The Two Solitudes Make a Comeback

Is Quebec’s province-wide embrace of the NDP just more evidence that the two solitudes are as alienated from each as ever, or merely a fluke? Brendan Steven worries that language issues and the Quebec vs. the Rest of Canada divide will play a more prominent role in the next few years of Canadian politics.

The Rise of the NDP or the Confusing Heritage of the Quiet Revolution?

With opinions polls indicating that on many policy issues Quebecers have conservative stances, the best way to explain the election of 59 MPs for the NDP is to consider how confused voters are because of the politically correct discourse that has dominated the history of province.

Q&A with Joanne Marcotte

c2c’s Joseph Quesnel interviews Joanne Marcotte, a pioneer in Quebec’s freedom movement, a co-founder of the Réseau Liberté Québec and author of the recently-released Pour en finir avec le governemama

The Future of Free Trade in Québec

Support for free trade has tended to be high in Quebec: federalists supported it for economic reasons and sovereignists because it would allow the province to be less economically dependent on the rest of Canada. Will this change with the rise of the NDP? Bradley Doucet and Jasmin Guénette believe it could…

Beware the CAQ: How the “efficient” left might eliminate Québec’s only right-of-centre party

The Quebec conservative scene has been shaken-up by the emergence of a new political movement -- and now official political party -- called the Coalition pour l'avenir du Québec (CAQ). Paul Beaudry argues that despite media spin, the coalition is not to be considered "conservative" in any sense of the word, and that the right-of-centre Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) should rebuff attempts at a merger.

Indecent Disclosure: Why are unions not required to be transparent?

Federal law requires significant transparency and accountability of public companies and charities. Niels Veldhuis and Amela Karabegovic ask why unions get a free pass on transparency…

A European Memorandum to the Harper Conservatives: You have friends on this side of the Atlantic

A European Memorandum to the Harper Conservatives: You have friends on this side of the Atlantic. Kostas Sasmatzoglou explains from Brussels…

Advice for the Conservatives: Watch out for the Sloth

Ottawa Sun columnist and broadcaster John Robson has a few educational tips for the federal Tories. He starts with this advice: watch for policy sloth brought on by five years of minority government…

160 Million Missing Females

The AIDS epidemic took 25 million lives. Sex selection abortion took 160 million lives—all of them female. In her review of Mara Hvistendahl’s new book, Unnatural Selection, Andrea Mrozek explains how this happened…

Jack Layton’s legacy: More history, less hagiography please

Thou shall not have large picnics: One Ontario family’s run-in with the bylaw cops

For the past ten years, my family and I have been organizing the annual Liberty Summer Seminar on my parent’s property until my mom and dad were charged with running a “commercial conference centre”

A remedy for property rights horror stories: a constitutional amendment

Scott Reid's goal is to extend to small landowners a measure of the extensive protections already extended, by Canadian law, to the property rights of the great and the powerful.

Make polluters pay! Back off government!

Those wanting to see a cleaner environment should unite with those whose primary goal is stronger property rights in saying, “Back off government”!

Property of her own: protecting women from violence on reserves

While some may still argue First Nations are not ready for property rights, Bill S-4, along with growing voices for change within First Nation communities, give reason to hope for social renewal and better governance.

Arm The Rebels—With Defensive Weapons For Now

Too much is being made of the debate over whether to arm the Libyan rebels. We now know enough to conclude that we should do so.

Democracy’s Dawn in the Middle East

A new democracy paradigm has emerged throughout the Middle East with foreign policy implications for forward-thinking Western actors

Moore Liberty: What Moore’s law has meant for Egypt and will mean for Western liberty

Revolutionaries across North Africa and the Middle East have been so effective lately because more people there can afford more communication technology.

Edmund Burke and Islam

In the West, it is time to put an end to practise what we preach: Honour the Arab Spring by putting an end to anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Leftist Artists and Their Totalitarian Friends

An analysis of how social engineering and eugenics have their origins in the socialist and progressive movements and ideas of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and how some of those generally considered on the right and light side of history in fact did much to cause great harm and suffering.

Tom Thomson, Conservative Hero?

Tom Thomson is regarded as one of Canada's greatest artists. People come from all over the world to view his magnificent paintings in art galleries and museums. But will Thomson still be regarded as a national treasure if he turns out to be a conservative? This controversial article examines Thomson's life and work, and reaches a conclusion that will surprise many readers - and drive a stake in the heart of Canada's left-leaning arts community to boot.

Eavesdropping on the other guys: What cultural conservatives can learn from the left’s critique of itself

Fragmentation has not only cost the conservative movement electorally during the past decade. It has weakened its intellectual coherence in forming an authentic response to the sophistries of postmodernism. Now an unlikely source, the Catholic Marxist thinker Terry Eagleton, offers an intriguing way out of the dilemma.

A Radical Opening – A Conservative Cultural Policy

No matter how brilliant their ideas, conservatives will never find acceptance in a world where films, theatre, television, literature and music portray them as sons and daughters of the KKK. It is time that conservatives step up, embrace the arts and help bring our culture into full maturity. Nickson explains how.

Prime Minister Bennett: The Anti-libertarian Conservative

A Review of John Boyko’s Bennett: The Rebel Who Challenged and Changed a Nation

The Slandering of Duplessis

Why Quebec conservatives need to rediscover their Inner Duplessis

Caution in the Air: Conservatism in Manitoba

In Manitoba’s case, as with so many other facets of its economy and society, conservatism is best defined by its lack of definition.

