Does Canada’s Senate need reforming? If so, how best to do so? Like any statutory body whose design dates back to the 19th century, the Senate has features that seem ill-suited to the 21st. But it would be a mistake to neglect history when shaping reforms. That would be as unhelpful as suggesting that all the Senate’s present practices be meticulously…
Hugh Segal
Hugh Segal was a political strategist, senator from Ontario, and principal of Massey College. He wrote the author of The Right Balance: Canada’s Conservative Tradition, among other books.
Articles by
Hugh Segal
From Zlín to the Royal Society
One of Canada’s leading political scientists tells his own story July–August 2013
Academics, especially those whose writings and research have had genuine impact on events and decisions, are sometimes burdened by an understandable, if vaguely irritating, conceit. They will, if they attempt an autobiography, conflate events in their life with the huge historic trends or cataclysms that occurred during their period in history. Some will even connect their personal chronological pilgrimage with some greater global significance—or at least…
Scrapping Welfare
The case for guaranteeing all Canadians an income above the poverty line December 2012
Imagine that you are a recently trained trauma nurse working in an emergency ward. A severely injured patient is wheeled in. You see the bleeding and want to stop it as colleagues do an assessment of the patient’s vital signs. However, you are prevented from proceeding. “Don’t you think we should find out what the patient’s nutrition standard has been over the years—and the kind of housing that person has?” one team member…
An Insider Speaks
A handbook on the practical art of politics comes by way of story-filled memoir. May 2011
Memories and memoirs are two very different species. The latter are usually like leisurely train trips through concerns, ideas and causes that define the author’s life, career and worldview. They can on occasion suffer from a touch of self-importance. Michael Decter’s Tales from the Back Room: Memories of a Political Insider is more like a whirlwind helicopter tour that drops in on different…