From: Blake C. Goldring To: Defence watchers Date: June 15, 2026 Re: Pulling Together to Meet Canada’s New Moment In 1939, Canada was not an industrial power. Its 10,000-man military was threadbare, its procurement system buried in red tape, and its capital markets had no framework for financing national security. Then C.D. Howe took charge. Within a […]
To: ‘Nation Building’ observers From: George Vegh and Kate Koplovich Date: June 12, 2026 Re: Proposed Major Project Regulatory Changes a Good Step, but Work Remains It seems the federal government is intent on sidestepping its own major project processes set up just a year ago. Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act, received royal assent just last year, to “urgently advance projects throughout Canada… through an accelerated process that enhances regulatory certainty and investor confidence.” A discussion paper released early last […]
To: ‘Nation Building’ observers From: George Vegh and Kate Koplovich Date: June 11, 2026 Re: The Building Canada Act Won’t Actually Build Anything in Canada The number of oil and gas projects in Ottawa’s major project inventory has fallen by 76 percent from its 2017 peak. This demonstrates a sustained erosion of investment confidence in Canada’s energy sector over the better part of a decade. To spur investment in natural resources, mining and electricity, […]
From: Harvey Naglie To: AI watchers Date: June 10, 2026 Re: Executing AI for All: How to Get a Capability-Raising Result Last week, Ottawa launched AI for All, a five-year national artificial-intelligence strategy built on six pillars and three stated aims: Trust, opportunity, and sovereignty. AI will add close to $200 billion in economic growth, the government projects, create up to 250,000 AI-related jobs, and raise business AI adoption from roughly […]
Published in The Hill Times. In 1939, Canada was not an industrial power. Its 10,000-man military was threadbare, its procurement system buried in red tape, and its capital markets had no framework for financing national security. Then C.D. Howe took charge. Within a few years, Canada had become the fourth-largest producer of allied war materials, […]
To: Natural disaster watchers From: Thorsten Koeppl Date: June 03, 2026 Re: How Canada Can Prepare Before Disaster Strikes Canada’s natural disasters are becoming both more frequent and more expensive. Last summer it was widespread wildfires; this spring, it is extensive Prairie flooding. And looming in the background are major earthquake risks in two heavily populated areas: British Columbia’s Cascadia fault line and Quebec’s Charlevoix region. Climate catastrophes on this scale could overwhelm the capital and reserves of Canada’s property and casualty insurance sector – forcing government intervention and leaving taxpayers […]
From: Glen Hodgson and Colin Busby To: Canadian economy observers Date: May 19, 2026 Re: Canada’s Tariff Problem Made in Canada Canada is furious about Donald Trump’s tariffs – and rightly so. But while Ottawa and the premiers have spent months railing against American protectionism, they have had a hard time addressing a more embarrassing truth: Canadian governments have been imposing figurative “tariffs” on ourselves for decades. They’re called internal trade barriers and fixing them is entirely within our control if we choose to act. The […]
To: ‘Nation Building’ observers From: Kate Koplovich, Alexandre Laurin and Colin Busby Date: May 14, 2026 Re: The New Sovereign Wealth Fund: So Much Money, So Many Questions Ottawa is pitching Canada’s “first” national sovereign wealth fund as a way to give every Canadian “a stake and the opportunity to benefit” from nation-building projects. The plan? Borrow $25 billion to capitalize the fund, which aims to […]
Published in The Hill Times. Having finally reached the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s old two per cent target of GDP defence spending in early 2026, Canada now faces a far steeper, and more critical climb: raising that share to five per cent by 2035. Meeting this new goalpost—and boosting military capabilities in an increasingly insecure […]
From: David Jones and Tasnim FarihaTo: Major project watchersDate: April 9, 2026 Re: A Better Way to Assess Major Projects Canada stands at a defining moment for its economic future. For years, weak productivity growth and chronic delays in building major infrastructure have held back the country’s economic performance. Projects have stalled in regulatory limbo, hindering […]
Published in The Hill Times. Canada stands at a defining moment for its economic future. For years, weak productivity growth and chronic delays in building major infrastructure have eroded the country’s economic performance. Projects have stalled in regulatory limbo, drying up investment in the face of uncertainty, and as a result, Canada’s competitiveness has slipped. And […]
by Colin Busby and Nicholas Dahir Canada’s NATO commitment to raise defence spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035 will prompt a reshaping of federal finances. Defence spending will approach $150 billion by 2034/35, roughly triple current levels, and rival the annual amount of major transfers to provinces. Under the status quo, higher defence […]
