Jun 26 2019 — David Taylor — The Conversation — When Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer unveiled his long-awaited climate plan, he said he could eliminate the federal carbon tax and still meet Canada’s emissions targets by focusing on investments into green technology. Tech, not taxes, he said. Under the plan, major emitters would not pay a carbon tax and would, instead, have to invest in […]
Jun 19 2019 — The Conversation — The Canadian government has announced it’s going to restart the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. There are several Indigenous groups hoping to purchase an equity interest in Trans Mountain. Project Reconciliation, an Indigenous-led consortium of all Western Canadian First Nations who would like to participate, is proposing to purchase a majority share of the Trans […]
Jun 11 2019 — James L. Anderson — The Conversation — Canada-U.S. relations sit at a low point, eroding in recent years over everything from steel tariffs to Cuba and the Arctic. The current relationship between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump is more similar to the frosty Lyndon Johnson-Lester B. Pearson years than the storied bromance between Trudeau and Barack Obama.
Apr 23 2019 — The Conversation — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s threatened defamation suit against Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer over the SNC-Lavalin affair is just the latest in a rapidly growing list of Canadian political mud-slinging matches that have taken a litigious turn. Scheer had already employed some overheated rhetoric at earlier stages of the controversy, accusing Trudeau of exerting “frankly illegal […]
Apr 10 2019 — Nicole Goodman — The Conversation — The year’s federal budget included a slew of boutique policy promises suggesting the government is targeting specific groups of voters gearing up for the October election. Likewise, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has been capitalizing on the SNC-Lavalin drama and the release of the federal carbon tax. One recent analysis suggests that if Scheer wants to […]
Apr 10 2019 — Nicole Goodman — The Conversation — Canadians are still forced to travel to polling stations and line up to vote. Online voting would save time and money. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes Nicole Goodman, Brock University The year’s federal budget included a slew of boutique policy promises suggesting the government is targeting specific groups of voters gearing up for the October election. […]
Apr 3 2019 — Kathryn Harrison — The Conversation — The federal carbon tax is now in effect in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick. The tax increases the cost of fossil fuels in order to reduce consumption, thus lowering Canada’s carbon emissions. Many Canadians are confused about the carbon tax and how it will affect them. Here are some answers to common questions about […]
Mar 30 2019 — The Conversation — Climate change might be the most urgent issue of our day, both politically and in terms of life on Earth. There is mounting awareness that the global climate is a matter for public action. For 11,500 years, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations hovered around 280 ppm (the preindustrial “normal”), with an average surface temperature around […]
Mar 18 2019 — Sukanya Pillay — The Conversation — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government remains in hot water over SNC-Lavalin. Even anti-bribery officials from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are “concerned” and watching the situation. But the controversy has resulted in some misinterpretations of the legal mechanism at its heart: Deferred prosecution agreements, known as DPAs. Jody Wilson-Raybould is a career […]
Mar 18 2019 — Sukanya Pillay — The Conversation — Former SNC-Lavalin CEO Pierre Duhaime leaves a courtroom in Montreal in February 2019. Duhaime pleaded guilty in a bribe scandal around the construction of a $1.3-billion Montreal hospital. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson Sukanya Pillay, University of Windsor Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government remains in hot water over SNC-Lavalin. Even anti-bribery officials from the Organisation for […]
Mar 12 2019 — J.P. Lewis — The Conversation — Social media has made every day a huge news day. Responses to political developments are regularly framed in apocalyptic turns. It is not only a challenge to determine whether news is real or fake; all news is immediately contextualized as the 1927 Yankees of bombshells. Social media has made every day a huge news day. […]
Mar 12 2019 — J.P. Lewis — The Conversation — Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould are seen during a news conference in Ottawa in June 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld J.P. Lewis, University of New Brunswick Social media has made every day a huge news day. Responses to political developments are regularly framed in apocalyptic turns. It is not only a challenge to determine whether […]
Mar 12 2019 — Craig Anthony Johnson and Iftekharul Haque — The Conversation — Over the last month, the Canadian government has been embroiled in a political controversy, involving allegations that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put undue pressure on Jody Wilson-Raybould, the country’s former justice minister and attorney general, to negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement with Québec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin Group.
Feb 28 2019 — Mark Winfield and Bruce Campbell — The Conversation — The recent runaway CP Rail train in the Rocky Mountains near Field, B.C., highlighted ongoing gaps in Canada’s railway safety regime, more than five years after the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster that killed 47 residents of the small Québec town. The British Columbia crash resulted in the deaths of three railway workers and the derailment of […]
Feb 28 2019 — Mark Winfield and Bruce Campbell — The Conversation — The recent train derailment in B.C. was one of a rash of high-profile derailments in Canada since the beginning of 2019. While none compares in magnitude with Lac-Mégantic, they evoke disturbing parallels to that tragedy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh Mark Winfield, York University, Canada and Bruce Campbell, York University, Canada The recent runaway CP Rail […]