Some vital economic sectors require government support and protection in order to grow and mature and not be held hostage to foreign influence
An old and obscure economic theory should have shaped the Canadian response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Sometimes we need to go back to find the right path forward. The infant industry argument was first proposed by Alexander Hamilton in 1791. He made a case for the United States government to protect fledgling industries against…
Who defines what’s essential and should thus be sourced domestically, even if it’s more expensive to do so?
Autarky is an uncommon word that’s become a lot more common lately. It defines the extent to which a country chooses to be self-sufficient, thereby abjuring international trade. Typically, autarky is seen as an impoverishing thing. And it usually is. But in the current debate, it’s a red herring of the highest order. In order…
From 5G concerns internally to military spending on equipment to contributions to NATO, Canada falls far short of pulling its weight
“Canada needs to be in a position to defend itself and defend its values,” U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien told delegates at the Halifax International Security Summit recently. He urged Canada to keep its NATO commitments and increase defence spending. He also warned that Chinese company Huawei must be shut out of building 5G…
The rash of liquor store robberies in Winnipeg says more about underlying social problems than it does about the effectiveness of police
Winnipeg has experienced a rash of liquor store swarmings involving masked individuals who have become increasingly accustomed to little or no resistance. The best deterrent to crime is not the severity of sentence or punishment, but the certainty of detection and apprehension. An even better and common-sense response would be to mitigate the underlying precursors…
Almost half of the people visiting food banks live alone. The single-household economy is clearly not doing so well. It's time for some social retooling
We’re reminded every year how many Canadians are left behind in our society, without enough food. Hunger Count 2019 has just been released. The report says that despite a strong economy and living in one of the richest countries in the world, many Canadians still don’t have enough food. The report says food banks have…
Food costs are rising faster than inflation and healthy food may be getting out of the reach for many Canadians. But don’t expect to hear much about it over the next few weeks
By Sylvain Charlebois Atlantic Institute for Market Studies and Howard Ramos Dalhousie University One of the main issues shaping the current federal election campaign is affordability. It has repeatedly been a leading concern for Canadians in opinion polls and should help determine who wins. So it’s no surprise that every political party promises to focus…
Carrie Gour of PwrSwitch talks about helping those being harassed, stalked or abused reclaim peace of mind, a sense of security and a measure of control
Carrie Gour is co-founder and CEO of PwrSwitch. What is PwrSwitch and what does it do? Gour: PwrSwitch is an application designed especially (though not exclusively) for anyone managing the aftermath of a high-conflict relationship, or anyone dealing with cyber-harassment or cyber-stalking. It effortlessly creates the foundation of evidence you need to file court orders,…
Visual intelligence allows for face identification, incident recognition, behaviour monitoring, object identification and even face or activity prediction
Business owners and managers increasingly deal with information overload, including from camera feeds. The cost outlay for a good camera system with extensive storage is dropping daily and new technologies that promise to process all this information continue to emerge. But although it’s valuable information, it’s also exceedingly time consuming to sift through all the…
Former RCMP investigator Greg Draper, now with MNP LLP, talks about who is most likely to commit fraud and what they target
Greg Draper is a former RCMP investigator and current vice-president of Valuations, Forensics and Litigation Support at MNP LLP. Who poses the greatest threat – and why – for fraud? Draper: The simple answer is: the person we least expect. You’d never hire someone if we thought they’d defraud the organization. Most of us go…
David Vigneault’s recent speech was a slick deflection and thinly-veiled push for broader surveillance
When David Vigneault addressed the Economic Club, the nation's intelligence chief acknowledged his agency's first rule: “Don't talk.” True to form, he said little in his tightly-scripted remarks on Dec. 4. What the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director left out, though, amounted to glaring omissions. His remarks were misleading at best, dishonest at worst.…
An old and obscure economic theory should have shaped the Canadian response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Sometimes we need to go back to find the right path forward. The infant industry argument was first proposed by Alexander Hamilton in 1791. He made a case for the United States government to protect fledgling industries against…
