We’ve been taught in the West that democracy is the ideal form of government. But is it?
Looking at the world through the lens of the media, it’s difficult to gain a clear perspective on what type of government works and what doesn’t, who’s a good leader and who’s bad, and where people are happy and where they’re not. We’ve been taught in the West that democracy is the ideal form of…
And leads to extremism
Censorship is a slippery slope, especially when there are no clear guidelines. The idea of cancel culture, where one is ostracized because of a stance on an issue determined as taboo by current cultural trends, is very dangerous. One is judged in the popular media and the conversation is over. And while people on the…
Our First World sensitivities were not prepared for the consequences
Last year was one of shaken realities. The news from Wuhan, China was of an unknown virus claiming lives in unprecedented numbers. But China is across the world so the West continued the reality of our usual daily tasks of work, school, activities. Meanwhile, a virus was infiltrating the globe, silently leaping from one person…
Federal government’s ongoing refusal to deliver a full budget another example of it avoiding accountability
By Jason Clemens and Jake Fuss The Fraser Institute According to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, on Monday the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will provide an update on its 2020 spending. But the government hasn’t delivered a full federal budget since March 2019, more than 20 months ago. That demonstrates little regard for democratic…
International power politics employed by the likes of Russia have resulted in many countries looking for new energy sources
By Mark Milke and Ven Venkatachalam Canadian Energy Centre Russia cut off the natural gas supply to Ukraine in mid-winter 2009, ostensibly over a pricing dispute. It was a reminder that energy can be used as an economic and political weapon by autocratic regimes – in this instance, Vladimir Putin’s Russia. We have more recent…
Some historians argue that the reality is more nuanced than the legend and that he played a significant role in the creation of modern England
When last week’s column referred to Oliver Cromwell as the “Great Satan,” my tongue was in my cheek. But many people do think of him in those terms. So let’s take a look at the man, his works and his historical reputation. Cromwell (1599 to 1658) rose to prominence during the 1640s. Starting as a…
In a recent New York Times opinion piece, Regina Ip, a member of Hong Kong’s Executive Council (essentially the cabinet of Hong Kong’s government), defended the Chinese Communist Party’s attack on freedom in Hong Kong. In an apparent attempt to bolster her argument, she noted Hong Kong’s top rating in the Economic Freedom of the…
It’s time to reflect not just on what politics is doing to our democracy but what it’s doing to us
Let’s begin by wishing U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump a full and speedy recovery following their positive COVID-19 testing. The text below was drafted before this diagnosis was known and reflects on the toxicity of public discourse for which the president is partly culpable. Some of the social media response to…
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has brought in economist Mark Carney as an adviser to assist with mapping out the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CBC reported how Carney left his position as governor of the Bank of England “after guiding it through Brexit uncertainty.” But it seems the media is as clueless…
Two troubling questions lurk behind the results of the Fraser Institute’s 2020 Economic Freedom of the World report, released Sept. 10. This year’s report is based on 2018 data (the most recent available). By 2018, global economic freedom had recovered from the 2008 financial crisis and was at its highest level ever, albeit by just…
Oil and gas revenues can be used by tyrannies, autocracies and dictatorships to oppress their populations
Why would consumers treat tyranny oil differently than blood diamonds or clothing made by child labour? One of the more bizarre reactions to bare facts came recently after a colleague and I analyzed oil-and-gas-producing countries and their degree of freedom – the Tyranny Index, as we labelled it. Some argued such tracking is irrelevant because…
Governments around the world have been tardy, negligent, dysfunctional or otherwise an impediment to an aggressive and successful outcome
While residents around the world deal with restrictions imposed to minimize transmission of COVID-19, many wonder how we got into a predicament where thousands die, millions are infected, and millions more lose their jobs or investment nest eggs. There were preliminary indications as far back as Nov. 17 that some people who frequented the wet…
If everyone is to be a contributing member of Team Canada, then all players should pull their weight in what is truly a do-or-die situation
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is urging politicians of all stripes to be part of a Team Canada approach to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ll buy into his patriotic pitch – to a degree. We must all help. Stay home. Wash our hands. Social distance. Canadians can recite basic COVID-19-busting advice as easily as the words…
The international lockdown is pointless and unnecessarily painful. Is this really a pandemic or just another round of the flu?
U.S. Gen. George Patton once proclaimed: “Fear kills more people than death!” That makes as much sense as something baseball great Yogi Berra said: “No one goes to that restaurant anymore; it’s too crowded.” These days no one goes to the restaurant because the government freaked out and shut it down. But some eminent medical…
We have surrendered far too much control of the economy to the Chinese, from sports equipment to broader supply chains
We’ve apparently reached halftime in the media’s battle against COVID-19, and the savants are doing highlight packs of the big plays and terrible mistakes made so far. It’s not a pretty picture. It would be nice if we could use the sports system of replays to go back and correct a few things from a…