The economic consequences of COVID-19 and the shutdown of the economy are difficult to evaluate. But some of them have begun to appear and risk hindering recovery. Inflation is one of these harmful consequences. In the USA, consumer prices jumped 4.2 per cent in the...
In a recent article about climate change, Seth Borenstein, a science writer with the Associated Press, gave us a master class on how to sell the results of a computer model as if it represents reality. In the Borenstein world, a group of scientists can take a...
Ever since COVID-19 first hit Canada and lockdowns began, the most obvious light at the end of the tunnel were the vaccines. For a large part of the population, it was the golden ticket to getting our lives back to normal, but now the traffic in the tunnel has become...
Was there a cultural genocide in Canada as claimed in the Truth and Reconciliation Report? Mass graves at residential schools? An interview with Professor Rodney Clifton, co-editor of “From Truth Comes Reconciliation: Assessing the Truth and Reconciliation...
Should Canadians be free to fly without a COVID-19 vaccination? Four Canadian pilots thought so and founded Free to Fly at the end of August. By now, the organization has attracted 14,300 members, including 1,900 airline staff. In an interview, Free to Fly co-founder...
The most mentioned reason for lockdowns has been the protection of health systems. The claim is that such protection saves lives. So, it is fair to ask how health systems are performing in their lockdown life-saving duty? There are several points from which one can...
Richard Gwyn, author of Nation Maker—Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times, a biography of Canada’s first prime minister, reported that in the 1950s—the decade I grew up in—was a time “…when Canadians came to realize and believe that a ‘new nationality’ could be...
The media often portray alternative lenders as slippery, unethical loan sharks who exploit the poor. When targeting the sector and not just a few bad apples, such stories are easy, cheap hit jobs. A New Brunswick Liberal senator, for example, recently described...
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommended that all Canadian children learn about residential schools. This is part of Canada’s history, and is now taught in every classroom. However, there is reason to worry that a fair and balanced view is not being...
While boundaries have traditionally, at least within the context of geographic statehood, represented physical demarcations, they have a much broader significance. Borders are essential declarations of sovereignty, but boundaries are equally social, political, and...
Everyone likes positive affirmation. It’s nice knowing that while the rest of the world has gone crazy, your friends have your back. It feels even better when you have thousands of friends agreeing with everything you say. Frankly, that is the power of social media,...
The New Democratic Party, the Opposition in the Manitoba legislature, has proposed the creation of a new Crown corporation to provide high-speed internet service to rural and remote communities, particularly First Nations communities, in that province. This idea is...
This week marked the anniversary of the COVID-19 confinements that were only supposed to last for a few weeks. That was 52 weeks ago. In many ways, fear became the pandemic. Different people drive the COVID-19 fear, but its principal generators are statisticians and...
A judge found the man who drove a rented van down Toronto’s sidewalks, trying to kill as many people as he could, guilty of murdering ten and attempting to kill sixteen more. The judge also took the extraordinary decision to refer to him as “John Doe,” denying him any...
Public debt is not a problem; it is the big idea behind modern monetary theory (MMT). The current economic crisis has allowed MMT to gain influence among the political class. Among the people who developed President Joe Biden’s economic program is Stephanie Kelton....