Canada-U.S. Border

Adapting the Border to Regional Realities

Western Washington University’s Border Policy Research Institute has released a new report that looks closely at the nature of the exports flowing from the U.S. to Canada through two major gateways: Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY and Blaine, WA. Through that lens, the study goes on to discuss the efficacy of the FAST pre-clearance program for regional economies as varied as those found along the 49^th parallel. http://www.wwu.edu/bpri/files/2008_Sep_Border_Brief.pdf

 

 

Economy

Canada Competitiveness Ranking up Three Spots 

In the Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 released by the World Economic Forum, Canada moved up from 13th in 2007 to 10th in 2008 on the Forum’s “Global Competitiveness Index.”  Roger Martin, Chairman of the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity and Dean of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management said “this is the first significant increase in our rankings and we hope they signal an improving trend for our economy in its global competitiveness.”

http://www.competeprosper.ca/index.php/media/press_releases/wef08_09pr

 

World Economic Freedom Index

According to the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World: 2008 Annual Report, Canada is ranked seventh in the world for economic freedom. The annual peer-reviewed report uses 42 different measures to create an index ranking the 141 countries around the world based on policies that encourage economic freedom in five broad areas. The study was conducted in partnership with Florida State University, Capitol University, and Wheaton College.

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/Commerce.Web/product_files/EconomicFreedomoftheWorld2008.pdf

 

Fixing a Persistent Problem: Canada’s Regional Pockets of Unemployment

National average unemployment figures, while low, continue to mask important regional differences, writes Colin Busby of the C.D. Howe Institute. Pockets of unemployment persist, particularly in the Eastern provinces, showing that the benefits of a strong national labour market are not equally shared across regions. To minimize this imbalance and improve Canada’s overall adaptability to economic change, policy changes are needed to reduce economic barriers to mobility; specifically, those posed by the federal Employment Insurance (EI) program. Colin Busby further elaborates on the role of the EI program in mobility incentives. http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/ebrief_66.pdf

 

Managing Canada’s Labour Market Needs in the 21^st Century

Canada is experiencing its worst labour shortage in over 30 years, claims a recent report from the Asia Pacific Foundation. The authors argue that while immigration is often seen as a partial solution to the labour deficit, Canada faces serious challenges in facilitating the entry of people in a timely fashion. The paper argues that government departments must co-ordinate their efforts and priorities — or be merged — to facilitate rather than restrict temporary migration flows. http://www.asiapacific.ca/files/Analysis/Commentary52.pdf

 

Gross Domestic Product by Industry

According to StatsCan, real gross domestic product continued the seesaw pattern observed since December 2007 with a 0.3% decline in August, partly reversing the 0.7% increase in July. Wholesale trade, manufacturing, and the energy sector, which were the main contributors to the July increase, all retreated in August.  http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/081031/d081031a.htm

 

 

Foreign Affairs

Advancing Canada-India Relations

Canada's acceptance of India as a responsible nuclear power has warmed bilateral relations, writes Paul Evans of the Asia Pacific Founcation. Evans discusses how to promote deeper cooperation in areas of mutual interest including higher education, energy and the environment by outlining a comprehensive national strategy. http://www.asiapacific.ca/files/Analysis/PMEIndiareported.pdf

 

Canadian Peacekeeping in Haiti

Canada’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations was once such that over 25,000 Canadian soldiers cycled through the world. In recent years, however, the reality of this proud, seemingly altruistic profile has seen significant changes, writes Michael Kenkel of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas. This is particularly significant in light of the fact that other middle powers of the region, such as Brazil, have begun to take up the mantle. If Canada wishes to uphold the seemingly global moral tenets embodied in the precepts of R2P and human security, these beliefs must be backed by actions, Kenkel declares.

http://www.focal.ca/pdf/focalpoint_september08.pdf

 

New Insights on AIDS, Food, and Nutrition

The global food crisis threatens to undo progress made against HIV/AIDS, as vulnerable populations, facing extreme poverty and malnutrition, resort to high-risk behaviour to survive, argue food security experts, says Stuart Gillespie, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Gillespie explains that unfortunately attempts to defeat the epidemic are conventionally grounded in the three core pillars of AIDS policy: prevention, treatment and care, and mitigation – all of which have been adversely affected by rising food prices.

