Opinion
Regulator should not lead regulations review
In 2013 Finance Minister Charles Sousa began reviewing the Credit Union and Caisses Populaires Act, 1994, with a goal of modernizing user owned financial institutions in Ontario – credit unions.
Kelly Harris
Opinion
More than just simple apologies
In 2009, Phil Fontaine, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, received Pope Benedict XVI to hear an apology for the role the Roman Catholic Church played in Canada’s residential school system.
Opinion
Challenging times makes for challenging communications
Alberta is as distinct a society as Quebec, or at least in the eyes of anyone who has ever lived in Wild Rose Country. Yes, Quebec has its own language and a bunch of English words said with a French accent, but Albertans also speak in foreign tongues. “Git er dun”, for example, is a phrase commonly used in Alberta and one that perfectly illustrates Premier Jason Kenney’s latest press conference.
Opinion
When “For the People” becomes “For Themselves”
In 2003 I began my training as a Public Information Officer with the British Columbia Provincial Emergency Program (PEP). PEP – as the program is commonly known – has a group called “TEAMS”, or Temporary Emergency Assignment Management System. There is an overarching leadership in PEP and that pulls from the various business units in government to create TEAMS.
Opinion
You don’t have the “right to golf”
In my life in politics and media I have seen my fair share of “right to” movements, from the benign to the ridiculous.
Opinion
Remembering the Todd Bertuzzi incident
In 1954, Tonight Show host Art Linkletter asked hotel mogul Conrad Hilton if he had any message he would like to share with his customers. “Whenever you take a shower, make sure the curtain is inside the tub,” Hilton answered. The response has become synonymous for not making obvious things more difficult.
Opinion
Were we ever safe and prepared?
Bill Blair has been Justin Trudeau’s hand picked Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness for the first, second and now third wave of Covid-19. Read that again and let it sink in for a minute. Now, ask yourself: in the past year, have you felt Canada has been prepared or safe?
Opinion
Shoulda, coulda, woulda: let’s see Ford’s critics do better
It is abundantly clear following the outrage of so many on social media that Ontario Premier Doug Ford should have instituted a curfew like Quebec, which has limited after-hours movement of its residents for 100 plus days now.
Opinion
Fake news, from Trump to Trudeau
One of the most enduring concepts of the Presidency of Donald J. Trump will be the idea of “fake news.” It is a hashtag, a witty comeback in debates, a child’s argument to a parent and I am sure a retort when called out by spouses the world over. And this week when CNN’s Jake Tapper presented a story detailing Justin Trudeau’s failure to properly secure Covid-19 vaccines for Canadians, it was the prime minister’s response.
Opinion
Brazilian variant could be a game changer
A year ago, we all watched in horror as various nations and places around the globe became epicentres of the Covid-19 pandemic. First it was Wuhan, China, with images of total martial law and vaccination water cannons going from street-to-street spraying apartment buildings.