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From the archives

A Tragedy of Our Own

The Air India bombing and how we live with the past

Playing the Rights Card

A history of Canadian foreign policy as domestic theatre

Two Other Solitudes

The India-Canada relationship has taken a long time to develop

Brian Flemming

Brian Flemming is an international lawyer, policy advisor and writer in Halifax. He was assistant principal secretary and policy advisor to Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau from 1976 to 1979. He was twice a candidate for Parliament.

Articles by
Brian Flemming

Flying Naked Next

Can we replace fear-driven theatrics with resilience in our quest for air travel security? April 2010
It might be time to ditch Pierre Trudeau’s now shopworn description of what it’s like for Canadians living next door to our gigantic U.S. neighbour. Instead of mice sleeping next to elephants, Canadians should be imagining themselves as the cops on Law and Order: we can see and hear everything happening on the other side of the one-way glass but those in the interrogation…

Control-Freak Kingdom

Is Canada becoming a de facto dictatorship? October 2008
When I joined what media critics then called the “imperial PMO” of Pierre Trudeau in the autumn of 1976 as a policy advisor, one of the first things I did was to ask the Privy Council library for everything it had on “prime ministers’ offices” or “central agencies” plus any other readings that might help me understand the world I had just…

Fences and Neighbours

September 11, climate change and the movement of people are all having a profound impact on national borders. November 2007