One Canada for All Canadians (August 2015)
One Canada is a Canada where we grow our economy and jobs, and where unemployed Canadians have access to support and training, because the best social and economic policy is Read more →
Category: Blog
Reform or Abolish the Senate? The Choice Should Be Ours (June 2015)
The latest depressing revelations about the Senate make it clear that the institution cannot continue in its present form. The vast majority of Canadians now agree that reform or abolition Read more →
Canada Interrupted: From ‘We The Premiers’ To ‘We The People’. Time Overdue To Bring Our Constitution And Our Federation Into The 21st Century (January 2015)
(Notes for remarks to the POL 3570A students, University of Ottawa – January 26, 2015) When Professor Gaspard asked me to speak to your seminar and address issues related to Read more →
Why we must demand more of politicians – and ourselves (January 2015)
2015 is an important year for Canadians. Sometime before the end of the year we will have a general election to elect a new Parliament and Government of Canada. Yet, Read more →
Why political party nomination processes require serious reform (November 2014)
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc – President Bartlett, West Wing It is what it is, except that it isn’t – Bill Murray, St. Vincent For too long nomination contests Read more →
Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection System Needs a Comprehensive Overhaul (July 2014)
Notes for remarks to the Rotary Club of West Ottawa When I settled on today’s topic – my experience on Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board, spanning some seven-plus years from Read more →
Practical Policy Can Trump Partisan Pettiness (February 2014)
Can anyone really be surprised by the news that the Conservative Party war room is consumed with developing a detailed plan to disrupt this month’s federal Liberal policy convention in Read more →
How to Beat Stephen Harper’s Cynical Election Playbook (January 2014)
We face two critical challenges in Canadian national politics today. First, how do we restore genuine democracy and persuade the 40 per cent of Canadians who sat out the vote Read more →
Trust Constitutional Reform to the People (November 2013)
It is time for Canadians to say enough with the moans and groans from our political leaders and the chattering classes about the dangers of constitutional change and a scary Read more →
Five Steps to Restoring Canada’s Representative Democracy (October 2013)
What is at the root of the tawdry Senate scandal that is sucking the oxygen out of what is left of Parliament? It is not the illegal expense claims and Read more →
It’s Time to Hit the Reset Switch on National Politics (September 2013)
Social networks’ participatory power and our unfettered access to data is transforming politics – and democracy itself. Political influence is shifting away from brokers and elites, and back to the Read more →
How the Debate Over Quebec’s Secular Charter can be a Springboard to a More Unified Canada (September 2013)
The proposed Charter of Quebec Values is rightly criticized both inside and outside Quebec as a cynical ploy by a weak sovereigntist government to create an issue that may help Read more →
Thinking Beyond the Horizon: Governing as if the People and the Future Matter (July 2013)
As the summer of 2013 accumulates tragedies and sorrows that affect so many Canadians – from the flooding in Alberta to the rail tragedy in Lac Mégantic – instant accusations Read more →