Our democratic institutions are in crisis. Their very legitimacy is in question, and Canada’s national leaders appear ill-equipped to respond. The Indigenous re-occupation of Wet’suwet’en land and nationwide actions in support have sparked debate and deliberation about the causes, consequences, complications and solutions. The debate has been emotional and traumatic…
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The decision by Vancouver-based Teck Resources, announced on Sunday, to withdraw its application for the Frontier oil sands mine was both unexpected and foreseeable. Unexpected because the decision about whether or not the project would move forward had been framed solely as a federal government judgment, rather than being determined…
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Implementing legislation for the new Canada–U.S.–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is now before the House of Commons. While the U.S. and Mexico have already ratified the deal, our parliamentarians can still examine the 2,000-page text, which will have lasting impacts on many matters far beyond trade. The opposition parties have called for…
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Indifference, said Antonio Gramsci, is “the mainspring of history.” By that he meant it is not the active few who determine what comes to pass, for better or worse, but “the absenteeism of the many.” The indifferent masses, he said, “allow the knots to form that in time only a…
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If you were to hold a public conference—on any issue—it’s reasonable to think that you would want your keynote speaker to agree that the issue exists. That would seem a sensible proposition for most people. So it is absolutely perplexing that the City of Regina decided to invite a well-known…
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The idea of a Green New Deal—a radical and comprehensive transformation of the economy to cut greenhouse gas emissions while tackling inequality—has been gaining steam over the past few decades as an organizing principle for the environmental and social justice movements, but it wasn’t until 2019 that the GND exploded…
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Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange is very concerned that teachers in classrooms across the province are turning students into anti-oil zealots. Her evidence? Two multiple-choice questions from a grade 10 Social Studies test, reportedly sent by a parent, that appear to cast aspersions on oilsands development (the offending options have…
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Photo courtesy Our Time to Lead Climate scientists warn that we only have 10 years to cut global emissions by 45% (below 2010 levels) if we are to meet the internationally agreed target of limiting global warning to 1.5 degrees Celsius. We also must fully decarbonize the global economy (net…
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Following Monday night’s election, it might feel like the country is more divided than ever. But a closer look at how Canada voted reveals support for a promising suite of progressive initiatives. In fact, the public’s clear desire for progressive policy solutions might just be the one clear winner in…
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Canadians recently hit the streets in the middle of the federal election campaign to demand climate action. Many past Canadian governments have set emission targets, then failed to deliver meaningful policies to reach those targets, all the while patting themselves on the back for their leadership. The stakes are high,…
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