Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Canada’s Politics and Government News Source Since 1989

Wednesday, December 17, 2025 | Latest Paper

The North

Liberal MP and doctor Marcus Powlowski continues to practice medicine in his riding of Thunder Bay-Rainy River, Ont. ‘I don’t spend a lot of time talking politics when I’m practising medicine. People are happy to see a doctor and I think the lack of primary health care has become so chronic, people don’t usually bother mentioning it,’ he says. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | December 1, 2025
Paul Irngaut, Nunavut Tunngavik vice president and chair of the Infrastructure and Housing Advisory Committee, holds a press conference in West Block on Oct. 30, 2025, to discuss four Inuit-led major projects and their inclusion in the government’s infrastructure projects of national interest. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | December 1, 2025
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | December 1, 2025
Paul Irngaut, Nunavut Tunngavik vice president and chair of the Infrastructure and Housing Advisory Committee, holds a press conference in West Block on Oct. 30, 2025, to discuss four Inuit-led major projects and their inclusion in the government’s infrastructure projects of national interest. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
News | BY JESSE CNOCKAERT | December 1, 2025
“The all-season roads, ports, highways, and other trade-enabling infrastructure we build through the fund will spur growth and better connect northern and Indigenous communities to the Canadian economy and the world,” says a statement from Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty about the Arctic Infrastructure Fund. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
News | BY JESSE CNOCKAERT | December 1, 2025
News | BY JESSE CNOCKAERT | December 1, 2025
“The all-season roads, ports, highways, and other trade-enabling infrastructure we build through the fund will spur growth and better connect northern and Indigenous communities to the Canadian economy and the world,” says a statement from Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty about the Arctic Infrastructure Fund. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | December 1, 2025
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said investments announced in the 2025 federal budget will 'create skilled, well-paid jobs, strengthen regional economies, and help Canadian businesses get their goods to new markets,' in a Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada press release on Nov. 21. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | December 1, 2025
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | December 1, 2025
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said investments announced in the 2025 federal budget will 'create skilled, well-paid jobs, strengthen regional economies, and help Canadian businesses get their goods to new markets,' in a Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada press release on Nov. 21. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY PASCAL CHAN | November 27, 2025
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled the 2025 federal budget on Nov. 4. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY PASCAL CHAN | November 27, 2025
Opinion | BY PASCAL CHAN | November 27, 2025
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled the 2025 federal budget on Nov. 4. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | November 19, 2025
After living through generations of Canada’s colonial Arctic policies, Inuit and Nunavummiut are sending a clear message to Parliament that the days of unilateral decision-making in Ottawa are over, writes Lori Idlout. Photograph courtesy of Phil Squires/Flickr
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | November 19, 2025
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | November 19, 2025
After living through generations of Canada’s colonial Arctic policies, Inuit and Nunavummiut are sending a clear message to Parliament that the days of unilateral decision-making in Ottawa are over, writes Lori Idlout. Photograph courtesy of Phil Squires/Flickr
Opinion | BY PIERRE LEBLANC | March 25, 2022
Deployed members of the Joint Task Force Support Component arrive at Resolute Bay, Nunavut for Operation NUNALIVUT 2018 on February 27, 2018. Pierre Leblanc makes the case that Resolute Bay should be developed into an expanded security hub serving the North and Canada's Arctic sovereignty. Photograph courtesy of Major Jean-Francois Robert and the Canadian Armed Forces Image Gallery
Opinion | BY PIERRE LEBLANC | March 25, 2022
Opinion | BY PIERRE LEBLANC | March 25, 2022
