furor arose on a topic that feels remote to most Canadians, even more so amid the upheaval of COVID-19: the prime minister’s cottage. In the context of unprecedented layoffs, a health-care crisis and a looming recession, there are many who find such a conversation tone-deaf. But they miss the point — Harrington […]
May 10 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Fingers crossed, as the peak of the pandemic fades into Ontario’s rear-view, Queen’s Park has begun to turn its attention to the perhaps even more challenging task of reopening the economy. The province, along with governments the world over, has laid out a framework to guide the crucial next phases of recovery and taken the […]
May 3 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — It’s not right, nor is it fair to compare one tragedy with another. To claim some grief more poignant than other grief. But it is equally wrong to let new grief submerge the pain and memory of grief past. As we come to grips with the devastation that COVID-19 has wrought on our communities, our […]
Apr 26 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Though it was overshadowed by the tragedy in Nova Scotia and the ongoing pandemic, parliamentarians this week resolved an important debate over when and how the House of Commons and its committees will convene during this state of emergency. This debate may seem like a distraction or even a nuisance at a time like this. […]
Apr 19 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Of all the things underpinning our pre-COVID19 lives that we paid little mind to, supply chains would have been at the top of the list. And for good reason. Parts were seamlessly delivered on a just-in-time basis to our factories. Shops were filled to the rafters with the latest fashions. Shelves were loaded with asparagus […]
Apr 12 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Among the more concerning broader societal consequences of the coronavirus — economic collapse, fear-mongering, widespread distrust — is a stunningly rapid deterioration of democracy. To exploit popular anxiety as a pretense to seize power is a tactic as old as plague itself. When William Cecil, chief minister to Queen Elizabeth I, was battling the Black […]
Apr 5 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — The COVID-19 humanitarian crisis is compounded in its severity by an economic crisis that, like the virus, is worsening exponentially. Nowhere is this more pronounced than Alberta where, this week, the price of Western Canadian Select oil plummeted below $5 a barrel — equivalent to the price of a pint of beer. We are facing […]
Mar 22 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As the spread of COVID-19 has utterly transformed life as we know it, it has also emerged as the most profound test of political leadership in a generation or more. Of course, the pandemic is, first and foremost, a health crisis. In the global response, doctors and public health authorities have been foregrounded, and rightfully […]
Mar 15 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — I was disappointed this week to learn that one candidate in the race for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership had stooped to a new low by besmirching the name of an opponent while hoisting the standard of racism and Islamophobia. If you’re unfamiliar with the name Jim Karahalios, you could be forgiven. After all, […]
Mar 8 2020 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As the latest coronavirus outbreaks have reached us at home, Canadians’ concern has morphed into a growing hysteria. The virus will, no doubt, have some long and lingering effects on our economy and tragic consequences for some of our elderly and most vulnerable populations.