Ten ways you might be cheated and what you can do to reduce your risk
James and John came into my office one day and were noticeably shaken. James had just come from the accountant and learned that his business had lost $400,000 in the previous year. In obvious disbelief, he asked if I could help him figure out what the problem was. In our discussion it came out that…
We pass laws for unjust taxes, reward unscrupulous businesses and hold money back from our children
In a 2016 interview, CBC journalist Peter Mansbridge confronted children’s advocate Dr. Cindy Blackstock with this statement regarding public funding for Indigenous programs: “Billions of dollars have been spent in trying to come to grips with the situation that so many Indigenous Canadians face. And of those billions, it’s on the record that some of…
Since independence India has seen the addition of one billion citizens, persistent communalism and little change for the marginalized
The COVID-19 pandemic may be the most important event of our lifetimes. It will define the legitimacy of governments and leave long-lasting impressions about how societies responded on behalf of their citizens. The devastation being played out across India is beyond tragic – it was predictable, ignored, supported by willful blindness and even encouraged. As…
Last December, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) national chief announced he would not seek re-election. Coming up on the next leadership vote on July 7, it may be important to discuss what AFN wants to be and where it wants to go. Here are some observations and some advice for the incoming national chief,…
Apologists lured with lucrative board memberships, and other associations with the Chinese party-state
Recently, Robert Oliphant, parliamentary secretary to the foreign affairs minister, told the House of Commons that Canada is considering creating a registry of foreign agents, along the lines of Australia’s Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act and the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act. It seems like a no-brainer to expect transparency whenever someone takes a foreign…
Any appearance of conflicts of interest must be eliminated
By Joel Lexchin, Lisa Bero, Marc-Andre Gagnon, Quinn Grundy and Barbara Mintzes COVID-19 vaccines are starting to come into Canada again and hopefully there won’t be any further interruptions. Public acceptance of vaccines will depend on how confident people are that the best decisions have been made about which vaccines to purchase. If it looks…
Perhaps it’s not democracy that has been corrupted, nor the democratic process, but rather the electorate itself
If the majority of the electorate is not already disillusioned and alienated by the extreme partisanship of politics, the upcoming United States elections will likely push another generation of voters into the void of disillusionment, apathy and abdication of franchise. The U.S. is the so-called beacon of democracy. Yet the two political extremes have become…
We all have regrets and make mistakes. But we need to admit our errors and turn back to our intrinsic nature of goodness
If I look back through the 40 years of my business career, the lowest points are those times when I betrayed my values. My biggest regret was something that happened 30 years ago. I was told of a business opportunity that would be of great benefit to me if I could only prove I had…
And hiring a director of ethics won't do much to curb his natural tendencies
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will soon visit Canada’s ethics commissioner for the third time in five years. His ethical standards and lack of a moral code have been in question as the result of two previous controversies – visiting the Aga Khan’s private island and the SNC-Lavalin boondoggle. This new political controversy could be the…
With the WE scandal, Trudeau is at it again
The coronavirus pandemic is one of the biggest events of our collective lifetimes. You don’t have to take a poll. It just is. Millions of Canadians without work. Companies going bankrupt. Families in crisis. And, of course, 110,000 of us infected with Covid-19, and more than 9,000 dead. It has been a cataclysm. It has…