Deployed members of the Joint Task Force Support Component arrive at Resolute Bay, Nunavut for Operation NUNALIVUT 2018 on February 27, 2018. Pierre Leblanc makes the case that Resolute Bay should be developed into an expanded security hub serving the North and Canada's Arctic sovereignty. Photograph courtesy of Major Jean-Francois Robert and the Canadian Armed Forces Image Gallery
News | BY CHELSEA NASH | March 21, 2022
A C-130 takes off from Canadian Forces Station Alert on Ellsmere Island, Nunavut, in 2019. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has spurred discussion about the state of Canada's military capacity, particularly in the North, where Russia is Canada's neighbour. Photograph courtesy of Paul Green/The National Guard
News | BY CHELSEA NASH | March 21, 2022
News | BY CHELSEA NASH | March 21, 2022
A C-130 takes off from Canadian Forces Station Alert on Ellsmere Island, Nunavut, in 2019. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has spurred discussion about the state of Canada's military capacity, particularly in the North, where Russia is Canada's neighbour. Photograph courtesy of Paul Green/The National Guard
Opinion | March 21, 2022
Opinion | March 21, 2022
Opinion | March 21, 2022
Opinion | BY EDITORIAL | March 21, 2022
Defence Minister Anita Anand, pictured Feb. 22 on the Hill, flanked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly. Anand is advocating for an 'aggressive' increase to Canada's military budget. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia
Opinion | BY EDITORIAL | March 21, 2022
Opinion | BY EDITORIAL | March 21, 2022
Defence Minister Anita Anand, pictured Feb. 22 on the Hill, flanked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly. Anand is advocating for an 'aggressive' increase to Canada's military budget. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia
Opinion | BY HLYNUR GUDJONSSON | January 24, 2022
Representatives of the Icelandic and Russian foreign ministries gather at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in May 2021. Advancing equality in the Arctic could significantly add resources to our national balance sheets that can be used to build a more secure future, but it will not happen without ensuring that the many voices of women and men across the Arctic have a seat at the table where decisions are made, writes Ambassador Hlynur Gudjonsson. Photograph courtesy of the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs/Gunnar Vigfússon
Opinion | BY HLYNUR GUDJONSSON | January 24, 2022
Opinion | BY HLYNUR GUDJONSSON | January 24, 2022
Representatives of the Icelandic and Russian foreign ministries gather at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in May 2021. Advancing equality in the Arctic could significantly add resources to our national balance sheets that can be used to build a more secure future, but it will not happen without ensuring that the many voices of women and men across the Arctic have a seat at the table where decisions are made, writes Ambassador Hlynur Gudjonsson. Photograph courtesy of the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs/Gunnar Vigfússon
News | BY KEVIN PHILIPUPILLAI | January 20, 2022
Minister of Northern Affairs Dan Vandal, pictured in February 2020 after a Liberal cabinet meeting. Crown-Indigenous Relations, overseen by Minister Marc Miller, and Northern Affairs Canada, overseen by Vandal, has $4-billion worth of environmental liabilities on its books. The Hill Times Photograph by Andrew Meade
News | BY KEVIN PHILIPUPILLAI | January 20, 2022
News | BY KEVIN PHILIPUPILLAI | January 20, 2022
Minister of Northern Affairs Dan Vandal, pictured in February 2020 after a Liberal cabinet meeting. Crown-Indigenous Relations, overseen by Minister Marc Miller, and Northern Affairs Canada, overseen by Vandal, has $4-billion worth of environmental liabilities on its books. The Hill Times Photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY NEIL DESAI AND CATHY MUNROE | January 12, 2022
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who is responsible for the Canada Border Services Agency, is pictured in Ottawa on Nov. 30, 2021. While novel technologies will prove difficult targets for border controls, the use of emerging technologies as a tool of border management also presents its own host of troubling ‘opportunities,’ write Neil Desai and Cathy Munroe. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade and Flickr photograph by Dennis Sylvester Hurd
Opinion | BY NEIL DESAI AND CATHY MUNROE | January 12, 2022
Opinion | BY NEIL DESAI AND CATHY MUNROE | January 12, 2022
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who is responsible for the Canada Border Services Agency, is pictured in Ottawa on Nov. 30, 2021. While novel technologies will prove difficult targets for border controls, the use of emerging technologies as a tool of border management also presents its own host of troubling ‘opportunities,’ write Neil Desai and Cathy Munroe. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade and Flickr photograph by Dennis Sylvester Hurd
