Incoming Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has confirmed her partyt’s intention to raise the minimum wage in the province to $15/hr. Like many things this sounds good but in fact isn’t,…
Read More
In today’s Globe column I weigh in on the issue of whether balanced budget legislation is worth while or not. My view is that the history of parliamentary democracy is…
My latest musings for the Globe/ROB’s Economy Lab revolves around the context and significance of the year’s most important budget: Quebec’s. After years of failed attempts, the new Liberal government…
The Tories are often rightly criticised for ignoring inconvenient expert advice and knowledge in pursuit of their political objectives. This is decried by the opposition as crass pandering to the…
The critics of judicial activism tend to focus on the Supreme Court (SCC) and its individual decisions. I think that’s a mistake. There are systemic forces at work undermining the…
As the Koch brothers and their friends publicly contemplate spending nearly $1bn in the 2016 US election cycle (about the cost of a major presidential campaign) to reward their political…
Two soldiers dead within a week, killed by lone wolves professing to be inspired by jihadist Islamism. Many Canadians are stunned that other Canadians, people born and raised in Canada,…
How the tune has changed! Not so long ago, the federal government’s defence critics were decrying its unjustified hawkishness in a demonstrably ever more peaceful world. Now the criticism is…
In my column this week for the Globe’s Economy Lab (in the ROB) I talk about the political, economic and moral consequences of secession votes under poorly designed rules as…
The news that the Senate is about to follow the Commons in allowing television (a mere 37 years later — that’s sober second thought for you!) brought back memories of…