Jan 22 2020 — Policy Magazine — Jean Charest acknowledged one problem with the prospect of running for leader of the Conservative Party more than two decades after leaving Ottawa to become Liberal leader and three-term premier of Quebec. “It takes time to reintroduce yourself,” Charest said Tuesday after announcing his decision not to run for the Tory leadership, 22 years after […]
Jan 6 2020 — Lisa Van Dusen — Policy Magazine — Of all the sectors, industries and cultural phenomena — from coal to oil to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — that have benefited from Donald Trump’s unlikely presidency of the world’s flagship democratic superpower, ironic nostalgia may be the most unappreciated. In the same way that Trump’s impeachment has made us pine for the days when […]
Jan 5 2020 — Don Newman — Policy Magazine — Alberta and Ottawa at each other’s throats. Separatists winning votes in Quebec. Britain collapsing over Brexit. And the rolling cataclysm of Donald Trump’s presidency colliding with impeachment proceedings in the United States. The world’s going to hell in a handbasket, right? Don’t worry. We’ve seen it all before. Most of it, 30 or more years […]
Jan 5 2020 — John Delacourt — Policy Magazine — You could take it as an auspicious start to the 43rd Parliament. As the Liberals returned to Ottawa for the new session under grey skies, with fresh snow on the ground, their second throne speech strained to summon a few bright beams of inspiration from the sunny ways of 2015. Justin Trudeau’s team is ostensibly […]
Dec 30 2019 — Lisa Van Dusen — Policy Magazine — Among the usual end-of-decade wrap-ups and best-and-worst compilations, the content commemorating the tick-over from 2019 to 2020 includes some that package the past ten years as the “Decade of Distrust” or mistrust. (Distrust is when you stop believing; mistrust is when you don’t believe in the first place). This characterization of a period that began […]
Dec 20 2019 — Lisa Van Dusen — Policy Magazine — Twas the week before Christmas and all through the world, Stock in Xanax inflated as the s***show unfurled. In a Washington split like a log with an ax, They were impeaching a president—not the one with the sax. As the details emerged of a hit on Ukraine, America’s mayor broke up with his brain, For […]
Dec 11 2019 — Policy Magazine — This COP had trouble finding a home. The United Nations system moves the COPs from region to region on a five-year rotation. Last year was Eastern Europe, and Poland’s turn. This year was for the Americas and Brazil had offered. When far-right populist President Jair Bolsonaro took office, he announced Brazil was no longer interested, […]
Dec 11 2019 — Jason Kenney — Policy Magazine — Thank-you to the Canadian Club for the chance to bring an urgent message to Ottawa on behalf of Albertans: There cannot be a strong Canada without a strong Alberta. Alberta has been the great engine of prosperity, social mobility, and shared wealth in modern Canada. But our ability to play that role is at risk. […]
Dec 9 2019 — Elizabeth May — Policy Magazine — The governments of the world have met every single year since 1995 to add precision and ambition to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — all the while failing miserably. The United Nations Climate Change Conference of the signatories to the UNFCCC — also known as the Conference of the Parties (hence […]
Dec 7 2019 — L. Ian MacDonald — Policy Magazine — Just as last week’s cabinet unveiling was more like a shuffle than the swearing-in of a new government, so Thursday’s Speech from the Throne was more like an updated campaign platform piece than a vision- -of-Canada document. It began with the title. The widely panned Liberal platform slogan, “Choose Forward” has been upgraded to a […]
Dec 1 2019 — Jeremy Kinsman — Policy Magazine — It is now a year since Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, who is also the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested at Vancouver Airport by the RCMP as she arrived from Hong Kong last Dec. 1 expecting to transfer to a flight to Mexico. It has created a crisis in Canada-China […]
Nov 7 2019 — L. Ian MacDonald — Policy Magazine — Elizabeth May was in a good mood as the train pulled out of Toronto’s Union Station on its way to Vancouver. As May wrote for Policy Magazine in her contribution to our The Canadian Idea issue in July, the train is her favourite way of travelling for several reasons. The Canadian is the pride of […]
Oct 27 2019 — Don Newman — Policy Magazine — Monsieur Blanchet’s Tour de Force Column/Don Newman Take a bow, Yves-François Blanchet. In the federal election on October 21 st , you changed the political landscape in Canada by changing the political landscape in Québec. Almost singlehandedly, you have revived the Bloc Québécois, taking it from ten seats to thirty-two and making it the third […]
Oct 22 2019 — L. Ian MacDonald — Policy Magazine — Monday’s election results have generated a new political environment for every leader who’ll be standing in the House when the lights go on. Now that the results are in and the Trudeau government has been re-elected with a minority, set aside Nov. 4 as a good candidate for the swearing-in. For symbolic starters, it will […]
Oct 18 2019 — L. Ian MacDonald — Policy Magazine — Amid a whirlwind of minority government speculation, a quick primer on modern convention. If there were any residual doubt as to the overwhelming, catalyzing impact of polls on our political narratives, it was dispelled on October 11th. That day, CBC’s polling aggregator, Éric Grenier, reported for the first time since the federal election campaign began […]