As I sit here looking out my window at fresh daffodils and cherry blossoms, it is hard to imagine that a potentially deadly virus is stalking the land. Of course I am lucky to be where I am, on Vancouver Island where spring has arrived; in other parts of Canada and the world spring flowers […]

Last week’s provincial budget prioritized civil society as a critical partner to improve well-being for Albertans. A Premier’s Charities Council is being proposed “to advise government on how best to assist the efforts of civil society groups in helping to make Alberta a more compassionate society, preventing and reducing increased social problems.” But what exactly […]

It’s not easy being green… There is a lot of excitement in Fredericton and on campus at UNB with the election of a Green Party Member of Parliament.  Voters in the riding have signaled that addressing the climate emergency is of high importance when you consider the combined Liberal and Green party vote shares.  That […]

Last week, as most North American readers will know, the Super Bowl was played in Miami with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49’ers in a tight, hard fought game to win the National Football League (NFL) championship. Great, but what, (you may ask,) does this have to do with copyright, content, and […]

Who really won the Iowa primary? Technology is a wonderful thing and the enabler to innovation and productivity but when it comes to counting ballots, no thank you. Let’s do it how we’ve done it since the Greeks developed democracy – in open and fair counts, one-by-one, by duly-accredited election officials. Why? Because it’s about […]

After months of deliberation and high-level pressure from the US, Britain has finally reached a decision on whether or not to allow Chinese technology supplier Huawei to participate in the rollout of 5G networks in the UK. In an announcement made on January 28, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Huawei would be allowed limited […]

Executive Summary An internationalist and a progressive, Justin Trudeau consistently boosts diversity, social justice, environmentalism and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. A gifted retail politician, Trudeau prefers campaigning and contact with voters to the hurly-burly of the House of Commons.  He possesses an empathy and emotional intelligence most people found lacking in his famous father, Pierre […]

The term “Alberta Advantage” was popularized during the Klein government years, used so frequently it became like a mantra, but never clearly defined. In a 2015 Edmonton Journal OpEd, Jack Mintz usefully described the Alberta Advantage: “No doubt, it is a combination of low taxes and good public services, especially education, health and infrastructure”. Low […]

It’s September, it’s Canada, and that means winter is coming. And in Canada’s North, that means winter road season. The Northwest Territories (NWT), with an area of 1.3 million square km, has only 2,200 km of all-season highways, augmented by 1,435 km of public winter roads. Only 19 of 33 communities have year-round road access, […]