Opinion: How our columnists saw 2025: September

Prime Minister Mark Carney launched Build Canada Homes at a media conference backed by modular homes on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. Photo by Ashley Fraser/Postmedia files

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• The resurgent popularity of nuclear power gives hope that facts and not fear-mongering will underpin public policy on environmental and energy-related issues. — Philip Cross, Sept. 2

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• Many government jobs require bilingualism, and AI is remarkably proficient with languages… To the extent that it can help unilingual workers perform many of their tasks bilingually, it should greatly increase the talent supply for many government positions in Canada, thus putting downward pressure on labour costs. — Matthew Lau, Sept. 3

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• Despite all the money spent, Canadians commute in private vehicles more than before the pandemic. Private vehicles now account for 80.9 per cent of all commutes, versus 79.4 per cent in 2016. The increase obviously isn’t large. But governments were looking for a big decline and they have not got it. — Philip Cross, Sept. 5

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• My guess is that the transition to EVs could take a couple of decades, doable if markets are allowed to flourish as sales move from luxury Teslas to cheaper Bolts and made-in-China BYDs. The point is that a market-driven competitive regime would be the most logical and least expensive route toward an expanding EV market to achieve the net-zero environment objectives that are put forward as the main reason for conversion to EVs. — Terence Corcoran, Sept. 5

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• It is not clear Carney knows how to address our structurally weak business investment and productivity. Supporters point to his impressive credentials as a two-country central banker but in practice this means he has specialized in stabilizing economies hit by short-term shocks such as banking crises or currency stress. Rescuing an economy in this way does not provide experience or expertise in reviving long-term private-sector confidence and therefore investment. — Philip Cross, Sept. 12

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• Which would be best for investment in Canada: a system in which you petition Cabinet to give you a free pass from regulation that remains in place for everyone else? (Call it rule of Cabinet.) Or a system in which you comply with the same legislated, but substantially streamlined, requirements for getting a project done that everyone else has to comply with? (Call it rule of law.) It’s not a hard question. Rule of law works best. Rule of Cabinet is what they do in banana republics, and, increasingly, Washington. — William Watson, Sept. 16

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• How many billions of dollars will Ottawa and/or consumers have to pay to catch and bury carbon emissions in order to hit peak oil? An International Energy Agency panel says governments have already invested $50 billion in experimental projects and it will now be up to the private sector to carry on. Instead of peak oil maybe we should be getting ready for peak chaos. — Terence Corcoran, Sept. 17

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• What is the difference between grocery stores colluding on bread prices and labour unions colluding to inflate wages? Basically none — except that Loblaw couldn’t call on government to stop independent grocers from selling bread more cheaply, while unions use government to restrict competition all the time. — Matthew Lau, Sept. 17