From 1998 to 2003 I was the parliamentary columnist for the National Post, a position that required I be in the House of Commons on most days, and that I wear a jacket and tie. I have not often set foot in the House of Commons since then. The Commons often does useful things, but you can never predict when. The chaff-to-wheat ratio is high.
But business in the House of Commons is scheduled to wrap up this week for the summer. Your MPs will not be around Ottawa much for the next several weeks. So I decided to check in while they’re here.
Much of what I saw reminded me of the gap between what needs doing and what is being done. I had in mind something Mark Carney pushed out on his social-media accounts last week. “We are entering a decisive decade,” he wrote. “No country is better positioned than Canada to lead.” So my question for the day was: How well positioned is Canada to lead?