Opinion | BY LUCIO ANGELUCCI | December 21, 2021
Carbon taxes and fuel standards are helping close the price gap between diesel and biodiesel, but it will be many years before these policies will have enough of an impact, especially in sectors like shipping and mining, which can use very high blends to maximize pollution reductions, writes Lucio Angelucci. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay
Opinion | BY LUCIO ANGELUCCI | December 21, 2021
Opinion | BY LUCIO ANGELUCCI | December 21, 2021
Carbon taxes and fuel standards are helping close the price gap between diesel and biodiesel, but it will be many years before these policies will have enough of an impact, especially in sectors like shipping and mining, which can use very high blends to maximize pollution reductions, writes Lucio Angelucci. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay
Opinion | BY ROB HUEBERT | December 8, 2021
A CC-177 Globemaster arrives in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, with members from 38 Canadian Brigade Group participating in Exercise Arctic Ram on Feb. 13, 2016. Canada must ensure it is ready and able to provide kinetic force to stop any form of Russian use of force, writes Rob Huebert. DND photograph by MCpl Louis Brunet
Opinion | BY ROB HUEBERT | December 8, 2021
Opinion | BY ROB HUEBERT | December 8, 2021
A CC-177 Globemaster arrives in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, with members from 38 Canadian Brigade Group participating in Exercise Arctic Ram on Feb. 13, 2016. Canada must ensure it is ready and able to provide kinetic force to stop any form of Russian use of force, writes Rob Huebert. DND photograph by MCpl Louis Brunet
Opinion | BY P. WHITNEY LACKENBAUER | December 8, 2021
Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal is pictured outside of the West Block on Dec. 2. The Arctic and Northern Policy Framework promises to address ‘the need for transformative investments in infrastructure, rather than a remedial approach that only perpetuates a state of crisis,’ which territorial premiers and northern Indigenous leaders have been arguing this for years. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY P. WHITNEY LACKENBAUER | December 8, 2021
Opinion | BY P. WHITNEY LACKENBAUER | December 8, 2021
Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal is pictured outside of the West Block on Dec. 2. The Arctic and Northern Policy Framework promises to address ‘the need for transformative investments in infrastructure, rather than a remedial approach that only perpetuates a state of crisis,’ which territorial premiers and northern Indigenous leaders have been arguing this for years. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
News | BY JESSE CNOCKAERT | December 8, 2021
Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal announced an $88,000 investment by the federal government's Northern Responsible Energy Approach for Community Heat and Electricity (REACHE) program to Nihtat Energy Limited on Feb. 9. The REACHE program is intended to help reduce reliance for northern communities on diesel fuel. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
News | BY JESSE CNOCKAERT | December 8, 2021
News | BY JESSE CNOCKAERT | December 8, 2021
Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal announced an $88,000 investment by the federal government's Northern Responsible Energy Approach for Community Heat and Electricity (REACHE) program to Nihtat Energy Limited on Feb. 9. The REACHE program is intended to help reduce reliance for northern communities on diesel fuel. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY JULIA CHRISTENSEN | December 8, 2021
Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen is pictured speaking to reporters in Ottawa in July 2020. Recent efforts at the territorial and community government level to see communities lead their own housing needs assessments as well as programming and policy are hindered by the absence of consistent, dependable funding streams to implement these plans, writes Julia Christensen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY JULIA CHRISTENSEN | December 8, 2021
Opinion | BY JULIA CHRISTENSEN | December 8, 2021
Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen is pictured speaking to reporters in Ottawa in July 2020. Recent efforts at the territorial and community government level to see communities lead their own housing needs assessments as well as programming and policy are hindered by the absence of consistent, dependable funding streams to implement these plans, writes Julia Christensen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade