As a conservative, it pains me that we aren’t learning from our mistakes Paul Brown Contributed to the Globe and Mail Published February 6, 2022 Paul Brown is a former chief of staff in Brian Mulroney’s government and has worked on numerous provincial and federal Conservative campaigns. He is a principal at Campbell Strategies. I was […]
Choosing a cabinet is one of the hardest tasks that faces any Prime Minister. One early Canadian Prime Minister facing the inevitable second guessing about (his) choices lamented: “Give me better wood and I will make you a better cabinet.” (Source: parli.ca) The point in dredging up this old saw is not to criticize any particular […]
We have previously flagged the growing threat of private digital currencies to official (paper) currency. In a recent speech the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada confirmed that the Bank is accelerating its consideration of the role and form of an official digital currency. This is the result of the declining use of cash during the […]
The Liberals are back in the House of Commons, at least for the next few days. Yesterday, a rag tag group of socially distant Liberal MPs (and a few opposition ones as well), honoured Parliamentary tradition and trudged across Wellington Street in Ottawa to stand like supplicants at the back of the Senate Chamber. There, […]
The resignation of a finance minister is no small matter. For an opposition party, bringing down a finance minister is the equivalent of bagging big game (in the political jungle). For a government, losing a finance minister (because of a rupture in the relationship with a prime minister or over policy disagreements) is a huge […]
Canada is definitely not fully open for business “until the economy recovers from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.” In a terse announcement in the middle of this past weekend, the Investment Review Division of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada moved to protect from foreign takeovers, businesses: “related to public health or involved in the supply […]
In this thoughtful piece below, Campbell Strategies business associate, Steven Bright, urges us to start to think now about post COVID-19 economic and social reconstruction. The last time Canada faced a similar challenge and opportunity was in the aftermath of World War II. We have to think about the future before we get there and […]
The federal government has made several new announcements and amendments to its direct support program for businesses and to support the retention of employees. The links below outline all of the initiatives announced to date. Please note that these programs are constantly being refined: Department of Finance https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan.html Bank of Canada https://www.bankofcanada.ca/markets/market-operations-liquidity-provision/covid-19-actions-support-economy-financial-system/ OSFI https://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/Eng/Pages/COVID-19.aspx If […]
When crisis comes, the traditional communications tools of politics will backfire A time of crisis is no time for partisanship. It’s a fool’s errand that will only reduce one’s political capital as quickly as a compulsive gambler at the craps table. In both cases, the game is fixed. When it comes to winning, pandemics have […]
Canada is definitely not fully open for business “until the economy recovers from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.” In a terse announcement in the middle of this past weekend, the Investment Review Division of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada moved to protect from foreign takeovers, businesses: “related to public health or involved in the […]