Economy
Economic Uncertainty Increases
Urgency of Joint Action to Strengthen North American
Competitiveness
The Canadian Council of Chief
Executives advises
caution with regards to the rising isolationism emanating from the
U.S. and notes that economic challenges
and intense global competition have increased the urgency of joint strategies to
improve the competitiveness of the U.S.,
Mexico and
Canada. These sentiments were echoed by
members of a trilateral advisory group in a report presented at the North
American Leaders’ Summit in
New
Orleans. The North American Competitiveness Council
(NACC) is a group of business leaders from the
U.S.,
Canada, and
Mexico that was created in 2006 to gather
advice from the private sector on ways to enhance North
America’s
competitive position, promote increased employment and foster a higher standard
of living. http://www.ceocouncil.ca/publications/pdf/
Getting It Straight: A
Guide to Economic Policy Instruments for Addressing Climate
Change
The public policy
discussion around strategies for designing energy and climate change policy is
rife with technical jargon, writes Erin Mullinger of the Canada West Foundation. To help
simplify the complex set of policy options available, Mullinger provides a
layperson’s guide to the main economic policy instruments available for
addressing climate change, with a focus on energy production, and greenhouse gas
emissions reduction. http://www.cwf.ca/V2/files/Getting%20it%20Straight%20Report.pdf
State Capitalism: Do We Need
Controls?
In December, the government
introduced new guidelines for the review of foreign state-owned enterprises
(SOEs) and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) investing in
Canada. Recent commentary from Debra
Steger of the Asia Pacific
Foundation argues that additional guidelines for SOEs sends the wrong signal
at a time when Canada needs capital to carry out the structural reforms required
to remain competitive in the face of the major changes in the global economy.
Steger avows that Canada must remain a leader in the
international movement toward the development of a code of conduct for SWFs and
SOEs and outlines how this can be achieved. http://www.asiapacific.ca/analysis/pubs/pdfs/commentary/cac50.pdf
Connecting Supply and Demand in
Canada’s Youth Labor
Market
Canada's youth are not well-prepared to
navigate educational and career choices, or to be able to fully use the skills
and knowledge they gain through education in the jobs that they find, a new Canadian Policy Research Network
Pathways study concludes. The study, Connecting Supply and Demand in Canada's
Youth Labour Market, examines key issues such as how employer demand is
conveyed to students and how well the skills that young people gain are used on
the job. http://www.cprn.org/documents/49679_EN.pdf
Politics
Canadian Politics Increasingly
Competitive
Lately, it’s been hard for some
observers to watch voter intention surveys without getting frustrated at the
range and unpredictability of the swings from week to week, according to Bruce
Anderson of Decima Research. But
beneath the surface of weekly who-might-you-vote-for polls, some fascinating
trends are taking shape. Canadian voters have loosened the attachments that
anchored them to traditional party choices. They’re now being propelled by currents
that confound those who prefer simple, clear signals, from polls. http://www.decima.com/en/pdf/lab/decima-am/Competitive%20Politics%20May%2007-en.pdf
Foreign
Affairs
The End of the Hillier
Era
In lieu of Gen Rick Hillier's
decision to step down as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Jack Granatstein of
the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs
Institute briefly examines Hillier's time as the CDS, arguing that it will
be near impossible to replace him with someone as capable and
charismatic.
http://www.cdfai.org/PDF/Granatstein%20The%20End%20of%20the%20Hillier%20Era.pdf
Environment
Human Activity and the Environment:
Climate Change in Canada
Canada's emissions of greenhouse
gases (GHGs), major contributors to
climate change, rose 25% between 1990 and 2005, according to a new Statistics Canada report. However, during the same 15-year
period, the amount of GHGs emitted per unit of economic activity declined 18%,
while the nation's population grew 17%, and energy use increased 23%. The study, Human Activity and
the Environment, provides a
compendium of information on
how Canadians interact with their environment.
