Quebecers find themselves taking sides in language squabbles their better judgment says are irrelevant to life outside the political bubble
Quebec’s anglophones, francophones and allophones should all be on their smart phones demanding to know what in the name of Saint René Lévesque just happened in the National Assembly. “We are not a small people,” the late premier, Lévesque, famously said after his victorious Parti Quebecois stunned everyone on election night in 1976. “We are…
The federal government's plan to substantially increase new arrivals requires close co-ordination with provincial and municipal officials
With a falling birth rate, an aging workforce and a shortage of skilled workers, Canada depends on immigration. Instead of talking about building walls like our U.S. neighbours, Canadians acknowledge that immigration is essential to our prosperity. So few dare question the official immigration policy, even as it becomes increasingly apparent that strong criticism is…
The Liberal's Great Supercluster Screw-up just another drain on Canadian taxpayers
Governments always want to look like they’re implementing good ideas and accomplishing important things. Take the Innovation Superclusters Initiative (ISI) for example. The federal government plans to throw almost a billion tax dollars at non-profit groups to create jobs and help Canadian companies dominate the world. As crazy as it sounds, that’s the ostensible reason…
From the homeless crisis to Quebec's Bill 62 to the murder of 4,232 First Nation women, the signs are everywhere
When do you cease to be a country? When do you stop being a people, a nation? Former governor general and Liberal cabinet minister Romeo LeBlanc had an answer. “When children sleep on the streets,” he said to us once. “When they have nothing to eat. That is when you are no longer a country,…
Across the globe, a deep and growing frustration with the nationalist status quo is driving regional politics
The Spanish government's response to the Catalonian independence movement is a reminder of just how fragile nation states have become in the modern world. Mind you, it's hard to imagine a less helpful response than Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's chosen option, arrogantly removing popular regional leaders and imposing direct rule. This is just the…
A rule requiring payments to grow – no matter what the circumstances – can only exacerbate regional friction
By Ben Eisen and Joel Emes The Fraser Institute The relative economic strength of Canada’s provinces has shifted in recent years, as former powerhouses struggle while former laggards improve. The nation’s equalization program is not equipped to respond fairly to these developments. In the past two fiscal years, Quebec has collected more revenue from natural resources…
There was a swift response to Charles de Gaulle’s intrusion into Canadian affairs during the centennial summer of 50 years ago
I remember the reaction to French president Charles de Gaulle’s intrusion into Canadian affairs during the centennial summer of 50 years ago. Astonishment and outrage are perhaps the two best descriptors of public sentiment, at least as far as English-speaking Canada was concerned. Being a new Canadian of less than two years standing, I didn’t…
As urban sprawl intensifies, we shouldn’t be too surprised when displaced wildlife decides to take a tour through town on their way to a new place of residence
Residents of my small town had mixed feelings when they learned a few years ago that a complex of big-box stores would be developed at the edge of town. Small business owners worried that customers would be lured away from their shops and their businesses would fail. Others argued that by having more local choices, residents…
Quebec’s anglophones, francophones and allophones should all be on their smart phones demanding to know what in the name of Saint René Lévesque just happened in the National Assembly. “We are not a small people,” the late premier, Lévesque, famously said after his victorious Parti Quebecois stunned everyone on election night in 1976. “We are…
