Published in the Toronto Star.
It is critical for Canadians to have a conversation now about the prospect of a second Trump presidency. While the decisions of any U.S. president reverberate in Canada, Trump’s world view and governing style could wreak havoc on our politics and economy.
We have three major concerns for Canada with a Trump presidency as we outlined in the latest Regent Debate hosted by the C.D. Howe Institute: Damage to the Canadian economy, geopolitical security and a sinister, insidious deterioration of our discourse and democracy.
Conrad Black and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie argued the other side in the debate — that a Trump return was an opportunity for Canada — and it was a…
Published in the Financial Post
Pierre Poilievre has a slogan for fixing the budget: “pay as you go.” Though less catchy than “axe the tax,” it’s more likely to make Canadians better off. The Conservatives are pledging to balance the budget by reining in spending. A pay-as-you-go law would require new spending to be offset by reductions in existing spending.
Details of the spending cuts and the pay-as-you-go law are promised for the election campaign. Here’s some unsolicited advice on what the platform should say.
To begin with, a pay-as-you go law presupposes the existence of a cap on spending that would force new initiatives to be funded through reallocations. As I discuss in a recent C.D. Howe Institute paper, this…
Lawrence Herman - Behold dairy lobby’s power, as Bloc holds Liberals hostage over supply management
Published in the Globe and Mail.
There’s something wrong when a narrow interest group can dominate Canadian trade policy. That’s exactly what has happened in the case of the dairy industry, pushing its protectionist agenda on Canadians, not only in getting an ill-considered and self-serving piece of legislation to sail through the House of Commons but in having the Bloc Québécois make final enactment of Bill C-282 a red line for supporting the minority Trudeau government.
Bill C-282 is a Bloc private member’s bill that would exempt the supply managed dairy sector (as well as poultry and eggs) from all future trade negotiations. Even though the bill has already passed the House and is now in the Senate, Bloc Leader Yves-…