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080422/d080422a.htm
Combating Climate Change in
North
America
A new report from the
Canada West Foundation outlines
notable public policy efforts in select jurisdictions in
Canada and the
U.S. that address the
challenge of climate change. Given the inseparability of climate change policy
and energy policy, author Dr. Kari Roberts acknowledges innovations in pursuit
of sustainable communities through public policy centering on energy
conservation and emissions reduction. The paper reveals that, from smaller
cities like Winnipeg,
Manitoba to the much larger
State of California, jurisdictions across
North
America are working to find
solutions to the shared problem of climate change. http://www.cwf.ca/V2/files/Setting%20an%20Example.pdf
Health
Care
The Taming of the Queue
V
Efforts continue across the country
to reduce wait times for medical procedures. Each spring The Taming of the Queue
conference is convened in Ottawa to exchange information on how
different jurisdictions are doing in their efforts to cut wait times and to
exchange best practices. This
year's conference, In Search of Excellence, included presentations on
accomplishments since the 2004 First Ministers' Health Accord and on the
challenges that remain, with special attention to the issue of improving wait
times for mental health services. Canadian Policy Research Networks
presents the findings of the report in this comprehensive survey. http://www.cprn.org/documents/49799_EN.pdf
The Private Sector within the Public
Healthcare: The French Example
In
Quebec, as elsewhere in
Canada, the issue of what role should be
entrusted to the private sector in the provision of health care services is
especially problematic. The Montreal
Economic Institute explores this issue in a new report and finds
that France's experience provides an
interesting and dynamic model that can benefit all citizens. http://www.iedm.org/uploaded/pdf/avril2008_en.pdf au
français: http://www.iedm.org/uploaded/pdf/avril2008_fr.pdf
Voluntary Sector Roles in Public
Health
Many voluntary sector organizations
are known for their work in delivering health-related and social services such
as nutritious breakfast programs, early childhood development, aid to new
Canadians and recreational programs for children and youth. While service delivery is a core
function, the broader roles that voluntary sector organizations can assume
relative to public health are not well documented or understood. The voluntary
sector helps collect and interpret data that comprises the evidence base for
informed action, and a recent paper from The Caledon Institute presents examples
that illustrate these strategic roles. http://www.cwf.ca/V2/files/Getting%20it%20Straight%20Report.pdf
Domestic
Policy
Study Follows
British
Columbia Welfare
Recipients
A recent study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
and the Raise the Rates Coalition
examines life on welfare in British Columbia.
In addition to presenting its findings the report also makes some
recommendations.
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/BC_Office_Pubs/bc_2008/bc_LoW_full_web.pdf
Lifting the Lid on Pension
Funding
According to the C.D. Howe Institute, single-employer,
defined-benefit (DB) pension plans in
Canada are in decline. Recent volatility in asset prices and
interest rates, and resulting volatility in DB plan balance sheets, highlights
the desirability of raising — or even removing — the prohibition by the federal
Income Tax Act (ITA) of sponsor contributions to such plans when their assets
exceed recorded liabilities by 10 percent.
http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/ebrief_56.pdf
Science and
Technology
Mutation in Human Gene Helps Prevent
Malaria Fatalities
Recent studies by
University of Toronto researchers have begun to illuminate
why not everyone succumbs to the ravages of malaria. The team, which also
included researchers from McGill University, found that a deficiency in a
particular enzyme that is required for energy production in the body, provides
protection against malaria infection.
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/health-and-medicine
Canadian Astronaut Lands at
McMaster
Dave Williams, an astronaut
physician and who has logged a Canadian record of almost 18 hours performing
space walks, is landing at McMaster University and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton as a
physician scientist. As the director for the new McMaster Centre for Medical
Robotics at St.
Joseph's, he will lead a team dedicated to
developing innovative technologies that will change the future of surgery in
local and remote patient care.
http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=5362.
Hear
a Connect2Canada podcast with Dave Williams at:
http://www.connect2canada.com/connect/podcast/?storyId=19463
Education
New Poll Shows Majority of B.C.
Parents Support FSA Tests
The poll from The Fraser Institute of more than 1,000
parents in British Columbia with children under 20 found that 83 per-cent
support the right of parents to see test scores from province-wide reading,
writing, and mathematics tests and use them to compare school performance. The
Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) has been the target of significant opposition
from the leadership of the BC teachers’ union, which has mounted several
campaigns urging parents to withdraw their children from the tests. The
poll also found that 70 per-cent of parents agree the Ministry of Education is
on the right track with its province-wide testing policy. http://www.fraserinstitute.org/commerce.web/newsrelease.aspx?nID=5299
U.N. Flag Raised
Over McMaster Innovation Park
The United Nations flag was raised
at the McMaster University’s
Innovation Park today, the new home for the
United Nations University's (UNU) International Network on
Water, Environment and Health. The mission of UNU is to
contribute through research to resolving problems of greatest concern to the
member states of the United Nations. There are only 14 such UNU institutions
worldwide. http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=5384
