Canadian Space Agency study to make economic argument for space investment
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is about a third of the way through a “socio-economic” study of the benefits of Canada’s involvement in space that is intended to make a clear argument for investing in the field. Opposition Parliamentarians and industry advocates agree it’s a way for the CSA to make a case to the […]
Canada is proud of our aerospace industry
Did you know that Canada ranks third in the world in terms of civil aircraft production or that the Canadian aerospace industry accounts for 172,000 high-paying, highly skilled jobs? This industry also invests $1.7-billion a year in R&D activity. Its R&D intensity is five times that of Canada’s total manufacturing average. That’s the importance of […]
Aerospace packs a big punch, but feds have cut off vital supports to industry
Recently, I attended the opening day of the International Astronautical Congress in Toronto. Here, it was more obvious than ever that our vibrant aerospace industry is one of Canada’s great success stories, and that the health of the Canadian economy depends on the health of our aerospace sector. Canada is one of only a handful […]
Armed Forces weakened by government’s procurement failures
It goes without saying that this is a time of great instability in the world. ISIL’s murderous reign of terror in an already chaotic Middle East is one of many current global crises. From Vladimir Putin’s Russian expansionism to the potential geopolitical implications of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, these are challenging times. Tumultuous […]
Open procurement process could promote innovation and employment in Canadian aerospace
I’m a Canadian nationalist, and I believe in putting Canadian jobs, corporations, and our economy first. I especially believe that key strategic industries and resources should be protected. Other countries are protecting and even subsidizing their aviation industries. A recent meeting with the Aerospace Industries Association with Canada reminded me of the importance of homegrown […]
Forever lost in the trees?
Regulators live to regulate. Governments live to govern. The policy, regulatory, and legislative instruments in place today reflect that genetic coding. The machinery of government was, for the most part, conceived in the pre-internet era, predating today’s modern—and mobile—tools of commerce. Consumers have adapted to the pace of technological change, but governments at home and abroad […]
Canadian wireless market: it’s always been a matter of trust
Fresh off the contentious hearing on the future of television regulation, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission jumped back into the fire last week with a hearing on the wireless market that focused on whether changes are needed to the wholesale market to improve competition. The Big 3—Bell, Telus, and Rogers—unsurprisingly oppose new measures, […]
Canadians deserve to participate in informed conversation on privacy, surveillance
HALIFAX, N.S.—A multi-year conversation about privacy and surveillance is finally coming to a head, and it may be one of the defining issues of our time. This is a pivotal aspect of the relationship between citizens and the state, and Canadians have a right to sufficient information about the government’s activities to contribute to […]
Canada’s newest resource is flexible, sustainable, potentially unlimited
Although largely invisible to most of us, a new commodity is fast assuming a central place in Canadian markets: information. As the amount and variety of data covering all aspects of planetary existence increase exponentially―along with our capacity to store, retrieve and analyze that data―we stand at the threshold of unbridled access to vast […]
Feds have an eight-track strategy in a fibre-optic world
As with most ideas announced by the Harper Conservatives these days, the government’s approach to the management of information technology, digital innovation and Canada’s reputation as a global tech leader, can hardly be described as state-of-the-art. It is more aptly described as an eight-track strategy in a fibre-optic world. After all, when the Harper […]
