Crossfire: Canada’s Tough Trade Choices with China and the U.S.

 Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s call to ban Chinese software from vehicles, aligning with U.S. policies aimed at protecting national security, opens a debate on the economic risks of limiting trade with China. While security concerns are valid, Canada’s economic relationship with China—its second-largest trading partner—plays a role that is too

Rails and Rugged Beauty: The Wild West on the Rocky Mountaineer

 In 2008, I took the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Banff with my nine-year-old daughter. It was truly the trip of a lifetime, featuring a special Christmas excursion complete with activities for kids, like Santa appearing on a snowy hillside. Although the Rocky Mountaineer no longer runs winter trips, its
CMCH doles out bonuses despite failing to do their job

Canada’s Housing Crisis a Federal Fiasco as CMHC pay Themselves Big Bonuses

 Canada is in the grip of a housing crisis, and the federal government, along with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), is under scrutiny for its part in the debacle. With soaring home prices and dwindling affordability, many Canadians are finding themselves locked out of the housing market. Now,

Kristallnacht in Canada’s Parliament

 Antisemitism on full display in Parliament courtesy of Jagmeet Singh and the NDP-Liberal Coalition. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana In recent years, Canada has seen a troubling rise in antisemitic incidents, prompting serious concerns about the roots and perpetuation of this

Turkish Ambassador to Canada Esra Demir on the Positive Bi-lateral Relations With Canada in a Period of World Conflict

 Esra Demir assumed her duties as the 28th Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Canada on April 19, 2023, in the 80th anniversary year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Canada. For eight decades, the diplomatic ties between the two nations have been characterised by cooperative

The existential crisis in the Conservative Party

 ABOVE: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) Conservative leadership candidates Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber, Patrick Brown, Pierre Poilievre, Leslyn Lewis, and Jean Charest. There is an adage that perfectly fits the Conservative Party of Canada today, “‘Do You Want to Be Right . . . or do you want to win.” The answer to that question

Canadian think tank scolds Trudeau government for free spending ways

 C.D. Howe Institute concerned about mounting debt, calls for fiscal responsibility and economic growth In “Getting Serious: A Shadow Federal Budget for 2022,” authors William B.P. Robson, Don Drummond and Alexandre Laurin examine the federal government’s financial position and propose a change of course, from free-spending ways to fiscal responsibility

Pardis Parker — a modern-day court jester

 Officially, (like if you look him up online or google him) Pardis Parker is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian award-winning director, writer, actor, and comedian, the creator and star of Comedy Central's Mideast Minute and the co-creator of NBC's Uncivil, a writer for the New Yorker and New York Times, and

The five best MPs in the 43rd Canadian Parliament

 On election night in 2019, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals got 156 seats—14 short of the 170 needed for a majority in the 338-seat House of Commons. Canadian voters had decided that Justin Trudeau did not deserve a majority and that the Tories did not deserve to win. The total vote numbers told

The Green Party of Canada slides into irrelevance with antisemitic and racist behaviour

 I have always been fascinated by the amount of coverage the Green Party receives in the national media given that they have never lived up to their billing in terms of electoral votes or seats for more than three decades. Former Green Party leader Elizabeth May failed to bring the party success

China Explained

 Ottawa Life Magazine has been publishing a Canada-China Series since 2013. The series focuses on bi-lateral interests, business affairs, people-to-people relations, Chinese culture and the Chinese diaspora in Canada. Since 2018 there has been tension in the Canada Chinese political relationship. Ottawa Life Magazine has continued and will continue to publish

Canada’s hockey dad passes

 — Walter Gretzky was the ‘Great One’ for parents and amateur hockey coaches (PHOTO: VIA NHL.COM) Wayne Gretzky announced the passing of his father today at 82. I stopped and took a moment in my day to reflect on what a great person Walter Gretzky was and why I always had

C.D. Howe report calls for elimination of land transfer taxes on homes and other reforms

 The C.D. Howe Institute has released a study that concludes that taxes and charges on new and existing homes are a key driver of the cost and supply of affordable homes for Canadians. In “Gimme Shelter: How High Municipal Housing Charges and Taxes Decrease Housing Supply,” author Benjamin Dachis points