Limited Government in Saskatchewan or WWHD (What would Hayek do?)

We must define limited government prior to discussing whether the Saskatchewan Party government has successfully in promoted limited government.

Fiscal conservatism’s West Coast travails

When judging the progress or lack of same in the effort to practise fiscal conservatism and contain the size of government in B.C., there is no better place to start than with the events that unfolded in a 10-day span this fall.

“Up is down, right is left” in Atlantic Canada

Charles Cirtwell provides a brief history of Atlantic Canada, the resulting economic realities and collective self-interest that led to an inevitable political culture and the resulting public policy environment.

The Slave Trade is Back: Confronting Human Trafficking in Canada and Beyond

Men like Adam Smith, William Wilberforce and Abraham Lincoln recognized that free markets and free societies could only exist where all people are free. This hard-earned victory, however, is being systematically attacked in Canada and, indeed, around the world, with a resurgence in the last two decades of human trafficking — a modern-day form of slavery.

Canada’s Sex Traffickers: C2C’s Investigative Report

As part of this special issue on modern-day slavery and human trafficking, C2C commissioned Tamara Cherry, an award-wining investigative reporter, to help uncover sex trafficking in Canada. Readers are cautioned that this article contains graphic content.

Pursuing a Culture of Freedom: Combating Modern-Day Slavery in Canada

Worldwide, countless individuals are held and exploited against their will for the purposes of sexual slavery, forced labour and other forms of involuntary servitude. Canada is by no means immune to this brutal injustice on the individual's freedom, life and liberty.

The art of the narcissist: Why beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder

A review of Roger Scruton’s Beauty, Oxford Press, 2009, 223 pages, $19.95 Reviewed for C2C by Mark Milke

Lost in the Wilderness: Canada’s Liberal Party

The problem is simple: the Liberals need more votes. The solution is far from obvious.

Seeking Justice for Victims of Travelling Sex Offenders

Interview with Brian McConaghy, former RCMP Officer and founder of the Ratanak Foundation

Islam and Western Society

Michael Coren asks whether Islam is reconcilable with western, pluralistic values. Using examples of the Islamic reaction to the Danish cartoons of Mohammad and how one particular town in England has changed through Muslim immigration, he raises severe doubts about the future of the relationship unless we change out current attitudes. Coren explains that while many Muslims simply want to live as westerners, we have yet to fully understand the radical Islamic imperative which seeks to transform the nature of any society where it settles. It would be simple, but incredibly dangerous, to assume that Islam follows similar patterns to other religions. He argues that this debate is the most important of the age.

The Meaning of Treason: Unintelligable Apart from Primacy of the Individual

“Is treason merely a relativistic concept?” asks Gordon Gibson in this essay on the necessary primacy of the individual. After all, the author points out, “The word describes a significant attack on the fundamental order of things, usually a form of governance. But if that order of things is illegitimate in the eyes of the viewer – dictatorships or theocracies as seen by Westerners or godless democracies as seen by the godly”—we are forced to ask if there a more absolute idea that would define treason as a betrayal of the individual or of human rights.

The Rise of Treason and the Decline of Canadian-Based Terror Threats

A former Canadian Ambassador with 36 years of service in eastern and central Europe, the Caribbean and Moscow, along with service as head of Canada’s immigration service, James Bisset argues the unwillingness to call treason by its proper name—and preference to use other, less serious sections of the Criminal Code when dealing with terrorists is an example of how deeply political correctness has permeated our society: “There is a dangerous tendency to obscure the truth and to camouflage unpleasant facts by ignoring them or by using euphemisms to minimize their gravity. “

Treason From 16th-Century England to 9/11

“In advanced countries, treason is an antiquarian offence,” writes Lord Black in his survey of treason from the 16th century to the attacks in New York and Washington in September 2001. “Toleration of conscientious objection and a media tendency to mistrust militarism and nationalism and to seek the ‘sources’ of even foreign discontent have made treason an unfashionable allegation, as it implies national moral superiority. “

Hold People Accountable for Actions, Not Thoughts

“There is no shortage of offences with which to charge those who threaten Canada’s national security, writes University of Calgary professor Tom Flanagan in his call for treason to stay, for all practical purposes, buried in Canada’s past. While Flanagan does not see removing treason from the books as desirable, neither are new prosecutions with treason as a charge. As for other non-criminal matters such as Quebec separatists, “In a democratic polity, such large-scale problems of allegiance can only be solved by political conciliation, not by hunting down and punishing traitors,” writes Flanagan.

Reflections on Citizenship and Treason: A Historical Perspective

“In the years between August 1947 when Kanao Inouye, a Japanese-Canadian also known as the Kamloops Kid, was hanged for war crimes and the conviction of Mohammed Momin Khawaja, a Pakistani-Canadian, in October 2008 under the Anti-Terrorism Act , Canada changed significantly, “writes Salim Mansur. The open immigration policy adopted since the mid-1960s is desirable and not without obvious benefits asserts Mansur, but somewhere in the process, Canadian’s sense of membership and belonging that citizenship represents has become diluted: “Due to the increasing prevalence of dual and multiple citizenships that an individual can maintain, then under these conditions, the relationship between an individual and the state is increasingly utilitarian.”

