Ray Pennings
Ray Pennings co-founded Cardus in 2000 and currently serves as Executive Vice President, working out of the Ottawa office. Ray has a vast amount of experience in Canadian industrial relations and has been involved in public policy discussions and as a political activist at all levels of government. Ray is a respected voice in Canadian politics, contributing as a commentator, pundit and critic in many of Canada’s leading news outlets and as an advisor and strategist on political campaign teams.
Bio last updated February 19th, 2022.
Articles by Ray Pennings
How Trudeau’s Election Complicates the Narrative
By Ray Pennings
October 20, 2015
But will the change be as dramatic as the numbers suggest? The Liberal slogan—“Real Change”—certainly has tangible policy and personnel implications for how the federal government will impact Canada but as a think-tank focused on the renewal of social architecture, it is valuable to ask what the implications might be beyond the political sphere Harper played into that narrative with a hyper-partisan approach to government that seemed to reinforce the tribal dimensions of the political process John Ibbitson and Darrel Bricker suggested in The Big Shift: The Seismic Change In Canadian Politics , Business, And Culture And What It Means For Our Future that the Harper Conservatives took power not simply because of political change, but rather because of a cultural and power shift in Canada But that should not mask the fact that the Conservative held on to (arguably even increased) their popular vote over the course of the campaign and for one in three Canadians, neither the NDP nor the Liberals provide a meaningful alternative
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Lessons From the Alberta Election: Part I
Ray Pennings
June 18, 2015
In Alberta, two leaders who were caucus-mates for years in the federal Conservative party opposed each other provincially, and the vitriol between supporters of their candidacies was more intense than that directed to opposing parties The challenge I faced in Alberta is that when it came to party le...
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A Court of Many Colours
Ray Pennings
June 1, 2015
In the Biblical story of Joseph's coat, Cardus Executive Vice President Ray Pennings finds both justification and a cautionary tale for Canada's ermine-cloaked Supreme Court justices
However, not only the Court but the prevailing media narrative surrounding the Court's decision has evolved into a story of the courts competing with the government for primacy The majority of the Court struck down Parliament's law, relying on an argument of a "reasonable hypothetical," since neithe...
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Miracle Worker
Ray Pennings
April 6, 2015
A Christian social witness begins not with the fall and the evidence of brokenness, but with creation—and the human potential and hope for flourishing which God has placed into it Why was Annie able to make progress where the Keller family had failed? Annie saw the dignity and potential that Helen p...
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Mr. Pennings Goes to Ottawa
Ray Pennings
March 4, 2015
In recent months, I've had the good luck to sit through a Supreme Court hearing in a morning and in the visitors' gallery of the House of Commons for an afternoon Does democracy really benefit from having its primary outcomes determined by a Court that functions, as it must, like a court? Or is ther...
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On the Table
Naomi Biesheuvel, with Robert Joustra, Dan Postma, Ray Pennings
February 1, 2015
We're renovating these pages in 2015 to open them up to you, our readers. Each month, we'll send out a question via our weekly emails, Twitter account (@conviviumproj) and our Facebook page (facebook.com/conviviumproject). The next step is up to you: we want to hear your opinions about the topics we're discussing in these pages.
In this issue of Convivium, Andrew Bennett, Ambassador for Canada's Office of Religious Freedom, recounts this tale from his October 2013 visit to Turkey, during which he met with all the different religious communities and had conversations with the ecumenical patriarch, with the Jewish community i...
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When Idylls Become Idols
Ray Pennings
February 1, 2015
When Canada played for Olympic gold on a Sunday in 2002, lifelong hockey fanatic Ray Pennings faced the temptation of breaking his Sabbath rule to watch the game on TV. In the end, the score was Commandments 10, Sports Idolatry 0. Yes, he knows who won
So what does one do with the growing evidence that certain athletic practices are irresponsible? That we are being entertained by those who are enduring concussions that are likely to shorten their life expectancy by years? That the dollars and pressure that have become part of the industry have res...
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School Choices
Ray Pennings
January 30, 2015
To defenders of the North American status quo, school choice is shorthand for a set of policies that will undermine the effectiveness of a single education system, ensuring that all children are educated along similar core values 150 years of history have seen these principles applied in very differ...
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He Came to Shoulder Our Burdens
Ray Pennings
December 24, 2014
And as we take a few days so that the staff of Cardus can enjoy some time with their families and loved ones, we do so not just as a politically correct adherence to a statutory holiday an employer provides to staff, but rather as a collective celebration of the hope that animates our work every day...
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The First Freedom of the Human Soul
Ray Pennings
November 4, 2014
A former American diplomat and leading authority on international religious freedom, Farr is the author of World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious Liberty is Vital to American National Security ...
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Three Assumptions Not to Make About Education
Ray Pennings
October 21, 2014
Leaving aside the constitutional conflagration that would accompany any proposal to defund Ontario Catholic schools, responsible consideration of the Ontario's policy options needs to deal with the religious school question The monopoly mindset that a single public school system is able to solve all...
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Subpoenaed Sermons
Ray Pennings
October 16, 2014
The irony is that while some seem to advocate that the church default to a political and legal strategy as defining her response, the city seems to be adopting a most imposing posture of doctrinal conformity on the other institutions of the city The city of Houston has issued subpoenas asking five p...
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Finding a Global Common Grammar
Ray Pennings
October 10, 2014
"We want to encourage other people, and leverage the talents that exist internationally," says Father Sirico ...
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The Art of Faithful Persuasion
Ray Pennings
September 23, 2014
this month, Ray Pennings asked Os Guinness about this topic ...
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Protests and the Police Force
Ray Pennings
July 24, 2014
The freedom to protest was threatened last Friday afternoon, not simply by some thugs who used the protest to assault fellow-citizens, but by the institutions of civil society which failed to provide such protection The right to protest isn't explicit in our constitution but if freedom of speech, as...
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The System Built on Slogans
Ray Pennings
June 25, 2014
For better or worse, the next election will be shaped by the campaign that is most successful in defining a ballot question which divides the electorate in a way that is favourable to their outcome True, some ideological shifts may make some ballot questions more plausible than others, but we've see...
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The Secular Democracy and its Victims
Ray Pennings
June 19, 2014
3.1 For greater certainty, no person or organization shall be deprived of any benefit, or be subject to any obligation or sanction, under any law of the Parliament of Canada solely by reason of their exercise, in respect of marriage between persons of the same sex, of the freedom of conscience and r...
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The Time Wasn't Wasted
Ray Pennings
June 13, 2014
It is clear that a focus on economic stability and familiarity with incumbent governments (a theme we have also seen lead to results in the B.C Moreover, the feeling on election night—especially when the results aren't what you were aiming for—can be among the loneliest moments a person can feel ...
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Social Licence and Democratic Institutions
Ray Pennings
June 11, 2014
For those who argue that the lack of a social licence trumps the institutional democratic process, I have a simple question: is this really the sort of society in which you want to live? Disagree with the government by all means But to claim that thwarting legitimate public policy objectives that ha...
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The Right to be Forgotten
Ray Pennings
May 29, 2014
While privacy laws applied to information relating to minors, those discharged from bankruptcy, or to protect those who have been the victims are part of almost every legal system, the emerging "right to be forgotten" is a European legal concept that has been gaining traction over the past few decad...
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De-Register the Liberals, Anyone?
Ray Pennings
May 21, 2014
The Liberal Party of Canada, in their desire to "vote as one" in Canada's House of Commons regarding the contentious issue of abortion, has decided to implement a leader-enforced community covenant in which candidates pledge to vote pro-choice on any abortion-related vote ...