Huge advances in artificial intelligence are both thrilling and terrifying people all over the world. As a result, for the past 14 months, Canada has had its first ever minister responsible for AI: Evan Solomon, a former journalist, now rookie MP for Toronto Centre. His mission seems monumental. Steve Paikin: Since you are the first MP to…
After four years as the president and vice-chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto, Dr. Rhonda McEwen is taking on the same position at the University of Victoria, B.C.
There aren’t many Canadian politicians who have had more experience dealing with the United States than former deputy prime minister John Manley. Whether it was as minister of finance, foreign affairs, or industry, Manley was always trying to find constructive partnerships south of the border. After 9/11, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien put him in charge…
There have been gay judges in Canada since our justice system formed. But they were hidden deep in the closet, convinced that if their sexual orientation were ever discovered, their careers would be over. That ended in 1995, when Hamiltonian Harvey Brownstone was appointed to the bench by the NDP government, making him the first…
Mark Carney has the power to stop the Billy Bishop expansion. Now, long-time Liberal Greg Sorbara is calling on him to ‘do the right thing’.
Few Canadians have had a more fascinating career than Frank McKenna. His life started in poverty 78 years ago in New Brunswick as one of eight kids — so many that the family was too big for one home; McKenna went to live with his grandparents. Eventually, he became premier of New Brunswick (winning every…
Karim Bardeesy used to hang out in some pretty lofty places in politics. He was a top policy adviser for Premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne, an “inside” job that seemed to suit his bookish, introverted personality. But he surprised many when he decided to run in the 2022 Ontario election. He lost that time,…
Is there a police chief anywhere in Canada who’s had as rough a ride over the past decade as Peter Sloly? Sloly was the chief in Ottawa when, four years ago, a trucker convoy occupied his city for three weeks. Sloly got enmeshed in a complicated stew of politics, which ultimately cost him his job….
(Here’s a sneak peek of my The Toronto Star column, which will appear in the paper this Saturday). More than 20 years ago, David Frum co-wrote a book called “An End to Evil,” in which he explicitly called for regime change in Iran. So, that felt like a good place to start my conversation with…
Much of the world is still trying to figure out what the consequences will be from Mark Carney’s speech in Davos, Switzerland. The prime minister won plaudits for daring to call out the behaviour of the world’s superpowers, particularly, President Donald Trump and the United States, although in neither case, by name. Janice Stein, the…
Margaret MacMillan is one of Canada’s greatest historians. She’s taught at the University of Toronto and at Oxford, has written a dozen books, and was even sanctioned by Russia, a country she’d like to visit but now can’t. She is also unhappy to report that this moment in history reminds her of some of the…
For the first time since 1978, when he was first elected to Parliament, Bob Rae now finds himself without a so-called “important job.” His term as Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations just ended. Now, Ontario’s 21st premier and former interim leader of the federal Liberals is just Citizen Bob. Let’s deal right away with the United…