Book Review: Tolerism: The Ideology Revealed

By Howard Rotberg, Mantua Books, 231 pp, $25 Howard Rotberg’s new book, reviewed by David W. Livingstone— Page 50 Rotberg sets out to show that tolerance has been “raised to the be-all and end-all of human existence” and to point out the problems that excessive tolerance brings in its wake: “It disarms our best minds and our future leaders from protecting the important values and freedoms for which our forefathers have fought, and even died.”

Interview: John O’Sullivan

Overlapping allegiances: C2C’s interview with former Margaret Thatcher adviser, John O’Sullivan. In this interview with John O’ Sullivan, now executive editor at Radio Free Europe in Prague, O’ Sullivan reflects on multiculturalism, the IRA’s 1984 Brighton hotel bombing and the Toronto 18.

Interview: Iain T. Benson

An interview with Iain T. Benson, Senior Associate Counsel, Miller Thomson LLP, and former Executive Director, Centre for Cultural Renewal in Ottawa, Ontario, conducted November 10 th , 2009.

Social Conservatives and the Harper Government

Social conservatives focus on what is permanent in human nature, emphasize the importance of tradition, trust in a market economy and put the family ahead of the state. Rejecting John Rawls’ notion that a political order can be established that is neutral between diverse moral and religious worldviews, as well as the concept of a specifically Christian law, they also believe that the origin of enacted laws is the natural moral law, a legal philosophy developed by Greek and Roman thinkers long before Christianity appeared on the historical scene. The Harper government has been reasonably supportive of a social conservative vision, as attested by its implementation of the Child Care Allowance Program, the abolition of the Court Challenges Program and its balanced environmental policies. There seems little doubt that the CPC is the national party most capable of addressing other issues of particular concern to conservative-minded people, notably as regards the interpretation of freedom of expression and freedom of consciences, as well as the reinforcement of the traditional family through family taxation.

Book Review: Progress and Property Rights: From the Greeks to Magna Carta to the Constitution

Review of Progress and Property Rights: From the Greeks to Magna Carta to the Constitution , by Walker Todd.

Community is not a Liberal Word

Strong community acts as a powerful force to keep government in check. Strong communities are made up of strong families, yet families are on the decline in Canada today. No wonder then, that government sits at an unwieldy 42 per cent of GDP. Social conservatives acknowledge the importance of strong families in creating community, which in turn is able to support families and social programs today taken on by our welfare state. Though it may be true that classical liberals of yesteryear (conservatives today) paid little attention to community—this is because they took strong communities for granted. We can no longer afford to do so, as the ongoing decline of strong families will continue to create impetus and motivation for larger and larger government programs.

Islam and Western Society

Michael Coren asks whether Islam is reconcilable with western, pluralistic values. Using examples of the Islamic reaction to the Danish cartoons of Mohammad and how one particular town in England has changed through Muslim immigration, he raises severe doubts about the future of the relationship unless we change out current attitudes. Coren explains that while many Muslims simply want to live as westerners, we have yet to fully understand the radical Islamic imperative which seeks to transform the nature of any society where it settles. It would be simple, but incredibly dangerous, to assume that Islam follows similar patterns to other religions. He argues that this debate is the most important of the age.

Freedom to Build: Homes for the Homeless

The homeless of Canada, as a growing and suffering demographic, warrant our concern. Contrary to public perceptions, approximately half of these individuals are employed, and even more are willing to work. However, since the cost of housing has greatly outpaced wage growth, minimum wage and low paying jobs are no longer sufficient to cover accommodation in many of Canada’s major cities. The homeless are primarily a symptom of a restrained housing supply, particularly the low-cost variety. While numerous government programs and community initiatives have sought to address homelessness, they have proved ineffectual and often counterproductive. The homeless population has continued to expand, along with the relevant waiting lists and government agencies. These initiatives will continue to fail while the underlying cause, the many impediments to and the lack of private housing, is not addressed.

The Conservative Vision of Social Justice

In this article Monte Solberg argues that Canadian conservatives are missing an important opportunity to dramatically improve the effectiveness of well over half of current government spending and to dramatically improve their political popularity at the same time. But doing this requires the government to define and communicate their idea of a conservative vision of social justice. Solberg looks at the rise of this idea in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Book Review: The Housing Boom and Bust, by Thomas Sowell, Basic Books, 148 pp, $31.95 –

Review of The Housing Boom and Bust by Thomas Sowell.

Stop the ‘Stimulus’ Spending: The Case for Restraint

Niels Veldhuis and Charles Lammam dissect the hard numbers to debunk conventional wisdom that governments should spend more during an economic slowdown – the facts show the reverse is true.

Interview with Don Drummond: Vice President and Chief Economist of TD Bank Financial Group

An Interview with Don Drummond Vice-President and Chief Economist of TD Bank Financial Group

What Would the Florentines Do? What Modern Conservatives and Libertarians Can Learn from Renaissance Italy

Mark Milke invokes parallels to Renaissance Italy to deconstruct two recent books about the Conservative government – one by Stephen Harper critic Gerry Nicholls and the other by former Tory campaign manager Tom Flanagan.

Fearful Symmetry: The Fall and Rise of Canada’s Founding Values

An excerpt from Chapter 1 of Brian Lee Crowley’s provocative and scintillating new book, Fearful Symmetry: The Fall and Rise of Canada’s Founding Values.

