A woman gets back into her flooded car on the Toronto Indy course on Lakeshore Boulevard in Toronto on July 8, 2013. Housing developers are building housing on known flood plains in cities around the world.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Cities around the world, including Toronto, are building housing on flood plains knowing the risks in the era of climate change. Here’s why that will contribute to growing inequality in our cities.
In this November 2017 photo, unemployed Dave Cherkewski discusses how he was helped by Ontario’s basic income pilot project.
(AP Photo/Rob Gillies)
The cancellation of Ontario’s basic income pilot not only violates our ethical obligations to participants. It also means forfeiting a valuable research opportunity on income security.
Khalid Al-Falih Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, has said the diplomatic dispute won’t affect oil exports to Canada.
(AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)
Saudi Arabia has said it won’t curb the flow of oil to Canada, but the Maritimes should think more seriously about replacing the Saudi supply with crude from more trusted sources.
Women were only just granted permission to drive in Saudi Arabia, a kingdom with an atrocious human rights record. Canada can and should leverage its ongoing spat with the country to advocate for human rights across the Middle East.
(AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
The Saudi-Canadian row offers Canada an opportunity to adopt a new Middle East policy based on universal human rights that address the needs of the many and contributes to regional stability.
A statue of John A. Macdonald in Montreal has been repeatedly vandalized with red paint to symbolize blood. As the debate continues about removing statues, what specific actions are needed to promote reconciliation?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Removing statues of historical figures may be important symbolic statements when it comes to reconciliation, but action on important Indigenous issues like land claims and education are needed more.
U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence speaks about the creation of a United States Space Force on Aug. 9, 2018 at the Pentagon.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Could Canadian technology play a part in the newly announced U.S. Space Force? A team at McMaster University has developed an instrument that could keep Space Force troops safe from radiation.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford arrives for the buck-a-beer plan announcement at Barley Days brewery in Picton, Ont., on Aug. 7, 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is loosening the province’s liquor laws. Before dismantling a system, it’s a good idea to know why it was established in the first place.
The leaders of the 18 Asia-Pacific economies pose for a family photo in Vancouver in 1997. Indonesia’s Suharto is sixth from the left. Protests against human rights violations were kept hidden from Suharto during the summit.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Canada’s clashes with Indonesia in the 1990s over human rights abuses contain lessons for the current Canadian-Saudi Arabian diplomatic dispute.
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen weaves a traditional cotton scarf In Phnom Penh in June. He won the recent Cambodia election in a landslide after literally rigging the vote by banning the main opposition party, among other tricks.
(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
The re-election of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen contributes to the growing global democratic crisis. Here’s why.
In this 2015 photo, Ensaf Haidar, wife of the jailed Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, shows a portrait of her husband in France. The arrest of Badawi’s sister is at the heart of a diplomatic spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia that will significantly affect trade between the two countries.
(AP Photo/Christian Lutz)
The diplomatic spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia could have serious economic ramifications as well. When diplomatic ties are cut, research shows trade suffers significantly.
The decision by the city of Victoria to take down a statue of John A. Macdonald has renewed debate about how historical figures should be remembered. This photo from 2015, taken at Wilfrid Laurier University, shows people protesting Macdonald’s treatment of Métis and First Nations during his time as Canada’s first prime minister.
Denia Anderson
Should statues of historical figures be removed or replaced? That debate has been rekindled in Canada after Victoria took down a statue of John A. Macdonald, the country’s first prime minister.
Kids teething? Back in 1885, Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, containing morphine, was close at hand and earned the nickname the “baby killer.” Concerns about the dangers of readily available medications played a big role in how Canada’s drug laws evolved.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine
Canadian drug policy began to take shape well before anti-immigration attacks on Chinese establishments in 1908. Drugs like opium and coke were causing grave public health concerns.
There’s a hue and cry about Doug Ford’s scrapping of Ontario’s basic income project. But the project was a failing experiment with a dearth of high-quality data.
Flickr
Ontario’s basic income project was deeply flawed and cursed by a lack of quality data. It needs a major overhaul.
Density is an idea sold to us by corporate developers who want to build on every last bit of green space. To fully enjoy our city now and for the future, we need more public green space.
As Toronto hurtles towards its population dense future, the making of significant green communities for its waterfront needs to be urgently considered.
Ensaf Haidar stands next to a poster of her husband, jailed blogger Raif Badawi, in Montreal in June 2015. The arrest of Badawi’s sister, Samar, is at the centre of a bitter spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
A recent ruling in an Ontario court fails to consider law governing the use of embryos.
The son of a cognac maker, Jean Monnet became a champion of a unified Europe after finding inspiration for a harmonious federalist model in Canada.
Fondation Jean Monnet
In the early 1900s, young Frenchman Jean Monnet travelled Canada and was inspired by its unique form of federalism. It helped fuel his interest in a unified Europe and a transatlantic community.
Far from a knee-jerk reaction to Toronto’s recent mass shooting, fresh calls for tougher gun control laws have a long history in Canada. A man places his hand on his handgun in B.C. in 2014 during the International Practical Shooting Confederation Canada national championships.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Calls to outlaw handguns in Canada are hardly knee-jerk proposals in response to violent incidents. Instead, they’re in line with the historic Canadian trend to limit the presence of modern pistols.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets supporters in Iowa in July 2018. Why do so many people still support Trump amid a slew of scandals and demonstrably false statements?
(Eileen Meslar/Telegraph Herald via AP)
Experts wonder why Donald Trump remains so popular despite his eyebrow-raising statements. The answer may lie in the way he tells stories.
Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s minister of children, community and social services, announces an end to the province’s basic income pilot project on July 31, 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Research shows that guaranteed basic income programs spur economies and improve mental and physical health. That’s why Ontario’s decision to scrap the province’s pilot project is such a bad idea.
Ephraim Escudero’s child holds a photo near by his memorial. The father of two was murdered in the brutal drug war of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.
Sheerah Escudero
From the war on drugs to a crackdown on human rights and environmental activists, life for Filipinos is increasingly nightmarish.
In this July 2018 photo, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are seen at a news conference after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Vladimir Putin may well have something on Donald Trump. But their close ties could also be about oil prices and Trump’s efforts to get Russia to ends it alliance with China.
Activists stage a demonstration against the so-called CETA trade deal outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, in February 2017.
(AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)Special Instruction
An imminent court ruling by the European Union will decide the future of the economic partnership between Canada and the EU. It has broader implications for multilateralism in international trade.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford makes an announcement at Queen’s Park on Friday, July 27, 2018 about significantly reducing the number of Toronto city councillors just months before the fall municipal election.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Doug Ford is invoking the province’s broad powers over municipalities in a manner that tramples on fundamental principles of fairness, reasonable notice and the right to effective representation.
President Donald Trump delivers a lot of information through Twitter. Here he speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, March 2018.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
