Thursday , March 28 2024

Brent Cameron

A writer and commentator on Commonwealth trade issues, Brent Cameron is the author of 'The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade' (2004, 2018) and numerous essays and articles. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Commonwealth Exchange, a London, UK-based research group. Cameron worked as Telecommunications Coordinator for the Federal Ministry of Labour in Ottawa, Canada before joining SES Canada Research (now Nanos Research) as a Research Associate. He also worked as an assistant to former Ontario MPP Harry Danford, Member for Hastings-Peterborough and Parliamentary Assistant to Ontario's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Cameron was a member of the Advance Team for Prime Minister Brian Mulroney during the 1988 Canadian federal general election. During the 2007 Ontario Referendum on Electoral Reform, he acted as Coordinator for the 'No MMP' campaign for eastern Ontario (excluding Ottawa). Cameron has also served as a member and contributing columnist on the Community Editorial Board of the Kingston (ON) Whig-Standard newspaper. He holds an honours degree in politics from Queen's University and a Certificate in Municipal Administration from St. Lawrence College (Kingston, ON). In 2014, Brent Cameron was elected to the municipal council for the Township of Central Frontenac, in southeastern Ontario, Canada, and serving as Deputy Mayor in 2017.

Polls are for Dogs?

There is a saying attributed to former Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. When asked about polls, he employed the homonym of the word and declared that they were for dogs as they were the only ones who knew how to properly use them. Polls do get a bad name – …

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A bigger world

The 14th Anniversary edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization is available now on Amazon worldwide. Rarely do we have the ability to gain perspective in the middle of a situation. Human nature dictates that we tend to the here and now, …

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Eyes on the Prize

The second edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization is available now on Amazon worldwide. In 1992, I volunteered on the local campaign to seek ratification of the ‘Charlottetown Accord’ – a set of changes to the Canadian Constitution that were backed …

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Griftocracy

The second edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization is available now on Amazon worldwide. If you look up the definition of the word ‘grifter’, you will get slightly dissimilar reads. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “A person who engages in …

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Zugzwang

The second edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization is available now on Amazon worldwide. Even those with a passing knowledge of Judeo Christian religious teachings are familiar with the story of Samson – his rise, his downfall, and the circumstances of …

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Statecraft and Lawn Maintenance

The second edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization” is available now on Amazon worldwide. Many, many years ago, my father applied for a job at a lumber yard as a day labourer. He had left home under difficult circumstances at age …

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Mind the Gap

The second edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization is available now on Amazon worldwide. This time last week, I sat in a pub in Westminster, about 3-4 blocks from Parliament. I was fortunate enough to be there at a significant time …

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A Cringeworthy ‘Hinge’

The second edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization is available now on Amazon worldwide. A few years ago, historian and former war correspondent Erik Durschmeid wrote a book called “The Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History”. I bought …

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Time to Choose

The second edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization is available now on Amazon worldwide. In 2009, I had the opportunity to have a long and private conversation. My family was on vacation and our excursion took us in proximity to someone …

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History Repeats?

On October 25, 1993 I saw something that I thought I would never see. It was election night in Canada, and I saw a government go down to defeat in, arguably, the most spectacular way that has ever occurred in a western Liberal democracy. The Progressive Conservative Party, which had …

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‘X’ does not mark the spot

The current turmoil over Brexit seems to fit the textbook definition of a pyrrhic victory. No matter what side prevails, for all the gains made, the losses will be heavy. To some extent, all sides will have lost face. The government will have lost face with the majority of voters …

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A moment of decision

The second edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization is available now on Amazon worldwide. It is approaching the end of 2018, and the end of our comfortable complacency. Here, in Canada, we are entering a period of great uncertainty as our …

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The 15 Year Road Trip

The second edition of Brent H. Cameron’s book, “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization is available now on Amazon worldwide. In 2003, I went on a road trip, from our home in rural southeastern Ontario, Canada to southern New Hampshire, about 50 miles north of …

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Killing The ‘Friendly Giant’

When I was a student hip deep in the study of third-year politics, I remember attending a class on public administration. I cannot tell you the date and time, but I recall one particular lecture that covered a subject that has stuck with me to this day. It was a …

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Bungling over #Brexit, or Neofunctionalism in Action

We are creatures of habit – every one of us. When given a choice between the predicable and the speculative, we lean toward the familiar. Part of it is ingrained in our nature. Despite our rhetoric where we congratulate the bold and the innovative, the so-called ‘risk takers’, we are …

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Quality over Quantity – How Commonwealth Trade is globalisation’s path forward

Most of what you will see written about trade among Commonwealth member states stresses the advantages, which are numerous – affinities that lower the cost of doing business by up to 19 percent compared to non-member economies. That matters, and could be sufficient in and of itself, but there is …

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