The tone of the questioning can range from being sympathetic to hostile to anything in between. This is why the PM's town hall tour raised so many eyebrows. In an age when a viral social media post can derail a career, most politicians avoid these sorts of high-wire acts like the plague.
The collection and dissemination of race-based statistics is essential to the examination and elimination of any racial disparities that may exist. By remaining uncommitted to this initiative, Canadian law enforcement has essentially shrugged its shoulders to the troubles many visible minority Canadians face.
British Columbia signed off on Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain oil sands pipeline and supertanker project in the Salish Sea. The announcement confirmed that Premier Christy Clark's posturing with her "five conditions con" over the past four and a half years has essentially been political Kabuki theatre.
The world's scientists vehemently condemn the captivity of whales, dolphins and porpoises, and it's time that we listened to them. Twenty marine mammal biologists from around the world recently signed a collective letter in support of the goals of Bill S-203, which would outlaw the practice of keeping these animals in captivity in Canada.
In 2011, financed with Canadian taxpayer money, the government initiated a billboard campaign in the predominant countries of origin of Roma claimants. It sought to deliberately deter Roma from seeking asylum in Canada, stating that "people who make a [refugee] claim without sound reasons will be processed faster and deported faster."
We need Trump's touted deal-making skills and Trudeau's compassionate stance toward drug users to promote a global solution that confronts the opioid pandemic as if it were the plague. We educate the public. We get rid of the conduits. We care for the sick.
"You may not ever love me," Trump would say to his legions of critics. "But I'm doing what I said I would do. Promise made, promise kept." And it is true. If there is one thing that Trump has done in the frenzied first few weeks of his tenure, it is that: he has done what he said he would do.
It is hard to not be inspired when the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that "to those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength." It is time for Canada to lead by example yet again.
Currently, the public education system in Ontario seems more focused on looking good to the public than actually being the best it can be for the children. Ontario should look to Finland. They are now doing something right, but they weren't always #1 in education. In the 1970s they made a conscious systemic decision to focus on learning rather than performance.
More than anything, I want this government to get real about managing health care. Media has a key role to play in that. Like it or not, media informs our perception of reality. Media shapes how and what the public talk about. That influences government priority. And that is why balanced journalism must be protected.
If the government can take my family's cards and deny us our heritage because they do not like the cost, then they can take anyone's card, deny anyone's heritage and human rights, whenever they deem the commitment to be more than they had initially bargained for.
In re-opening NAFTA, President Trump runs the risk of falling into the same kind of black hole created by Smoot-Hawley 87 years ago. Millions of Americans eventually lost everything after having been sucked in by their government's predictions of prosperity -- much in the same way as they are being sucked in today.
On January 20, 2017, producers for the CBC program Marketplace printed t-shirts containing racist logos and mottos, including "white power" and "white pride world wide [sic]," and hired a middle-aged white man to stand on a Toronto street to peddle the t-shirts and yell racist slogans. Not only is this episode the epitome of so-called "fake news" -- fabricating a story in order to report it -- it's also deeply ironic. By broadcasting this content in Alberta, the CBC likely violated Alberta's hate speech law.