Apr 20 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — One hundred billion dollars in new spending. The promise of a “green recovery.” Money for youth to prevent a “lost generation.” All items in the Liberal budget delivered Monday, and all ready-to-go election slogans. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may claim he doesn’t want to go to the polls, but he apparently failed to tell that […]
Apr 13 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — While the country reels in the grip of COVID’s third wave, and the federal government scrambles to get more vaccines, many political issues that would normally take centre stage have been shunted to the sidelines. One of the most serious matters is the investigation by the House of Commons’ defence committee into allegations of sexual […]
Apr 6 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — Postmedia — Last month, the Conservatives held a virtual party convention; this weekend, it’s the NDP and Liberals’ turn. And what a jolly time it promises to be, with policy resolutions that veer from centre-left to downright Trotskyite. Both parties propose a guaranteed basic income, a transition to a green energy economy, and to protect worker pensions. […]
Mar 30 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — Flip-flop, flip-flop. What’s that sound? It’s the making of Canadian health-care policy on COVID-19. The long list of COVID policy reversals began even before the pandemic officially took hold a year ago, and continue unabated. Here’s a short trip down memory lane:
Mar 23 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — At their policy convention this past weekend, the Conservatives had one job: Emerge ready to fight the next election. To do this, they needed to appear credible, constructive, and united. They needed to showcase their leader, Erin O’Toole, as a man ready to be prime minister. They needed to reassure voters that they were not […]
Mar 16 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — I have always been a city person. As a child, I suffered from hay fever, lasted less than a week at summer camp and caught cold any time I slept in a tent. By adulthood, I had become hardwired to crave the restaurants, shopping, nightlife and general buzz of the urban environment. As the saying […]
Feb 9 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — As the polar vortex tightens its grip, the temperature isn’t the only thing dropping across the country. So is faith in the federal government’s management of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out. According to the latest poll by Abacus Research, the number of Canadians who think the federal government has done a good to excellent job […]
Jan 26 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — What a difference a year makes. On Jan. 25, 2020, the first COVID case was identified in Canada. At the time, our country’s leaders were grappling with a different crisis: blockades of rail lines and supply chains by Indigenous protesters in support of the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwe’ten First Nation. For most Canadians, COVID-19 […]
Jan 19 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — Sick of lockdown? Want your life back? Get the vaccine. That is, if it’s available. Last Friday, Pfizer announced it would be shipping Canada only half the number of vaccines originally planned for next month, as it retools its production facility in Belgium. On Tuesday, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, who oversees the federal vaccine rollout, said […]
Jan 13 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — “These visitors to that city on the Potomac do not come as white or black, red or yellow; they are not Jews or Christians; conservatives or liberals; or Democrats or Republicans. They are Americans awed by what has gone before, proud of what for them is still … a shining city on a hill.” Those […]
Jan 5 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — What did you do over your holiday break? For a growing list of Canadian politicians, the answer is: I wrecked my career. Despite the growing pandemic, they travelled outside of the country — all the while exhorting the rest of us to stay home — with predictably shameful results. Ontario MPP Rod Phillips tweeted holiday […]
Dec 29 2020 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — 2020 was a year like none in living memory. From the economy to education, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted every facet of society. Governments scrambled to contain the virus, while health-care systems were swamped by the sick. On an individual level, billions of people suffered mentally, physically and financially as they coped with lockdowns and loneliness. […]
Dec 22 2020 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — Christmas Day gatherings of up to five people are in — unless you’re in a grey zone. Boxing Day shopping is out — unless you shop at certain big box stores. School breaks are extended. Downhill skiing is cancelled. Oh, and bathhouses and sex clubs are closed. Welcome to Ontario Lockdown 2020, the Holiday Edition. […]
Dec 15 2020 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — Seventy-five years ago, World War II in Europe officially came to an end. After brutal armed conflict, economic devastation, famine, disease, and the Holocaust, an estimated 70 to 85 million people, three per cent of the global 1940 population, had perished. Ever since, nations have marked Victory in Europe Day as the end of this […]
Dec 8 2020 — Tasha Kheiriddin — Postmedia — Dec. 10 marks two years since China arbitrarily imprisoned Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. In this 10-day series, experts examine the implications for liberal democracies. This Christmas, thanks to COVID-19, millions of Canadians are facing the prospect of spending the holidays alone. The internet is rife with advice on how to make the most […]