Economy

Cutting Corporate Tax Rates Encourages Businesses to Invest in Growth

New Brunswick has generated national attention with a proposal to drop its corporate income tax rate to five per cent, but Charles Cirtwill of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) says the province could go even further and scrap corporate income taxes altogether. Scrapping the corporate income tax or at least cutting it significantly will have a range of benefits for New Brunswick, says Cirtwill.  Brian Lee Crowley, president, AIMS, echoed Cirtwill‘s sentiments after touring New Brunswick to gauge public reaction to proposed tax reforms.

Prairie Provinces to Lead in Economic Growth in 2008

The booming prairie provinces, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, will lead the country in economic growth this year, according to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada (CBC).  While ‘the west is the best’ still holds true, attention this year has shifted away from Alberta to Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as high prices for nearly all of their natural resources will make them the two fastest-growing economies in Canada, writes Glen Hodgson, Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist of the CBC.

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/2008/provincial-summer2008.asp

Improving the Economic Security of Casual Workers in BC

Despite solid economic growth and low unemployment rates, BC is home to a growing number of casual workers who struggle to achieve economic security, according to a new study by Fiona MacPhail and Paul Bowles of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.  In a new report, MacPhail and Bowles look at the troubling contradiction between BC‘s booming economy and the precarious situation of workers who lack secure jobs. 

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/Reports/2008/08/ReportsStudies1942/index.cfm?pa=A2286B2A

The Case for Trills: Giving Canadians and their Pension Funds a Stake in the Wealth of the Nation

A new study from the CD Howe Institute proposes that the Government of Canada issue a new debt security, the “Trill,“ which would essentially offer Canadian investors an equity stake in the Canadian economy.  Similar to shares issued by corporations paying a fraction of corporate earnings in dividends, the Trill would pay a fraction of the “earnings“ of Canada.  For average investors, the Trill would be a useful new source of income, offering both exposure to income growth and protection against inflation.

http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/commentary_271.pdf

Domestic Policy

AIDS, Development, and Canadian Policy

The North-South Institute (NSI) has published a new paper examining Canada’s international policy with regards to HIV/AIDS from the point of view of the resources needed to achieve the goal of providing universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support services for HIV/AIDS by 2010.  The report outlines the policy-making context for HIV/AIDS in Canada and explores how the Government of Canada can improve its response in the areas of financial resources, human resources, intellectual property and political leadership.

http://www.nsi-ins.ca/english/pdf/aids_development_en.pdf

What Women Want: Gender Differences in Public Opinion and Political Engagement in Western Canada

Women and men’s public opinion differ the most on social and environmental issues because women feel stronger about government doing something to improve social programs and addressing concerns about the environment, writes Janine Marshall-Giles in a new publication from the Canada West Foundation.  The report offers a gender analysis of the opinions of western Canadians on key policy areas, including healthcare, education, taxes and western identity. The report also finds that  women’s flagging political engagement means that their policy preferences do not receive the same public exposure as men’s.

http://www.cwf.ca/V2/cnt/publication_200807241447.php

Culture's Friends, Culture's Enemies: The Tangled Web of Arts Funding in Canada

In a recent address to the 2008 Civitas National Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, renowned author and columnist Robert Fulford examined whether or not cultural bureaucracy has a positive impact on Canada's culture.  "Inevitably bureaucracy sees virtue in what has already been done and has already been said.  Bureaucracy dislikes improvisation, freedom of thought and surprise and other factors that make life worth living, which happen to be the same elements that make the arts worth our attention," Fulford told Civitas members.  A commentary published by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies looks at the most recent 'new' Canadian television programmes and points out there is a common thread through all.

http://www.aims.ca/library/CulturesFriends.pdf

International Affairs

Russia Sends a Message to Its 'Near Abroad' and to the West

Russia‘s recent military campaign into Georgia is sending a clear message to NATO, the West and the US: Russia is again in a position to be the guarantor of security in the Caucasus, writes Barry Cooper, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary.  In a new op-ed, Cooper argues that, by taking this opportunity to redefine the strategic balance in the Caucasus, the Russians are instructing their neighbours to look at them in an older light: If you are part of our near abroad, don't think of becoming pals with the West.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news

China: Major Higher Education Transformation Underway

As eyes turn to China and the Olympic Games, a recent study by Canada's Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) has found that a major transformation of higher education in the emerging power could have an impact on the global economy and global education structure. The new policy brief highlights recent statistics showing that the number of undergraduate and graduate students in China has increased by about 30% a year since 1999, as well as earlier studies estimating that in two years there will be many more PhD engineers and scientists in China than in the US and 90% of all PhD physical scientists and engineers in the world will be Asians living in Asia, most of them Chinese.

http://www.cigionline.org/community.igloo?r0=community

Energy

Over a barrel? Canada and the rising cost of energy

Though higher oil prices have sharply raised the cost of filling up at the pump for drivers, driving and commuting habits have been slow to change since 2002, shows a new report from StatsCan.  This is partly because the squeeze of higher gasoline bills on household budgets has been partly offset by lower prices for other goods such as autos as well as by higher incomes.  Meanwhile, the report continues, higher prices have lifted energy to Canada's leading export so far in 2008.  The combination of higher prices and increased gasoline consumption has raised the portion of income consumers allocate to gasoline to 3.8% in the first quarter of 2008, from 2.9% in 2002. 

http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080814/d080814a.htm

Environment

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Scenarios for BC

In a new report published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative, authors Colin Campbell and Cliff Stainsby review current science to help provide an understanding of the basis for and the scale of the global warming problem and the contribution that BC can make to its solution.  The report recognizes global warming as the present and credible threat of climate change, and rather than recommending specific policies, the report seeks to benchmark what the short, medium and longer term GHG reduction targets must be if BC is to fulfill its fair share of meeting the global challenge.

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/

Education

‘Lost Boys’ of Sudan Return Home as Doctors

University Affairs reports that the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters and the Canadian International Development Agency presented an award for the best Improvement of Social Infrastructure/Condition to the University of Calgary’s Sudanese Physician Reintegration Program – a program that inspired 80 instructors from U of C’s medical and health faculties and from the Calgary community to take part as volunteers. At the same time and thousands of kilometres away, 11 doctors were beginning to restore one of the world’s most poorly served medical systems. Their return to the South Sudan boosted the doctor population by almost a third – to 60 doctors for 10 million people. 

http://www.universityaffairs.ca/issues/2008/aug-sept/lost_boys_sudan_01.html

Canadian Studies
Canadian Studies Grant Program
The 2008-09 Canadian Studies Grant Program provides support for faculty research, doctoral student research, and course development.  Applications for the reserach grant program are due September 30, 2008.  Applications for doctoral student research, and course development are due October 31, 2008.  A list of recent grant recipients and their projects is available here.  We appreciate your assistance in highlighting this grant program to interested faculty members and doctoral students in the U.S.  For more information, see: http://geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/washington/studies/grantguide-en.asp.

Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program

The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program provides outstanding American and Canadian students and scholars the opportunity to lecture, conduct research and pursue graduate study in Canada and the United States.  Award recipients include prominent and promising scholars, experienced and junior professionals and exceptional students.  For more information, see: http://www.fulbright.ca/en/award.asp