April 2, 2016
Open government: The political motivations and hurdles
If on a future visit to the City of Lights you wind up visiting the restored “Petite Ceinture” railway in the heart of the metropolis (a project vaguely reminiscent...
March 21, 2016
Poverty costs us all – a basic income may be the answer
Recently I tabled a motion in the Senate calling on the government to create a pilot project that would test a basic income in Canada, also known as a...
March 11, 2016
Le Zika est important pour le Canada
L’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (l’OMS) vient d’annoncer que la vague de cas de microcéphalie liée au Zika est une urgence de portée mondiale. Ce virus attire l’attention de...
October 16, 2015
Where do the federal political parties stand on autism?
It may be no huge surprise to families in Canada affected by autism that this “niche issue” has rarely been on the lips of any of our politicians leading...
October 13, 2015
Après les régimes de retraite, les soins de longue durée
L’idée faire cotiser les baby boomers à hauteur suffisante pendant leur vie active n’était pas à l’ordre du jour politique, dans ces temps-là, pas plus que celle de faire...
October 1, 2015
The Federal Election: It’s Not About the Economy, It’s About Canadian Values
A smart and compassionate friend of mine recently told me that while he couldn’t stomach Stephen Harper – given Harper’s manifest disrespect for democratic institutions, the unseemly behaviour of...
August 12, 2015
3 thoughts on the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan
Yesterday, the Ontario government released new details on its forthcoming provincial pension plan. There is a lot to dig into, and other parameters still to be worked out (like...
August 12, 2015
What Justin Trudeau didn’t say about the Clarity Act
The rulebook for a future Quebec referendum – specifically, the minimum margin by which the “Yes” side would have to win before the federal government negotiated secession – was...
July 6, 2015
Short Cuts
“CANADA LAGS far behind the United States, the European Union, and Australia in enacting, implementing, and enforcing key laws and policies to prevent environmental impacts on health. Laws and...