Despite credit cards, e-transfers and online banking having already made money go pretty much digital, the Bank of Canada is busily working on a much bigger transformation. Canada is one of about 100 countries that – in uncanny synchronicity – several years ago joined...
My mother used to tell me a story about how the daughter of a prominent family who owned a large media outlet had applied for journalism school. At the interview they asked her if she had any relatives working in the business. She was young and told the truth. She...
The government of British Columbia is off on another lengthy legal boondoggle as it seeks to make opioid manufacturers pay for the ongoing epidemic of opioid overdoses. It spent an estimated $75 to $100 million dollars to sue Dr. Brian Day for operating a private...
Large fissures are appearing in the ‘Green Transition’ story climate crusaders tell themselves. They are trying to foist it on a reluctant public and skeptical business world. One recent such crack is the carve-out on carbon taxes for heating oil in the...
A few weeks ago, Albertans voted to reduce the inequities in the federal equalization program. The deficit between the dollars that leave to and come back from Ottawa has recently been as high as $27 billion in one year. During times of crisis, it feels like salt in...
One of the most widespread economic myths is that inflation—the reduced purchasing power of a currency—is a win for a nation, a sign of a booming economy. For the privileged classes in government and with initial access to monetary expansion, it is a win. For everyone...
(Editor's note - The federal government committing to net zero policies at the November 2021 UN Climate Change summit in Scotland, effectively requires the eventual phase out of western Canada's hydrocarbon producing sector. This essay, though from a year ago,...
Carbon taxes at the borders are becoming a popular idea among some countries and world regions. For example, the European Commission, the EU executive institution, is proposing environmental tariffs “on imports from countries with less stringent climate-protection...
The Trans-Pacific Partnership was one of the world’s most ambitious trade deals. The agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States was signed on February 4, 2016. Its goal was...
Societies today are in a state of flux influenced by myriad factors—globalization versus nationalism, liberalization versus traditional values, and immigration versus closed borders. Some people perceive that an injustice has been committed against them while others...
A litany of disastrous decisions have sometimes cost lives and definitely many billions of dollars. Effectively cancelling the Global Public Health Intelligence Network; the failure to implement the pandemic preparedness protocols developed by Ottawa’s public health...
Foreign influence or interference has become a mediatic topic. The fear and suspicion of interference in the elections and democratic process have been in news headlines. For the western countries, the suspicion bears on Russia and China. Revisionist powers have a...
Coercion and vandalism have become commonplace tactics to force insurers off mining and oil development projects throughout the world. Ironically, that clears the way for companies with deep pockets and petrostates whose goal is geopolitical supremacy, not...
The Chinese economy is growing and surpassing the U.S. economy in size. That stature, with its consequent soft and hard power, means opposition to the Communist Party of China (CPC) regime needs to be multilateral. No matter how much unipolarity the U.S. has enjoyed...
Trade is essential for Manitoba’s economy. International exports and imports represented 46.4 per cent of GDP for Manitoba in 2018. With a significant goods-related industry estimated at 26.9 per cent of GDP in 2019, Manitoba needs to have strong trading partners to...