Category: Politics

Nova Scotia’s Bill 12

Just before I went on break last week, the government of Nova Scotia introduced a new bill into the legislature, Bill 12, An Act Respecting Advanced Education and Research. It quickly became apparent that this bill had not been discussed with any way shape or form with anyone in the postsecondary community, which generally spells bad news. It also appeared to have come not from the Minister’s office, but from the Premier’s which again generally suggests if not bad news then

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Ontario Election Manifestos 2025

Y’all know I do one of these for every provincial election. This one is going to be a bit different because this time out E-Day is eight days away, and next week is a scheduled off-week for the blog. As of the moment I am writing this on Tuesday afternoon, only two parties have made any commitments on postsecondary education and only one has released a fully-costed platform. So, there’s a bit of guesswork involved here. I will update the

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Taking Donald Trump Seriously and What it Means for Canadian Higher Education

If there is a unifying element to Canada, it is a desire not to be American. Sometimes, this leads us down some pretty juvenile pathways; for instance, the impossibility of having serious discussions about health care because anyone against the clearly inadequate status quo simply must be in favour of “American-style private care.” But sometimes, like right now, this unity is a pretty handy political asset. A maniac is in possession of our southern border. He wants something from us. It’s not trade

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Nova Scotia Manifesto Analysis 2024

I thought I was done with election pieces for a while, but apparently Tim Houston wanted to get in an election this year (I guess it’s easier to run as a provincial Conservative while an obviously flailing Liberal administration is still in power in Ottawa), and so here we are with an election tomorrow and me with one more of these blogs to write. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for the sector, the parties have conspired to keep this one

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Saskatchewan Election Manifesto Analysis, 2024

Hi all. Third of three manifesto analyses for this ballot-iest of Octobers, this time Saskatchewan which goes to the polls today. This one might be the simplest one yet, mainly because Saskatchewan elections—like those in the other two Prairie provinces—are a resolutely two-party affair. It has been 25 years since a third-party MLA has been elected to the legislature, and there is zero danger of that streak being broken tonight. But also because the differences in the two parties’ platforms

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