Tag: Public Policy
National Treasure #165: Elizabeth English
Find out why this American architect is a Canadian National Treasure.
Just Asking
Our distress around sex-selection abortion indicates that the slogans don’t capture all that we think or feel on this public policy issue. That realization leads to some difficult questions. The week before last, a CBC producer, reporter and stealth technical crew broke a story about private ultrasound clinics advising …
By the Numbers
Looking at Canada’s recent immigration numbers churns up practical questions about how things are going. We can’t be afraid to ask. Growing up in Calgary in the 1960s, I knew what everyone knew: Edmonton was more cosmopolitan. Calgary had more Americans, courtesy of the oil business; Edmonton had more …
And Justice for All
Wondering what “justice” means in our judicial system, in the context of “justice for the victim’s family.” Angela B. Corey, State Attorney in Florida and special prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin shooting case, wants justice for Trayvon and his “sweet parents”. I claim no special access to the mind …
A Great Idea
Sharing information and viewpoints on complex public policy issues will almost certainly reduce disagreements; and just as certainly not eliminate them. Being in the desert isn’t all about hiking and birdwatching. Some of it is about being in a place that can feel like, well, a different country altogether. …
Physics & the Presumption of Innocence
The case was notorious, although it never came to trial. Not that it mattered—the facts alleged by the Crown were so inflammatory and so widely believed that it would have been impossible to find a fair jury. Even so, the alleged perpetrator was as good as convicted—thought by all to …
The Worst Approach to Politics
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from …
The Role of Principles in Public Policy
In a TV interview released in two parts (on 17 and 18 January), Prime Minister Harper said that he thinks capital punishment is justified in some cases, but that he has committed to not introducing this issue in the next Parliament. On abortion, he said that he tells people in …