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From: Blake C. Goldring To: Defence watchers Date: June 15, 2026 Re: Pulling Together to Meet Canada’s New Moment In 1939, Canada was not an industrial power. Its 10,000-man military was threadbare, its procurement system buried in red tape, and its capital markets had no framework for financing national security. Then C.D. Howe took charge. Within a […] 
To: ‘Nation Building’ observers From: George Vegh and Kate Koplovich Date: June 12, 2026 Re: Proposed Major Project Regulatory Changes a Good Step, but Work Remains It seems the federal government is intent on sidestepping its own major project processes set up just a year ago. Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act, received royal assent just last year, to “urgently advance projects throughout Canada… through an accelerated process that enhances regulatory certainty and investor confidence.” A discussion paper released early last […] 
To: ‘Nation Building’ observers From: George Vegh and Kate Koplovich Date: June 11, 2026 Re: The Building Canada Act Won’t Actually Build Anything in Canada The number of oil and gas projects in Ottawa’s major project inventory has fallen by 76 percent from its 2017 peak. This demonstrates a sustained erosion of investment confidence in Canada’s energy sector over the better part of a decade. To spur investment in natural resources, mining and electricity, […] 
From: Harvey Naglie To: AI watchers Date: June 10, 2026 Re: Executing AI for All: How to Get a Capability-Raising Result Last week, Ottawa launched AI for All, a five-year national artificial-intelligence strategy built on six pillars and three stated aims: Trust, opportunity, and sovereignty. AI will add close to $200 billion in economic growth, the government projects, create up to 250,000 AI-related jobs, and raise business AI adoption from roughly […] 
Published in The Hill Times. In 1939, Canada was not an industrial power. Its 10,000-man military was threadbare, its procurement system buried in red tape, and its capital markets had no framework for financing national security. Then C.D. Howe took charge. Within a few years, Canada had become the fourth-largest producer of allied war materials, […] 
To: Natural disaster watchers From: Thorsten Koeppl Date: June 03, 2026 Re: How Canada Can Prepare Before Disaster Strikes Canada’s natural disasters are becoming both more frequent and more expensive. Last summer it was widespread wildfires; this spring, it is extensive Prairie flooding. And looming in the background are major earthquake risks in two heavily populated areas: British Columbia’s Cascadia fault line and Quebec’s Charlevoix region. Climate catastrophes on this scale could overwhelm the capital and reserves of Canada’s property and casualty insurance sector – forcing government intervention and leaving taxpayers […] 
From: Glen Hodgson and Colin Busby To: Canadian economy observers Date: May 19, 2026 Re: Canada’s Tariff Problem Made in Canada Canada is furious about Donald Trump’s tariffs – and rightly so. But while Ottawa and the premiers have spent months railing against American protectionism, they have had a hard time addressing a more embarrassing truth: Canadian governments have been imposing figurative “tariffs” on ourselves for decades. They’re called internal trade barriers and fixing them is entirely within our control if we choose to act. The […] 
To: ‘Nation Building’ observers From: Kate Koplovich, Alexandre Laurin and Colin Busby Date: May 14, 2026 Re: The New Sovereign Wealth Fund: So Much Money, So Many Questions Ottawa is pitching Canada’s “first” national sovereign wealth fund as a way to give every Canadian “a stake and the opportunity to benefit” from nation-building projects. The plan? Borrow $25 billion to capitalize the fund, which aims to […] 
Published in The Hill Times. Having finally reached the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s old two per cent target of GDP defence spending in early 2026, Canada now faces a far steeper, and more critical climb: raising that share to five per cent by 2035. Meeting this new goalpost—and boosting military capabilities in an increasingly insecure […] 
From: David Jones and Tasnim FarihaTo: Major project watchersDate: April 9, 2026 Re: A Better Way to Assess Major Projects Canada stands at a defining moment for its economic future. For years, weak productivity growth and chronic delays in building major infrastructure have held back the country’s economic performance. Projects have stalled in regulatory limbo, hindering […] 
Published in The Hill Times. Canada stands at a defining moment for its economic future. For years, weak productivity growth and chronic delays in building major infrastructure have eroded the country’s economic performance. Projects have stalled in regulatory limbo, drying up investment in the face of uncertainty, and as a result, Canada’s competitiveness has slipped. And […] 
by Colin Busby and Nicholas Dahir Canada’s NATO commitment to raise defence spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035 will prompt a reshaping of federal finances. Defence spending will approach $150 billion by 2034/35, roughly triple current levels, and rival the annual amount of major transfers to provinces. Under the status quo, higher defence […]