Skilled tradespeople have always played a leading role in shaping Canada.

They’ve built, modified and maintained infrastructure that houses us, keeps us safe and makes it possible for us to have an advanced and diverse economy for generations.

Yet, somehow, we’ve failed to communicate this to young people at the family dinner table, in primary, middle and secondary school classrooms, at virtually any point of influence when discussing post-secondary education options.

This neglect around the optics of skilled trades has created a gap in public knowledge about what they entail. Skilled tradespeople have evolved their roles and capabilities in lockstep with the complexity of the world in which they work.

Dismissing climate science, setting Canada apart from most nations and planting us firmly in the United States’ camp, the Carney government is betting the farm on a “nuclear renaissance.”

There have been numerous indications this was coming. But Energy Minister Tim Hodgson’s April 29 statement to the Canadian Nuclear Association, following immediately on the launch of the “Canada Strong Fund” left no doubt that our investment banker prime minister is determined to pursue his nuclear energy superpower dreams.

As the UN Climate Envoy, Mark Carney famously said there is “no path to net zero without nuclear.” This has been a mantra of successive Liberal governments even as Canada’s last nuclear build was in the 1980s, and nuclear’s share of global electricity production has been steadily declining. It’s also been the rallying cry of nuclear advocates spending big to persuade anxious populations experiencing floods, droughts and wildfires that nuclear power will solve our climate disaster in the making. That claim is false.

Eight years ago, the Liberals rolled out their “SMR roadmap,” predicting the first (slightly) smaller new reactors would be operational in 2026. It isn’t happening. A new report by M.V. Ramana and Susan O’Donnell — Assessing Small Modular Nuclear Reactors in Canada — details the $4.5 billion spent by Canadian governments on SMRs with zero kilowatts of electricity generated to date. Most of that money went to the potential first SMR in Canada, the BWRX 300, an American design by GE Hitachi that uses enriched uranium fuel, not available in Canada.

Winnipeg is set to receive more than $4 million from the federal government for 150 housing units.

On any given day in a small town, restaurants should be busy. Orders coming in. People being served. The steady rhythm of a place that’s part of the community.

Instead, more and more locations are running below capacity; not because customers aren’t there, but because there aren’t enough staff.

This is the reality in many rural and tourism communities across Canada.

Recently, Ottawa took a small but important step to begin to address it.

A Manitoba delegation is taking its promotion of the Port of Churchill to the home of a growing Arctic port — one that Manitoba’s U.S. trade representative deems a threat.