Canada recognizes importance of Canada-China relations on 50th anniversary

 Ottawa Life Magazine has been publishing a Canada-China Series since 2013. The series focuses on bi-lateral interests, business affairs, people-to-people relations, Chinese culture and the Chinese diaspora in Canada. Since 2018 there has been tension in the Canada Chinese political relationship. Ottawa Life Magazine has continued and will continue to publish

Carleton “Professors” cancel culture solution for Police is farcical

 Anyone following articles about the serious and systemic problems with police misconduct due to lax police oversight in Canada recognize that we need to rethink the role of police in society.  Whether it means carrying out substantive reforms around police recruitment and training or making significant amendments to the law

Ottawa Life’s 2019 Election Outlook: Orléans – What goes around comes around

 Orléans (formerly Ottawa—Orléans, Gloucester—Carleton and Carleton—Gloucester) is a federal electoral district in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. The riding was created as "Carleton—Gloucester" in 1987. Its name was changed to "Gloucester—Carleton" in 1996, but then changed back to "Carleton–Gloucester"

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: fight for the Château Laurier continues

 Ottawa Life Magazine Publisher and Managing Editor Dan Donovan provides commentary on some of the big issues of the day with a witty and at times sarcastic look at our political masters and their zany ideas. In the series' first episode, he tackles the eyesore that is the Château Laurier extension.

Meet Mario Dion – Canada’s Overpaid Political Eunuch

 From left: Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion and Ottawa West Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld Mario Dion is a career Civil Servant with an undistinguished record whose previous work was scorned by Canada’s former auditor general in 2014. He found that Dion was responsible for the “gross mismanagement” in two separate case files

The Deep State: The Trudeau government, lobbyists and the legalization of corruption in Canada

 "There's no whore like an old whore" - Brian Mulroney on the Liberal Government in 1984 What many people outside of Ottawa don't understand is that there is a parallel system of government in Ottawa. This Deep State has more power than the elected MPs and ministers who are supposed to

In Cyprus – It’s Time to Fish or Cut Bait

 A reunified Cyprus could be a windfall for all Cypriots, especially with the recent discovery of billions of dollars’ worth of natural gas reserves off the coast of Cyprus. However, due to  continued Greek intransigence, the possibility of a deal in 2019 seems remote. For the first time in decades,

For Many in Canada, Medical Wait Times Conflict With Quality of Life

 A 2017 report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) that examined patient wait times for five priority medical procedures in 2016 determined that medical wait times have nearly doubled in Canada in the last 20 years. CIHI is a non-profit group with a mandate to collect and report

The Emperor Has No Clothes  

 The NDP are in freefall. With just ten months until the next election the question for many party members is whether or not they should jettison Jagmeet Singh now and bring back Thomas Mulcair, or recruit Alberta Premier Rachel Notley as the NDP federal leader before the party walks off

A chat with Canada’s most influential union leader, Jerry Dias

 As president of Unifor — Canada's largest private-sector union — Jerry Dias has been at the forefront of the most pressing economic, social and workplace issues the past decade. He began working at de Havilland Aircraft (now Bombardier Aerospace) in 1978, becoming a steward and eventually president of Local 112. 

From Mayerthorpe to Moncton: The Unanswered Questions

 Photos by Andre Gagne MPPAC President, Louis-Philippe Thériault “Holy crap, his wife his pregnant.” This was the first thought that struck Louis-Philippe Thériault moments after hearing his friend and fellow officer Cst. David Ross had died from gunshot wounds, murdered in the line of duty by 24-year-old Justin Bourque. He’d take

Breaking News: Based On New Evidence, Group Calls for Judicial Inquiry Into Mayerthorpe

 En français The Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada (MPPAC), a Professor of Criminology from Carleton University and the Publisher and Managing Editor of Ottawa Life Magazine are calling for a judicial inquiry to review the conduct and decision making of the RCMP’s senior leadership before, during and after the