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/uploaded_files/080308_ias_sat_challenges_transcript.pdf

 

 

Health Care

Physician (Dis)empowerment: The View from Canada

The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies President Brian Lee Crowley was one of a select group of health care policy experts from around the globe invited to present to an international conference organized by the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. The conference panels focused on how cost-based government healthcare policies are taking the decision-making process away from physicians and how government policies are actually impacting the practice of medicine. In a commentary based on his presentation, Crowley makes seven points in describing the physician’s loss of power within the Canadian health care system. http://www.aims.ca/library/Physician.pdf

 

 

Education

What’s Next? Higher Education in Canada

Post-secondary education has been getting a lot of attention in policy circles in Canada recently, with new student aid initiatives by the federal government, and commissions looking at the post-secondary system in several provinces. The recent Forum on the Future of Higher Education in Canada examined key trends in post-secondary education and discussed policy options in five areas: access, connections between PSE and the labour market, integration of the system, new ways to deliver programs, and the need for a pan-Canadian framework. In a new report, Ron Saunders of the Canadian Policy Research Networks, summarizes the discussions and findings emanating from the forum. http://www.cprn.org/documents/50644_EN.pdf

 

Momentum: The 2008 Report on University Research and Knowledge Mobilization

A new report by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada suggests that Canada’s universities are heavyweights in research and development, particularly in terms of the relative load they carry in the country’s overall research effort. According to the study, universities performed nearly 36% of the country’s R&D in 2007, worth $10.4 billion out of total R&D expenditures of $29 billion. The article notes that this is significantly above the OECD average of 17% of a nation’s share of research that universities conduct.

http://www.aucc.ca/_pdf/english/publications/momentum-2008-low-res.pdf

 

Connecting the Dots between University Research and Industrial Innovation

Canada invests large sums of money in academic research, but the fruits of these investments are not reflected in more industrial innovation and improved productivity, according to a new study from the Institute for Research on Public Policy. In the study, author Jorge Niosi of the Université du Québec à Montréal argues that while academic researchers are primarily motivated to produce original research and to provide quality education, they should nevertheless capitalize on the market knowledge of the business community as they develop their research agendas. He proposes a demand-pull approach, by which businesses seek out and cultivate university-developed technologies. http://www.irpp.org/choices/archive/vol14no14.pdf

 

A Disastrous Gap – How High Schools Have Failed Canada’s Aboriginal Students

The yawning gap in education levels between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals poses a huge social policy challenge in Canada, according to a study released by the C.D. Howe Institute. Author John Richards, of Simon Fraser University reports that while younger Aboriginals are getting more education than previous generations, they have not kept pace with other Canadians. Professor Richards argues for creating Aboriginal-run school authorities that are able to operate on-reserve schools – independent of individual band councils. http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/Backgrounder_116.pdf

 

 

Social Issues

Communities Must Take the Lead When Addressing Urban Social Issues

The Canada West Foundation has released a discussion paper this week that argues that there is no substitute for community action when addressing street level urban social issues. The report argues that there is much that governments can and should do, but it is when people get involved at the community level that real change happens. http://www.cwf.ca/V2/files/CCI%20Diers.pdf

 

North Hamilton Community Health Centre Reaches Out

A new article from the Caledon Institute of Social Policy describes a community-based initiative designed by members and groups affiliated with the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, a Vibrant Communities convener organization. Authors Anne Makhoul and Kathy Allan-Fleet explain how they were able to reach out to a segment of North Hamilton known as the Keith neighbourhood that is surrounded by large roads and heavy enterprises and which, until now, had few services to offer its residents. http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/715ENG%2Epdf

 

 

Public Opinion

Ready for Leadership: Canadians’ Views on Poverty

The volatility of global stock markets and uncertain economic times has gotten Canadians wondering what will happen when hard times come knocking at their door. With poverty still persistent in some areas of the country, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives engaged Environics Research to con­duct a national poll in the fall of 2008 to get a clearer sense of what citizens believe their governments should do about poverty. The results are definitive, say authors Trish Hennessy and Armine Yalnizyan: any govern­ment that acts to reduce the number of poor people in Canada will find favour with a resounding majority of Canadians. Moreover, support for action is overwhelming, cutting across income, age, political persuasion and region of the country. http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/National_Office_Pubs/2008/Poverty_Poll.pdf

 

Canadian Youth Failing to Remember

A new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Dominion Institute reveals Canadians’ – in particular young Canadians – lack of knowledge about the First World War, and that many are forgetting about this important chapter in Canada’s history. The study reveals that fewer than four in ten (37%) Canadians have heard of the Battle of Passchendaele; only 46% of Canadians knew that Remembrance Day marks the end of the First World War; and just 16% of respondents could identify both Germany and Austria from a list of five countries against which Canada fought.

http://www.dominion.ca/Microsoft%20Word%20%20FINAL%20Passchendaele%20Factum%201.pdf