Projecting Canada’s Soft
Power
The communications revolution, increased democratization and
globalization have made every country more aware of its image and reputation -
its "national brand," says Evan Potter, assistant professor,
University of
Ottawa, and
current U.S. Canada
Fulbright Visiting Research
Chair in Public Diplomacy at
the
University of Southern
California’s Center on Public Diplomacy. Potter’s
new book, Branding Canada:
Projecting Canada's Soft Power through Public Diplomacy, analyses how the Canadian federal
government has used its multifarious instruments of public diplomacy to exercise
Canada's soft power internationally. He
argues that protecting and nurturing a distinct national identity are essential
to Canada's sovereignty and prosperity, and
suggests ways to achieve this through the strategic exercise of public
diplomacy, at home and abroad. http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/
Comparing Wars
Debates about the similarities and
differences between the wars in Vietnam and
Iraq have lacked agreed criteria for
comparison, say Truda Gray and Brian Martin in a recent article from the
Journal of Military and Strategic
Studies. They present a set of 20 categories for
comparing wars, grouped under causes/rationales, participants, methods/nature,
scale/duration, and outcomes. This classification scheme is used to illustrate
how commentators on Vietnam-Iraq press their cases. The authors find that
commonly, commentators select comparison categories favorable to their
cases and ignore or downplay categories and evidence that run contrary
to their logic.
http://www.jmss.org/2008/spring/articles/gray-martin.pdf
Economy
Newest Edition of Currents
Released
The May edition of the Canada West Foundation’s monthly
economic bulletin Currents has been
released online. In addition to a city profile of
St. Albert, Alberta, this month’s feature article is
entitled “A Confident Time: Current Economic Perceptions of Western Canadians.”
The report describes the burgeoning economic fortunes of the Canadian west, but
this sentiment is tempered by an editorial warning of the effects of
over-confidence. http://www.cwf.ca/V2/files/Currents8_5.pdf
Canadian Business Tax System Complex
and Costly, Study Finds
The Canadian Council of Chief Executives
(CCCE) reports that Canada’s business tax system is complex
and costly, challenging the country’s ability to compete internationally. The
CCCE cites the recently released PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Total Tax
Contribution survey. The annual report is based on a framework developed by PwC
in the U.K. and encompasses all taxes paid by a
company as well as all taxes collected by the company from its employees and
customers on behalf of governments. A company's total tax contribution is
therefore a measure of its total impact on government
revenues.
http://www.ceocouncil.ca/en/view/?area_id=1&document_id=1131
The full PwC report: http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/Paying_Taxes_2008.pdf
Business Sector Productivity in
Canada: What Do We
Know?
In a report by the Centre for the Study of Living
Standards, Paul Boothe and Richard Roy from Industry Canada review the performance
of the Canadian business sector in improving labour and multifactor productivity
and examine possible factors underlying recent developments. They link weak
multifactor productivity growth in the Canadian business sector to the weak
innovation performance of Canadian firms and stress that if the country
does not improve on its poor performance since 2000, Canadians are likely to see
their economic well-being decline relative to other major industrial
countries. http://www.csls.ca/ipm/16/IPM-16-boothe-roy-e.pdf
Environment
The RBC Blue Water
Project
A lack of access to clean fresh
water is considered to be one of the major threats to human health and economic
development around the world. To counter this, the Royal Bank of Canada has made a
commitment to environmental sustainability through its
Blue Water Project. The mission is a wide-ranging, multi-year program that will
help foster a culture of water stewardship in
Canada and
abroad. The first phase of the RBC Blue Water
Project, announced in late 2007, is a grant program of $50 million over ten
years to support charitable initiatives that foster a culture of water
stewardship. To read more about the project, its grant program and other
initiatives, click here: http://www.rbc.com/bluewater/
You Can’t Save the World
Alone
Kaija Belfy of the Canada West Foundation comments that
the suggested idiom that one person can make a difference in the environment is
erroneous. While not intending to disparage those who call for individuals to
recycle, avoid paper towels and turn off the tap while brushing our teeth, Kaija
claims these steps are unreasonable and declares that it’s time for the
government – the people’s collective voice – to begin facilitating changes to
save the environment.
