Governments have often made decisions based on impulse rather than reason. A classic example is the fallacy of “the last straw”. Legal expert Andrew Roman looks at pipeline-related issues and environmental decision-making.
Bill C-69: Why retain the worst mistake of the 2012 Act?
“Good ideas that are badly implemented don’t make good laws. Without major amendments it is unlikely that there will be any new pipeline or electricity transmission proposals under C-69.” Read legal expert Andrew Roman’s hard-hitting and thoughtful presentation to the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources conducting hearings on the Trudeau government’s Bill C-69, which proposes to fundamentally change the way resource projects are reviewed and approved.
SNC-Lavalin insider’s bribery allegations spark probe by Crown agency that loaned the firm billions
Export Development Canada launches review of 2011 deal with engineering company. This CBC News report includes comments from Patricia Adams of Probe International who says if there’s any truth to the allegations EDC money was used for bribes, it implicates all Canadians: “[EDC] operates on the Queen’s credit card. That means that it operates on our credit cards.”
Confidence in the justice system rests on ‘SNC-Lavalin going to trial’: Economist Patricia Adams
Patricia Adams, economist and executive director at Probe International, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss why she thinks SNC-Lavalin must go through a criminal probe if Canadians are “ever to know who did what” in the case.
It’s your decision …
The Prime Minister‘s real message was: “You can either do what I want or you can do what you want. The decision is yours.” Third in a series on the SNC-Lavalin controversy by Andrew Roman.
Rumours of death: the panic over SNC-Lavalin
Did the Prime Minister’s Office panic over SNC-Lavalin’s story of impeding doom? Or did they have real numbers showing the future effects of a criminal prosecution? Second in a series by Andrew Roman.
Put SNC-Lavalin on trial
DPAs don’t cut it, says Patricia Adams of Probe International. A trial here or elsewhere would not only expose who knew what and when within the firm; it would also expose who in government might have been involved.
The Prime Minister and the Attorney General
The recent controversy between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould over the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin has been front-page news for days. Was this a casual conversation or improper interference with the administration of justice? This blog post by former lawyer Andrew Roman discusses the issues from a legal standpoint. The bottom line: there is no law prohibiting either of them from speaking publicly about their conversation.
Trudeau is making Canada safe for corruption again with the SNC-Lavalin case
Canada has come full circle, with prosecution of corporate crimes again determined by politics. Read the latest from Probe International’s Patricia Adams on SNC-Lavalin in today’s National Post opinion.
DPAs: Meet the legal tool central to the Prime Minister’s Office controversy
What are deferred prosecution agreements (or remediation agreements), how did Canada get them, what are the potential benefits and what are the down sides? Patricia Adams of Probe International is firmly in the latter camp: “… they turn the prosecutor into the prosecutor, the judge and the jury. Because of that they are undermining the rule of law — they are essentially political instruments.”
Li Rui, a Mao confidant who turned party critic, dies at 101
Li Rui, who died on Saturday at 101, “saw himself as a conscience of the revolution and the party,” said Roderick MacFarquhar, the late Harvard scholar of Chinese history. “But he had grave doubts about the system he spent his life serving.”
Beijing’s behaviour shows why Ottawa needs to stop pushing Chinese trade
Better to develop trading relationships with tomorrow’s winners than to tie our fortunes to an economy that can pull us down.
Le volte-face climatique de la chine depuis l’accord de Paris
The French version of “The road from Paris: China’s climate U-turn” is now available!
People’s Daily growls over Meng arrest
An editorial published by China’s People Daily makes clear its position on the arrest in Canada of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. The threats to Canada are unambiguous, writes David Bandurski, the translator of an English version of this editorial for China Media Project, a research project of the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. Behold China’s warning to Canada: “The various illegitimate methods employed to attack the Chinese company Huawei have exposed the dark psychology of certain shameful people, but it will ultimately be a stone dropped onto their own feet. The Canadian side must think clearly. Between justice and shamelessness, there is no grey area.”
China’s Great Leap Backward on climate change
What happened to China the climate champion? The Globe and Mail dives into Patricia Adams’ new report: Paris – China’s Climate U-turn.
Patricia Adams
Brady Yauch
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
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