Citizens, the State, and the Crisis: How Canadians can Emerge as Masters, Not Servants, of Government

A plethora of different theories have been put forward in recent months as to the root causes of the recent financial crisis. In this insightful and thought-provoking piece, economist William Robson offers up three main factors to explain the implosion, analyzes why Canada has weathered the storm fairly well and explains what limited government advocates must do to ensure we come out of the recession stronger, more wealthy and freer than before.

Introduction: Keeping a Little Perspective: Avoiding Mistakes of the Past on the Road to Recovery

c2c Advisory Council member and retired CEO Gwyn Morgan provides an overview of the current issue of c2c and his own thoughts on the recent economic turmoil.

The War Against Creative Destruction: Why Government Bailouts Only Make Things Worse

Conventional wisdom quickly cemented around the notion that to deal with the economic windstorm, governments had to come to the rescue with funding to save failing businesses. In the long-term this does more harm to the business world than anything because businesses fail to curb risky behaviour and are enabled to continue poor decisions, knowing the state will be there to rescue them.

A Critique of the Drug Legalization Agenda

No one can know what our society would be like if we changed the law to make access to cocaine, heroin, and PCP easier. I believe … that the result would be a sharp increase in use, a more widespread degradation of the human personality, and a greater rate of accidents and violence.

Interview with Chuck Doucette, Retired RCMP Officer

Our interview with Chuck Doucette, a 35 year veteran of the RCMP, on his experiences in drug enforcement

My Party: Right or Wrong?

A review of Bob Plamondon's Blue Thunder: The Truth About Conservatives from MacDonald to Harper, Key Porter Books, 474 pages.

A Frank Analysis of Canada’s Newest Drug Policy Approach

There is a long standing debate in Canada about whether substance abuse should be treated as primarily a health or enforcement issue. While is ample evidence that alcohol and other drugs play a significant role in crime, the efficacy of “getting tough” with substance-involved offenders is often called into question by critics who suggest that punitive approaches may not be the best way to respond to these problems. The high rates of re-arrest among offenders who are dependent on alcohol or other drugs certainly add credence to this argument. However, does this mean that there is never a legitimate role for coercion when addressing substance-involved crime?

The Price of Pot Prohibition

It is a moral question that we are facing. And there is every reason to believe that keeping marihuana illegal is not just immoral, it's deeply, profoundly irrational. From a rational public policy perspective, marihuana prohibition is, to be charitable, unwise. It may very well be the most unwise public policy around. At least, it is difficult to find public policies that cost so much, benefit us so little, and destroy as many lives as marihuana prohibition. Or so I will argue.

The Conservative Case Against Decriminalization

For some Canadians, Canada’s leadership in cannabis consumption might be a matter of indifference, if not national pride. Such complacency is misplaced. With millions of Canadians already suffering from the evils of alcohol abuse and tobacco addiction, no one should be indifferent to the growing menace of cannabis abuse and addiction.

The Libertarian Case for Decriminalization

A free-market in drugs is a social state of affairs where any individual would be free to produce, trade, or consume drugs free of any regulation or taxation and that the sole the purpose of government (in so far as drugs are concerned) would be to protect her in the possession of her drugs (and/or the means of production necessary to produce them) and to mediate any disputes she might have regarding her drugs. In this essay, I explain what it would mean to establish a free-market in drugs in Canada.

A Response to Professor Cooper on the War in Afghanistan

Before getting to his criticism of my case against the war in Afghanistan1, Professor Barry Cooper spends the first half of his article on his various objections to libertarianism. In his first paragraph, he asks, “What is libertarianism?” and adds, “Henderson does not provide us with an account of what he means.” There’s a reason I didn’t define libertarianism: I never used the words “libertarian” or “libertarianism.” That was a word that the editors of this publication put in the title of my article.

The Innate Parochialism of Canada’s Modern Constitutional Consensus

“If there is one constant theme in the scholarly literature concerning American and Canadian constitutional laws, it is that the two nations are quite different.” That opinion, from which the authors of Judging Democracy will dissent, is the scholarly consensus formed around the notion that the American constitutional tradition “promote(s) individual rights and place(s) substantial restrictions on the capacity of government to legislate for the common good. By contrast the Canadian Charter is much less individualistic in both text and interpretation.” The authors then explain that they “have written this book in part to refute this analysis.”1

Sorting Through Keynesian Rubble

Should governments run deficits to pay for ‘stimulus packages’? ‘Of course!’ say many Democrats, liberals, socialists and others who flatter themselves that they are ‘progressive’. ‘Heaven forbid!’ say many Republicans, libertarians and others in the USA and Canada who like to think of themselves, quite wrongly in some cases, as ‘conservative’. On occasion, these opinions, whether ‘left’ or ‘right’, may rest on some understanding of how a market economy works. But all too often, it seems, they are mere gut reactions—nothing but the result of prejudice and ideological bias.

Forget “Unfettered” Markets…

“Are Western governments doing enough for their citizens by intervening in the markets during the current economic crisis?” This was the question posed by Ed Broadbent in a speech earlier this year at York University. The former federal NDP leader argued that after decades of deregulation, a return to more active involvement of the state in the economy was necessary to boost economic growth and restore “social rights”.1 However until very recently it was environmental issues and especially global warming that were top of most Canadian’s minds.2

Money Problems and War

For anybody who has recalculated his net worth recently and recoiled in horror from the screen and asked the question--“How did we get in this mess anyway?”—, there are some answers to be found in Niall Ferguson’s The Ascent of Money. It is, in fact, the book you wish you’d read a year ago.

Review: “The Art of Politics: The New Betrayal of America and How to Resist It”

With a subtitle like, The New Betrayal of America and How to Resist It , a reader might expect such a book to be primarily polemical in its orientation. And in that regard, John Kekes does not disappoint in his latest offering

Back to the Future: A New Deal or an Old One?

It’s starting to look like 1933 out there. With the stock market in a shambles and the economy slumping, governments are racking their brains, and history, for expensive solutions. But they are not finding what they think they are.

c2c Interview with Dr. Michael Walker

Our interview with Dr. Michael Walker, a Senior Fellow of The Fraser Institute and President of the Institute’s Foundation. He served as Executive Director of The Fraser Institute from its establishment in 1974 until 2005.

Where is Conservatism Today? Post-U.S. Election and after Harper’s Election Victory?

For the first time in nearly a quarter century, conservatives are at a crossroads. The recent Canadian and American elections, and the dramatic turn of events that preceded and followed both results, have dramatically changed the course of conservatism.

What’s Wrong with the Libertarian Case Against the War in Afghanistan?

Before we can see what is wrong with “ The Libertarian Case Against the War in Afghanistan ,” made by David R. Henderson, we have to understand what, if anything, is wrong with libertarianism.

What Quebec’s Election Results Really Mean

Jean Charest’s impressive majority victory in the December 8, 2008 Quebec election should, at best, be met by conservatives with a collective shrug. The return to power of the Quebec Liberals is no great cause for enthusiasm, but no reason to fret either. The results confirm a regrettable truism of Canadian politics that if you do essentially nothing and govern simply by trying to offend the least number of people possible, you will likely be rewarded at the polls.

Disaster Socialism: The Impact of the Financial Crisis on the Future of Conservative Politics

In her best-selling book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism , Naomi Klein argues that times of crisis have been used to impose free-market reforms on an unsuspecting populace.

Canadian Engagement in Latin America can counter Chavez Mischief

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper conducted his first official visit to Chile, Colombia and the Caribbean in July 2007, he undertook important steps in renewing Canada’s historical ties with Latin America. Now with a renewed electoral mandate, the prime minister should continue to promote an agenda of liberalism, free trade, and democracy in the region, both for the sake of the people in the region and neutralize the destructive authoritarian influence of Venezuela’s Colonel Hugo Chavez.

The Libertarian Case against the War in Afghanistan

Shortly after the U.S. government’s attack on Afghanistan in October 2001 (which, of course, followed the September 11 attacks on the United States), the Canadian government joined the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries in an occupying coalition in Afghanistan. The first major wave of Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan in February 2002.

A Graveyard For All: The Trouble With Relativism

Naming a book The Book of Absolutes is a bit hubristic. It’s also redundant. The Book should suffice to christen the book that reveals absolutes. Setting that defect aside, I believe that we should forgive author William Gairdner’s boast, too. His candour and daring is refreshing in an age awash in wishy-washiness. I much prefer it to the feigned humility of one who formulates comprehensive rules and recommendations for restructuring society and then labels it but “a theory.”

The Russians – and Everyone Else – in Canada’s Arctic

In August 2007, a Russian submersible placed a titanium marker depicting the nation's flag on the seabed at the North Pole. It was a declaration of sovereignty. In Canada, the reaction was muted. By international agreement, competing claims were to be decided by negotiation under the auspices of the UN.

War in the Age of Terror: A review of John Robb’s Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization

The diabolical genius of the 9/11 attacks was the way in which a small and loosely organized group of terrorists slipped around the behemoth of the US military and security apparatus, rather than attempting to directly engage it. The greatest threat to American domestic security and the American military abroad turned out to be not another nation or its armed forces, but a determined consortium using only tools that can be cheaply and easily purchased, such as cell phones and box cutters.

C2C’s Exclusive Interview with (Retired) General Rick Hillier: Former Canadian Chief of the Defence Staff

Former General Rick Hillier, CMM, MSC, CD, a native of Newfoundland, served as the Canadian Chief of the Defence Staff from February 4, 2005 to July 1, 2008. C2C editor Chris Schafer interviewed Mr. Hillier recently on his thoughts on Canada’s role in the world and Afghanistan.

Canada Should Push For a Retro NATO

It was inevitable that NATO expansion eastward would at some point run into a hostile Russian reaction. The attack on South Ossetia by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in August was the last straw and Russia finally showed its teeth by crushing the Georgian offensive in 48 hours. The Russians then added insult to injury by recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and the other breakaway region, Abkhazia. The West faces the prospect of a new arms race—and if not the specter of nuclear warfare, at least a serious setback to global peace and security.

The Fallacies and the Facts about Terrorism

Terrorism, like so many other human activities, can be a complicated subject – so complicated that nobody has yet managed to come up with a concise and accurate definition for it.

A “Power Shift”: Conservative Principles for the Environment

As Canada gets ready to elect a new government, energy and environmental policy are on the front burner. The Liberal “Green Shift” plan conforms to two of the “first principles” of liberal governance: maximizing wealth redistribution, and maximizing control of the commanding heights of the economy. Liberal leader Stephane Dion’s plan would satisfy both principles by levying a federal carbon tax, then doling out the revenues “progressively” while letting the federal government expand its control of the commanding heights of the energy sector and provincial governance by tweaks of the tax code generally invisible to the public.

A Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform

The Canadian federal election campaign has so far avoided any serious discussion of healthcare. Even if voters prefer to focus on the economy, the environment, and the personalities of the more colourful candidates and leaders, the next government will determine whether Canada’s healthcare adapts to the realities of 21st century, or grows ever more bloated and unresponsive.

Election ’08 Report: Challenges Facing Harper

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said on many occasions that he views the path to a stable, durable, Conservative majority government as a long march.By that measure, in the recent election campaign, he achieved several important milestones: He broke through Ontario's resistance; he won new levels of support among Canada's ethnic communities and New Canadians; and began to make urban inroads. It looks like he has bridged the gender gap with important groups of women.

Aboriginal Policy Wish List: Federal Election 2008

Canada is in the midst of a federal election and it is time for some new ideas for aboriginal policy. What follows is a wish list for five future aboriginal policy changes the next government should seriously consider.

A Plan for Economic Prosperity

With less than a month to go in the federal election, there has been little real debate on the fiscal policies needed to improve Canada’s economic growth and productivity performance. What Canada needs is a fiscal plan focused on economic prosperity that creates and strengthens the incentives for individuals and businesses to engage in productive economic activity.

A New Canadian Patriotism

The Swiss think they’re better than us; they think highly of themselves,” remarked the German gentleman over a beer in Düsseldorf back on a hot July day in 2000. Ale brings out a variety of comments from people so the beer-induced frankness, this after I mentioned Switzerland was the next stop in my vacation, was not unusual.

c2c’s Exclusive Interview with David H. Wilkins: U.S. Ambassador to Canada

David H. Wilkins, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, became the United States Ambassador to Canada on June 29, 2005. Ambassador Wilkins has traveled throughout Canada extensively and has visited every province and territory.

American Myths: What Canadians Think They Know About the United States

A Review of American Myths: What Canadians think they know about the United States

Are Both American and Canadian Polities in Decline?

Much of current-day Canadian politics is driven by certain visions of America as a “bigger, badder” society than the “kinder, gentler” Canada. Indeed, for much of current-day Canadian popular opinion, America is a virtual Mordor – “where the shadows lie”.

Peacekeepers: How Canadians Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Treading Water

“I believe in peacekeeping, not policing.” Those words, made famous by Molson Breweries, resonate with Canadians. For nearly half a century, they have informed our military policy, our smug sense of superiority to Americans and our unwavering belief in our international significance.

Three Dangers and an Opportunity

For most of the nearly three decades since 1980, the United States has been governed from the center-right. Now that era is drawing to a close. Many Canadians will welcome this change. But Canadian policymakers should be on guard: this new era will present at least three serious challenges, even dangers, to Canadian national interests.

Where Marx and Conservatives Meet: The Writings of Paul Piccone

Is it possible to render the intricacies of Marxism, of phenomenology and of critical theory interesting, even intriguing? And could such a topic have anything to offer conservatives? If the person doing the expositing is Paul Piccone, then the answer to both questions is an unqualified “yes”.

Banking on America: Canada’s Trade with the United States

The recent Democratic primary contests in the United States cast a somewhat ominous light on the notion of free trade. And while there is considerable evidence that threats to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were more for electoral advantage than serious proposals, such rumblings can easily take on a life of their own, placing Canada’s trade relationship with the US in jeopardy.

Freedom of Expression: Is it a dying value?

Perhaps one of the most offensive things I have ever heard a Canadian say, was uttered by human rights investigator Dean Steacy of the Canadian Human Rights Commission: “Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don’t give it any value.”

The Canadian Founding: John Locke and Parliament

The study of Canadian identity has preoccupied many Canadian political, sociological and historical scholars. Like Canadian unity, it is a topic that virtually has its own industry. Scores of books have been written and conferences convened on the subject, and yet still no one has found a definitive answer to the question of what Canadian identity actually is.

The Entrepreneurship Explosion and Aboriginal Property Rights

There has been tremendous progress in aboriginal entrepreneurship over the last ten years. Without any pretence of offering a complete list, here are some examples of success stories, both big and small:

Fundamentalism in Religion, Politics and Science

The word ‘fundamentalism’ has traveled a long way since it began life in California nearly a hundred years ago. At first it was a defence of what were seen as the ‘fundamental’ beliefs of American Protestants. The literal truth of the Bible, the creation of the world by God, miracles in the Old and New Testaments, and the central miracles of the Virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Christ had been called into question by Darwinian Evolution, by scientific naturalism more generally, and by the so-called ‘higher criticism’ of the Bible by German theologians.

Truth, Reconciliation, and Aboriginal Residential Schools: A Reply to Michael Ignatieff

Late in the autumn of 2007, approximately 87,000 aboriginal people who attended the 130 residential schools, many of which were administered by the Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and United churches, began receiving payments from the Federal government. For these people, the payment is $10,000 for their first year, or part of it, in residence, and $3,000 for each subsequent year, or part it.

Back to the Future: Helping indigenous peoples recover autonomy and self-reliance

It is no secret small and big-C conservatives have a perception problem within the Aboriginal community . Every election, Aboriginal organizations send out ringing endorsements of Liberal candidates, arguing that Grits are usually the lesser of two evils. Moreover, Aboriginals associate right-wing policies with leaders who wish to eliminate treaty and Aboriginal rights and, unfortunately, this misleading message trickles down to the masses.

Our man in Havana

C2C editor Mark Milke was in Cuba for the resignation of Fidel Castro; here are his observations on 49 years of Fidel.

Aboriginals in Canada: segregation or equality?

Will Canadian courts uphold the creation of a semi-sovereign Nisga’a “nation” in northwestern British Columbia? Does Canada’s Constitution allow for quasi-independent Aboriginal principalities within Canada, each with the power to pass laws which prevail over Canadian federal and provincial law? To what extent should aboriginals have the same rights and responsibilities as other Canadians? What, specifically, should “aboriginal self-government” mean in practice? What terms and conditions should new treaties incorporate?

Reconciling Faith and Liberty: Can a social conservative be a libertarian?

It is a popular notion within the libertarian elite that conservatives who adhere to traditional morality cannot be libertarian. The libertarians see a desire on the part of moral conservatives to ‘impose’ their vision of the moral good life on society as a central feature distinguishing them from those who are committed to ‘leaving people alone.’ Many social conservatives also have a problem identifying with right-wing hippies calling for hard drug legalization and normalized prostitution.

Navigating the Faith/Political Interface

Why even concern ourselves with "the faith/political interface"? Several compelling reasons exist for doing so, including: National and international security: Islamic extremists, professedly motivated by religious as well as political convictions, are a threat to national and international security. Their actions also threaten the political status and security of the vast majority of Muslims throughout the world who do not share these convictions.

The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West

In academic circles, the future of Muslims in the post-Cold War world was being debated long before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In The End of History and the Last Man , the 1992 book he expanded from a National Interest essay, Francis Fukuyama argued that the world was witnessing "the universalization of Western liberal democracy." The Islamic world, he wrote, "would seem more vulnerable to liberal ideas in the long run than the reverse." Samuel Huntington published a response of sorts in The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order , his own article-turned-book, which held that Islamic countries would remain theocratic and illiberal. In large part, Huntington wrote, differences between Islam and the West resulted from the "Muslim concept of Islam as a way of life transcending and uniting religion and politics versus the Western Christian concept of the separate realms of God and Caesar."

Christianity and Politics, Past and Present

One can hardly pick up a newspaper or newsmagazine these days and not find an article on the contentious subject of faith and politics. In the United States, there are heated debates over President George W. Bush’s world view, the religious right, and foreign policy in the Middle East. Recently, editorialists have been preoccupied with the role of religion in the lives of various Democrats and Republicans who would run for the presidency, and the candidates themselves have issued public statements on the matter. These controversies aside, there remain the perennial controversies about abortion or the teaching of creation and evolution in the nation’s schools.

Against the Edwardians: Why Religion Has a Place in Public Debate

Recently in Canada, the claim that religious arguments have no place in public debate has been used to deny the legitimacy of religious arguments to oppose the inclusion of gay-friendly books in elementary school libraries, to suspect religious political candidates of harbouring a “hidden agenda,” in opposing abortion, and to prohibit home-school parents from using religious materials as part of their children’s education.

African Aid: Beyond Celebrity Platitudes

Canadian foreign policy in Africa, as a reflection of G8 foreign policy, is directed towards achieving sustainable growth and eliminating poverty. These goals are laudable, although billions of dollars spent in aid over the past few decades have done little to achieve this. In an attempt to reverse these sub-par returns in well-intentioned aid, or at least to gain some popularity with music-lovers, G8 leaders have turned to Bob Geldof and Bono, for advice. Incredibly, these two musicians appear to have a great impact on G8, and thus, Canadian policy-making and action. Yet, from outside policy-making circles looking in, these two men appear to have accomplished little but to create a new business model for concert promoters.

The Threat and Opportunity of Non-State Actors to a Conservative Foreign Policy

Free trade, protecting individual liberty, promoting democratic governance and alleviating suffering are all components of a conservative foreign policy. However, the achievement of these objectives is being hamstrung by the traditional (and increasingly antiquated) theory of realism.

We’ve been here before: Middle Eastern terrorism circa 1776

In the self-hating narrative all too popular and which serves as a substitute for thoughtful historical analysis, the West deserves recent Islamic-based terrorism – or at least – should expect nothing less. We bring such atrocities upon our own heads given our collective history of imposed colonialism, insensitivity to other cultures and willingness to sacrifice all others and our own principles. We do this for black gold to heat our gargantuan homes and fuel our obscene SUVs. This is the bleating apologia from everyone from Michael Moore to the late Edward Said, from New Democrats to the ever-pacifist Bloc Quebecois, from critics at home and abroad.

Heads or Tails? Extra-national Dimensions of International Development

Twenty-one years ago, Bob Geldoff and a litany of well-intentioned celebrities gathered in London to raise awareness and money to end world hunger. At the time, connections between poverty in the developing world, and dinner in Canada seemed tenuous at best. It was rare to get fresh artichokes out of season; phone calls to Hong Kong were well over $1 a minute, and long-weekend flights to Florida, for all but a few jet-set-millionaires, were completely out of the question. Today, thanks to global supply chains and communication networks, vine-ripened tomatoes sit in corner stores across the country, and South African apples are part of most Canadian diets.

Merkel & Sarkozy: Thatcherism Lite

What do the daughter of a Grantham grocer, the daughter of a Prussian pastor, and the son of a Hungarian heir have in common? According to the received wisdom proffered by the Fourth Estate, potentially quite a bit. In the wake of the installation of Angela Merkel as the Chancellor of Germany, and the recent election of Nicolas Sarkozy to the Presidency in France, gallons of ink have been spilt on the subject of whether either of these conservatives possess the political skills and determination required to achieve Thatcheresque reform of their moribund economies. There is considerable optimism that the national economies critical to the continental European economy, boasting unemployment rates of 12.6% and 10.2% respectively, will shortly benefit from some revolutionary restructuring.