http://www.cwf.ca/V2/cnt/commentaries_200805091354.php
Immigration
Immigrant Skills Can Be Harnessed
with Revised Selection Process
Selecting economic immigrants who
can make an immediate contribution to the economy will address
Canada’s current immigrant underemployment
problem and promote growth in the knowledge economy, according to a new study
from the Institute for Research on
Public Policy. In the study, author Lesleyanne Hawthorne applauds the
Canadian government’s proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act, whereby the minister would have the authority to identify
priority occupations and issue instructions to immigration officers to enable
rapid acceptance of applicants with skills and experience that correspond to
employers’ needs. http://www.irpp.org/choices/archive/vol14no5.pdf
Canada’s Immigrant Labour
Market
Employment among core working age
immigrants, aged 25 to 54, increased 2.1% in 2007,
thanks in large part to gains among immigrants in
Quebec. However, despite this increase,
the employment rate gap between immigrants and the Canadian born widened,
according a new Statistics Canada
report. The study analyzed the labour market for immigrants in 2007, showing
that employment for core working age immigrants reached
nearly 2.5 million, and full employment, which accounted fro 90% of
those jobs, increased 3%. http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080513/d080513a.htm
“New” Second Generation
Canadians
The ethnic and racial composition of
second generation Canadians is being transformed, due in large part to the shift
in immigrant source countries from Europe to the Asia-Pacific regions, as
well as Africa and the Middle East. To discuss this issue in a broader
context, the Policy Research
Initiative presents a three-part discussion paper series that focuses on the
integration of second generation Canadians. Written by Stuart Sykes, this series
examines the “new” second generation in
Canada and frames these findings within
the international context. “A
Story of Reefs and Oceans: A Framework for the Analysis of the ‘New’ Second
Generation in
Canada,” the first of three papers, offers an
analytic framework to assess research evidence to date on the
topic.
http://www.policyresearch.gc.ca/doclib/DP%2001%20Sykes%20Framework%20Second%20Gen_e.pdf
Au
français: http://www.policyresearch.gc.ca/doclib/DP%2001%20Sykes%20Framework%20Second%20Gen_f.pdf
Report Forecasts Significant
Demographic Transformation and Immigration Growth Instrumental for
Western
Canada
The French version of the Canada West Foundation’s benchmark
study has been released online. L’état de
l’ouest en 2008 describes how major demographic and economic trends are
changing the face of western Canada. Since its last edition of State of the West five years ago, the
Canada West Foundation says there has been considerable change in western
Canada, demographically and economically.
Several of the trends discussed in the previous edition have continued, while
other significant new trends have emerged.
Au
français: http://www.cwf.ca/V2/files/Cover-4_SOTW08F.pdf
Domestic
Issues
Off-reserve Aboriginal
People Living in Unfit Homes
A growing number of Aboriginal
people in urban areas are living in crowded homes in poor repair, and
governments need to put in place a national social housing program to address
the crisis, according to a new study from the Institute for Research on
Public Policy. "Social Housing and the Role of Aboriginal Organizations
in Canadian Cities," by Ryan Walker, professor of urban planning and geography
at the University of Saskatchewan, can be read here: http://www.irpp.org/choices/archive/vol14no4.pdf
Education
Not All Successful Schools Come from
Wealthy Neighbourhoods
The
performance of 13 secondary schools in 10 communities across BC is evidence that
schools don’t need to be located in wealthy neighbourhoods to be successful,
according to a new study from the Fraser
Institute. These schools are all
performing at a high level, despite having a student population whose parents
have below average levels of education. “Teachers and administrators in these 13
schools have found ways to beat the odds and help their students do better than
might be predicted by their families’ characteristics,” said Peter Cowley, the
Institute director of school performance studies. “Clearly their success shows
you don’t need to be in a wealthy neighbourhood or have parents with multiple
university degrees to do well in school.” http://www.fraserinstitute.org/Commerce.Web/product_files/51BCESC08COMP.pdf
Examining
Private Higher Education in Canada
The
recently opened Quest
University
— Canada’s
first secular, private, non-profit university — is being cautiously watched by
the post-secondary community both in Canada and
beyond. In the U.S.-based Chronicle of Higher Education,
Karen Birchard discusses whether the private Quest U will be accepted by the
largely public Canadian post-secondary community. Founder Dr. David Strangway
hatched the idea for the small, education-focused university out of what he saw
as shortcomings in the public system, including a university model which focuses
heavily on research and less on undergraduate teaching.
ttp://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2008/05/12/canadas-first-non-profit-private-university-quest-u-raises-eyebrows/
The University as Economic an Engine
