In the post-COVID-19 era, government needs to invest in game-changing projects. Here are some good places to start
The clamour to reopen the economy has reached a crescendo in many parts of North America. But the global economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be far-reaching for years to come. Canadian historians list 1935 as the year the worst of the Great Depression was over. But the nation really didn’t begin to return…
Wait times for court proceedings to help children escape physical or psychological harm are far too long. Society is failing to protect these vulnerable citizens
In her recent report, Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk took aim at the inefficiencies and backlogs in the province’s justice system. She also cited a lack of accountability and transparency in obtaining critical information from the judiciary and government, thus preventing her office from conducting a thorough audit. Five days later, Ontario Attorney General Doug…
Lost in the click bait of this election campaign were the substantive issues that affect ordinary and everyday Canadians
The 43rd Canadian federal election has been, by any stretch of the imagination, a very strange campaign. First there was the Justin Trudeau’s blackface scandal. Then there was Andrew Scheer’s dual citizenship/resume exaggeration controversy. Finally, there was an exchange caught on video decrying Jagmeet Singh wearing a turban. Lost in the click bait were the…
Maybe Trudeau should have dressed up as a clown at that party in 2001. It would have suited him better
Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s defining accomplishment as prime minister was the creation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Regardless of the politics surrounding the creation of the document, it embodies Canadian democracy in the highest form. The senior Trudeau’s intention was to create a “just society” – a term that was his trademark during the…
Blame fraud for part of the problem. Blame the insurance industry as well. But the government can help consumers
Premier Doug Ford’s government recently announced its intention to tackle the multibillion-dollar car insurance industry. The move is critically important to Ontario’s economy. I’ve written before about why the Progressive Conservatives should focus on insurance policy. Ontarians pay the highest rates in Canada, despite the roads being among the safest in the world. The Ministry…
The premier is ignoring very real problems across Ontario in order to settle a personal vendetta with Toronto city council
It’s no shock that Ontario Premier Doug Ford wishes to shrink the size of Toronto city council. Conservatives like small government. Ford, a former Toronto city councillor, and his late brother Rob, a former mayor of Toronto, were known to be libertarian. They regularly made it clear that they believed that government should be leaner…
The Ontario PC leader boasting that he would build homes on the fiercely-protected lands illustrates stunningly bad political instinct
One of Patrick Brown's legacies is the ample war chest the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario has for the June 7 provincial election campaign. Among the largest donors in recent years are land developers. A recently-released video of PC Leader Doug Ford (Brown’s successor) speaking behind closed doors to supporters exposes his plans to open…
Five clear policy ideas that will resonate with the province’s voters and make a party leadership candidate stand out
It's difficult to keep up with the implosion that has become the Ontario Progressive Conservative party. Four new leadership contenders showed how confused they are about their party's People's Guarantee policy document – which promises all sorts of expensive goodies paid for by a carbon tax these contenders reject – during their first televised debate.…
While Asian nations are interested in our goods and services, not one of them is interested in buying the values that Trudeau keeps proselytizing
Engaging in international trade is perhaps the greatest of Canadian economic traits. We’ve been traders since the first Europeans arrived. The accounts of the competition between les voyageurs and les coureurs du bois, and between the Hudson Bay Co. and the North West Co., are part of national folklore. Canada has always been a nation of…
The Ontario PC leader is either suffering an ideological identity crisis or is one of the biggest political opportunists we’ve seen in some time
Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown’s 78-page campaign manifesto reminds me of the old line: if you can’t beat them, you may as well join them. Brown’s recently-released People’s Guarantee makes 147 promises. But despite vowing to bring change for Ontario voters in 2018, the only obvious change is that he would spend even more…