Islamic Imperialism or a Political History of Islam?

Of all the world’s major religions, none is at the center of as much controversy today as Islam. Wherever it comes in contact with other religions, a political storm arises. From Paris to the Balkans, Chechnya to Xinjiang, Kashmir to the Sudan, and most notably, in the heart of the Middle East itself, Islam seems unable to make peace with its neighbours. Various explanations, excuses and accusations have been made in response to this phenomenon. None, however, seem as prescient or as penetrating as that presented by Efraim Karsh in his latest work, Islamic Imperialism: A History .

Incremental Conservatism: Mr. Harper Goes to Ottawa

Criticism from the right of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has recently come into vogue. Economists from the Fraser Institute have condemned aspects of Conservative tax policy. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation called the 2006 budget “Liberal Lite.” Gerry Nicholl, who used to work for Mr. Harper at the National Citizens Coalition, has become a frequent critic in the Globe and Mail and other media. And, going beyond media criticism, people associated with the Free Dominion website held an organizational meeting in May 2007 to found a new version of the Reform Party. Are things really so bad, that after only 18 months in power, conservatives are ready to go back to the days of division on the right?

Why Canada Needs Conservatives, Though it Tends to Imagine Otherwise

Canadians are fortunate beyond measure. Given that underneath we're the same creatures that the world has ever seen, the liberty, civility, prosperity and opportunity that we enjoy is astounding. Little wonder that people the world over want to move here, while relatively few seek to flee. An awareness of our good fortune must supplement our appreciation for the enormous effort that goes into making Canada such a pleasant place to live. We should be more grateful and less smug.

Federalism, Like It’s 1867

How often do you get a blast from the present while reading history books? It certainly happens when the subject is Canadian unity. For instance, if you heard a Quebec politician complain about a supposed fiscal imbalance within our federation because “the share of income tax collected by the province . . . is still clearly inadequate” and claim that “by so often giving short shrift to Quebec’s pleas up to now, the federal government has acted as though it meant to put a brake on our province’s social and economic development”, you could be forgiven for believing that former Parti Québécois premier Bernard Landry had made a comeback. In fact, a Liberal Premier, Jean Lesage, uttered these criticisms in 1963. [i]

Solzhenitsyn’s conservatism

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s life and works are a testimony to moral, political and literary courage. His short stories, novels, speeches and his own experiences convey, perhaps more than any other author, the drama, terror and heroism that manifested themselves throughout one of humanity’s most violent and decisive periods. By collecting excerpts from these works together in one volume, the editors have performed a valuable service for English readers seeking to understand the forces and ideas that gave birth to and continued to support totalitarianism long after its bankruptcy was realized.

The Emerging Conservatism of the Anglosphere

There are those in my gown town who believe that every political idea expressed in the Anglosphere originates in the United Kingdom. This belief draws indignation from the city’s colonial contingent, which champions the contributions of non-Britons from Rand to Kymlicka. However, we colonials are forced to admit that, particularly over the past thirty years, it has typically been in Britain where global shifts in political attitudes have first been fully expressed in political platforms.

Explaining the Facts of Life – “Idea” Conservatives & The Media

“The facts of life are conservative” said Margaret Thatcher. Perhaps, but the facts never speak for themselves, which is especially problematic for any Canadian mildly interested in ideas. Too many newspapers have hollowed out their editorial, analysis and comment sections; the number and length of book reviews have been slashed; in both newspapers and on television, investigative reporting is often absent (there is no Canadian television equivalent of John Stossel for example); and the Canadian media is more monolithic than the American media, in part because our smaller population makes diversity in staffing and the sheer number of outlets less possible.

Growing Up in Castro’s Cuba

In a strange twist of a double coincidence, Luis M. Garcia was born in 1959, the year of Cuba’s revolution, and in the town of Banes, the birthplace of deposed dictator Fulgencio Batista (born there in 1901). Garcia’s shopkeeper parents, initially supportive of the 1959 revolution, later applied to leave Cuba after they lost their small business in one of Fidel Castro’s nationalization programs. The application to leave meant that from that moment on, the Garcia family were “gusanos” – “counter-revolutionaries” – in the view of the regime.

Enrightened Thinking

In an era of instant news headlines and empty libraries, a project that seeks to deepen our thinking on a sustained basis through the written word seems downright old-fashioned. To make the point clearer, do you think that many people would respond favourably today to this ad in your local paper?

Nixon in China

Only one presidential trip in memory has resulted in the creation of a famous political saying. From Richard Nixon’s seminal visit to China in 1972 came the “Nixon Goes to China Rule” of politics, the crux of which is that the politician perceived to be least likely to do something will actually have the easiest time doing it.

Going Global with Peace, Order and Good Government

The world needs more Canada. So How come Canada and "democracy assistance" are oxymoronic? In a blast-from-the-past from Canada's Journal of Ideas, relevant again because of Tunisia and Egypt's uprisings, Shuvaloy Majumdar and Christopher Sands argue Canada should imitate how Ronald Reagan and U.S. labour leader Lane Kirkland helped out Poland's Solidarity in the 1980s....