Northern Reflections: Sabotaging Environment Canada

Minister of the Environment Leona Aglukkaq recently released a report setting forth her ministry’s priorities. They are: “conservation and restoration of landscapes, water and wildlife; information on changing weather patterns and minimizing threats from pollution.” These priorities are supposedly part of an overall plan to provide “a clean, safe and

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Northern Reflections: The Worst In History?

When historians eventually get around to rendering judgement on the Harper Government, they will point to many things. They will certainly cite the gutting of Statistics Canada. Jeffrey Simpson writes: In the summer of 2010, more than 200 institutions and individuals asked Stephen Harper’s government not to eliminate the long-form

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Northern Reflections: Leaving Them Behind

When Stephen Harper was the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Mitrovica writes, he sought out journalists: He courted press coverage enthusiastically. (There’s a word commonly used in Ottawa to describe politicians who hunger for media attention as shamelessly as Harper once did; I’m guessing I can’t get away with using

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Northern Reflections: What Leaders Read

Earlier this week, Angela Merkel worried that Vladimir Putin was living “in another world.” Leonoid Bershidsky writes that Putin does indeed inhabit another world — not because he’s crazy, but because he has read different books than those we have read: Maria Snegovaya, a graduate student at Columbia University, provides

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Northern Reflections: No Solutions

Jeffrey Simpson writes that, in what used to be called “The White Commonwealth,” Margaret Thatcher’s children are in charge: Mrs. Thatcher’s children, intellectually speaking, are prime ministers in four countries: Tony Abbott in Australia, Stephen Harper in Canada, David Cameron in Britain and John Key in New Zealand. They are

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Northern Reflections: Under The Bus

Andrew Coyne writes that there is a distinct difference between conservatives and Conservatives. That difference was on display at this weekend’s Manning Conference: The Conservative party is supposed to be conservative. If the Manning conference has gotten more overtly partisan over the years, it may be because the party has

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Northern Reflections: Me And Thee

This week, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation handed out its Golden Pig Awards for profligate public spending. And — world of  wonders — Jason Kenney’s ministry, Employment and Social Development Canada, copped a pig. How was that possible? After all, Michael Harris writes, Stephen Harper has a long and distinguished record

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