Last week, Alberta’s Energy Minister Ron Liepert was in the US to promote his province’s energy sector. During breakfast at the Penn Club in Manhattan organized by the Canadian Consulate-General, he discussed a wide array of energy-related subjects. The message he had for US foreign policy was simply that Alberta (and by extension Canada as […]
There is an important series well underway at the Vancouver Observer: “The Big Grab.” It’s about how the tar sands industry is forcing choices on Canadians that they would not otherwise have to make in the absence of all the activity in Alberta. What’s particularly important about this series, it seems to me, is that […]
The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article on a small but growing number of U.S. students applying to British universities – not as study abroad but as their home institution. The article is here. U.S. high school and transfer students are looking at colleges outside the country as the price of an American college […]
In spite of the decades of pressure coming from the United States, Canada has maintained consistently cordial relations with Cuba—in fact, Canada and Mexico were the only two countries in the hemisphere to maintain uninterrupted diplomatic relations with Cuba following the revolution in 1959. [Interesting Wikipedia fact of the week: Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre […]
The Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL) puts out two highly relevant electronic publications that readers might find helpful and interesting. One, the Chronicle on Cuba, is a monthly compilation of top news items on Cuba, collected from diverse sources. The other, FOCALPoint: Canada’s Spotlight on the Americas, is a broader look at important current issues […]
Last week Canada pledged to join the ranks of almost every other country in the world to support the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In his Throne Speech to Parliament, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated the importance of indigenous culture in Canada and the need to improve the welfare of First Nations citizens. […]
Canada keeps a much lower profile in the hemisphere than the outspoken United States; perhaps it is the simple comparison to Washington which allows it to maintain largely friendly relations with every government in the West. Still, it is interesting that Cuba’s two large northern neighbors would have such very different relationships with Havana. One […]
With the election of Andre Dawson to the Baseball Hall of Fame, I have been thinking about one way that I initially became interested in other cultures – through baseball. Let me explain: from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, Dawson played for the Montreal Expos, a major league baseball team that existed from 1969 through […]
Though there has been no announcement of a nuclear deal during Canadian Prime Minister’s (PM) visit to India this week, the two leaders expressed an intention to negotiate one in the near future. Prime Minister Harper said that the two countries have a “prosperous civilian nuclear future” ahead of them. The Indian PM also expressed […]
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave an emotional apology on Sunday to the victims of a largely forgotten chapter of Western history. Addressing a crowd of about 1000 former child migrants, Rudd issued a national apology for the mistreatment they received from the government when they had been promised a new chance and a new […]
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with his Indian counterpart next week to help boost Indo-Canadian relations that have been “cool” for more than three decades. Relations between the two countries declined after India indirectly used Canadian nuclear technology for its first nuclear tests in 1974. Thereafter it has build six Pressurized Heavy Water […]
As a side project to my day job, I’ve been exploring the world of Canadian public policy. Given the opportunity to participate in a very smart program for non-profits called the Max Bell Public Policy Institute – I’ve been opening my eyes ( & brain) to the world of social enterprise and public policy. In […]
Looks like this year Qaddafi will be the center of attention at the UN. While Ahmadinejad’s speech had some classic “blame West” moments, it just did not match the diatribes found in Qaddafi’s speech (For more on Qaddafi’s speech, check out the Foreign Policy Association’s Human Rights Blog). Ahmadinejad’s speech was more subdued, but that […]
A few items of note to discuss: Just as I was applauding the seemingly positive news of the fact that Spain was planning to commit a few hundred more troops to the NATO effort in Afghanistan, President Stephen Harper of Canada’s spokesman Dimitri Soudas reiterated in a briefing Monday that Canada will withdraw its troops […]