16 Feb, 2013 | By Senator Grant Mitchell | The tumultuous approval processes for the Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines highlight two glaring problems with the federal government’s approach to energy policy.
30 Jan, 2013 | By Senator Percy Downe | It has become accepted economic wisdom in Ottawa, spoken with great certainty by government officials, that the signing of numerous free trade deals is the best avenue to ensure we continue to enjoy prosperity in Canada. On that continuing initiative, the Senate recently passed the Canada Panama Free Trade Agreement, the latest in a series of such agreements that the Harper Government has signed with minor trading partners.
25 Nov, 2012 | By Senator Colin Kenny | Aug. 25, 2010 looked like it was going to be a special day in the history of Canada's North - as well as the history of Canadian sovereignty and security.
19 Nov, 2012 | By Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette | On October 23, 2012, the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans tabled a report recommending the removal of grey seals in order to aid the recovery of cod and other groundfish stocks.
19 Nov, 2012 | By Senator Colin Kenny | Here's the scene: You're playing one of those military strategy games. The country you are charged with protecting has cold winters, borders on a superpower and is extremely dependent on exports for its economic well-being. It has huge coastlines to the east and west, an expanse of land, ice and water to the far north, and that aforementioned superpower glowering at you from the south because the folks there don't think you're doing much to defend the continent you share.
12 Nov, 2012 | By Senator Jim Munson | It’s almost 10 years since my eyes were first opened to autism and its daunting human and social implications. As I walked up to Parliament Hill one morning, I ran into a man peacefully protesting in front of the Centennial Flame. He and his wife had the heavy burden of caring for an autistic child, a son who could not even make eye contact with them. The boy was isolated as a result of his symptoms, and so too were they. The emotional and financial weight was too much.
8 Nov, 2012 | By Senator Jane Cordy and MP Kirsty Duncan | This past Thursday, the Social Affairs, Science and Technology (SAST) committee held its third hearing on Senator Jane Cordy's Bill S-204. The bill calls for a national strategy for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Duncan previously sponsored the same bill, Bill C-280, in the House of Commons.
8 Nov, 2012 | By Senator Colin Kenny | No matter how elated - or despondent - Canadians might be about the results of the U.S. presidential election, every one of them should take a moment to cheer the results of a sideshow ballot in Michigan.
12 Oct, 2012 | By Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette | The proposed buyout of Nexen Inc., a Canadian oil and gas company who has been discovering and developing energy resources in some of the world’s most significant basins – including Western Canada, the UK North Sea, offshore West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico – has been causing quite the commotion amongst politicians and the public.
11 Oct, 2012 | By Senator Percy Downe | In recent years, revelations about wealthy individuals with fortunes in secret tax havens have sparked a flurry of activity throughout the world as governments attempt to recover the money owed their treasuries and bring those responsible to justice.
8 Oct, 2012 | By Senator Jane Cordy | Nearly 75,000 Canadians live with the progressively debilitating disease multiple sclerosis with another 1,000 Canadians diagnosed each year. Canada’s prevalence rate of MS is among the highest in the developed world.
25 Sep, 2012 | By Senator Art Eggleton | The Canadian-inspired UN initiative known as the Responsibility to Protect doctrine (R2P) has been hotly debated across the globe recently, in response to conflicts in Libya, Syria and other parts of the Middle East. R2P asserts that if a government is unwilling or unable to protect its citizens from horrific human rights abuses — genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities — then the international community must take action to protect innocent civilians.
27 Jul, 2012 | By Senator Mobina Jaffer | This Friday the world will come together and celebrate the much-anticipated London 2012 Olympic Games. Every two years, over 10,000 athletes representing over 204 countries come together and share one flag, a flag that features five rings, one for each continent represented at the games.
12 Jul, 2012 | By Senator Jane Cordy | The Interim Federal Health Program provided temporary health-care coverage to eligible protected persons, refugee claimants and others who do not qualify for provincial or territorial health care plans. However, this all came to an end as of June 30.
11 Jul, 2012 | By Senator Percy Downe | What was the rush in passing the Canada-Jordan Free Trade Agreement? After all, it was only received in the Senate in mid June. The House of Commons had the agreement and its predecessor for over 14 months, they held 12 committee hearings and heard from over 40 witnesses. The Senate held one meeting and heard from only seven witnesses.