MPs telling bishops what to do is a monstrous misunderstanding of the relationship between political power and civil society
Parliament will set back both truth and reconciliation if it passes a motion proposed by Charlie Angus, the NDP MP from Timmins-James Bay. He wants Canada’s Catholic bishops to invite Pope Francis to visit Canada to apologize for the role of the Catholic Church in residential schools. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) included a…
A review of Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: the Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
My son gave me Steven Pinker’s book Enlightenment Now: the Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress after he had heard him speak on a podcast about his 10th bestseller in 53 years of life as a public intellectual and Harvard professor of cognitive psychology. The gift is part of an ongoing effort to expand…
The Crown corporation is an archaic operation based on faulty principles, bad management and outdated market conditions
Manitoba Hydro’s costly Keeyask dam project and Bipole III transmission line debacle – and the taxpayers’ likely assumption of much of the horrendous debt – were not inevitable. But Crown corporations have vulnerabilities inherent in being created and controlled by government. Risk begins with the false notion that Crown corporations are essential, providing services that…
Anti-fish farm activists ratchet up conspiracy campaign against Canadian scientists and studies
Fearing that Canadian science will drown out their claims, the anti-fish farm lobby has embarked on a campaign to discredit upcoming studies by the government to develop better aquaculture standards. Taking the cue from Twitter-in-chief Donald Trump, who constantly tells his core supporters not to believe any official investigation about him, the activists’ campaign is…
By Jason Clemens and Niels Veldhuis The Fraser Institute Contrary to the announcement that Ottawa will spend almost $300,000 to discern the reason behind the lack of investment in Canada’s energy sector, there’s actually no great mystery. Kinder Morgan’s recent suspension of non-essential spending on its $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project is the just…
A Supreme Court ruling that there’s no ‘constitutional guarantee of free trade’ will stifle both competition and lower prices for consumers
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that provinces have the right to erect interprovincial tariff barriers. That’s bad news for Canadian consumers and the health of the national economy. It is, however, a relief for provinces that for years have allowed fiscal priorities to supersede consumer choice and common economic sense. In 2012, Gerard…
Would you want your favourite sports team to choose its players based on diversity, or on the best players out there?
Two academic conferences have recently been criticized for not being sufficiently diverse. A conference to empower women and train them for leadership was cancelled by St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minn., because, according to school officials, the lineup of speakers did “not reflect the diverse St. Kate’s community of today nor the world of…
First Nations support pipelines, including Trans Mountain. Abandoning the project will be a severe blow to those communities
By Joseph Quesnel and Kenneth Green The Fraser Institute Alberta Premier Rachel Notley forgot one group of Canadians when she cheered a recent court ruling relating to the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. “It wasn’t that we won the decision, it was the court wouldn’t even hear it. So, it was a pretty definitive…
Called ‘the most generous act of any people, anytime, anywhere, to another people,‘ the post-war economic boost still had flaws
U.S. President Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan into law 70 years ago this month. Named after then-U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall, the plan was aimed at the economic reconstruction of Europe in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. It got rave reviews. Its own chief administrator characterized it as “the most…
From Canada’s viewpoint, considerations like global security, freedom, human rights and democracy support Taiwan’s case
The next big trade hullabaloo in the topsy-turvy world of international trade is fermenting: which countries will be invited to join the second membership round of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Taiwan’s application is a potential flashpoint. The clumsily-named CPTPP rose from the ashes of the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the United States…
Parliament will set back both truth and reconciliation if it passes a motion proposed by Charlie Angus, the NDP MP from Timmins-James Bay. He wants Canada’s Catholic bishops to invite Pope Francis to visit Canada to apologize for the role of the Catholic Church in residential schools. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) included a…
