Blueprint for Canada-U.S. Engagement

At a time of deep economic apprehension and continuing global insecurity, Canadians need bold and inspired leadership determined to make the best of Canada’s unique position next door to the United States, concluded a recent conference on Canada-U.S. engagement at Carleton University. In a final conference report, Derek Burney and Fen Hampson share their recommendations for bilateral cooperation on three policy priorities: the global financial crisis, energy and environment, and the thickening of the border.  http://www.carleton.ca/ctpl/conferences/documents/FINAL-BLUEPRINT-ENGLISH.pdf

Français: http://www.carleton.ca/ctpl/conferences/documents/FINAL-BLUEPRINT-FRENCH.pdf

 

Enhancing the Canada-U.S. Partnership

In a recent address to the Standing Committee of Parliament on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canadian Council of Chief Executives President Thomas D’Aquino challenged the view that the global financial crisis exposes the failure of globalization. Instead, he argues that the economic challenges we currently face demand even closer cooperation among countries. D’Aquino commends President Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper for prioritizing bilateral initiatives in three areas: economy; energy and environment; security and defence. http://www.ceocouncil.ca/publications/

 

 

Economy

Western Canada on the Recessionary Landscape

Whether measured by housing starts and prices, GDP growth, employment, or in-migration, it is clear that dynamic growth has taken place across the four western provinces in recent years.  The Canada West Foundation asks whether the current economic downturn will derail the westward shift of the national economy, and whether we will we look back on the past decade as a temporary blip or a brief interruption in the evolution of the national economy. http://www.cwf.ca/V2/cnt/commentaries_200902261426.php

 

Money, Bank Capital and Zero Interest Rates

Monetary policy with zero or close-to-zero interest rates are not enough to pull the national or global economies out of a recession, according to a study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Authors Arthur Donner and Doug Peters consider a number of non-traditional fiscal approaches, such as quantitative easing and new structural initiatives, which they believe will be necessary for an economic rebound. http://www.policyalternatives.ca

 

Two in Three Say Current Housing Market is a Buyer’s Market

Opportunity awaits as two in three (65%) Canadians believe the current real-estate market in Canada is a buyer’s market, according to the 16th Annual joint RBC/Ipsos Reid Housing Poll. Nearly three in ten (27%) say they’re ‘likely’ to purchase a home within the next two years’, up four points from last year and the largest single-year increase since 2001. http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=4304

 

 

Public Policy

Use As Needed

In any drug insurance system, public or private, a key issue is the rising cost of prescription drugs. In certain countries and in some Canadian provinces, reference pricing has been used to control those costs. Atlantic Institute of Market Studies’ research fellows Brian Ferguson and Julia Witt compare Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and British Columbia to analyze the mixed impact of reference pricing on prescription drug costs. They conclude that reference pricing works well only if it is used appropriately. http://www.aims.ca/library/ReferencePricing.pdf

 

Success for Fair Fares

In the recent edition to the Community Stories Series, Anne Makhoul of the Caledon Institute for Social Policy applauds the Calgary City Council’s November 2008 decision to make Low-Income Transit Passes (LITP) a permanent project. Makhoul reviews the decade-long push to help low-income residents and people with disabilities participate fully in the life of their city, citing a survey which discovered that 49% of LITP users had found new or better employment because they could now access public transit. http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/753ENG%2Epdf

 

Policy Options: Budget 2009

This month, the Institute for Research on Public Policy’s Policy Options features assessments on the Budget 2009 by several fiscal policy experts. Robins Sears tells the inside story of the December 2008 parliamentary crisis in Ottawa, while Jeremy Kinsman and Gil Troy offer their very different perspectives on conflict in the Middle East. http://www.irpp.org/po/index.htm

français: http://www.irpp.org/fr/po/index.htm

 

La Légitimité en panne?

Trois évolutions—la restruction des Etats-providence, la mondialisation du secteur financier, et la montée des inégalités sociales--ont largement réduit la légitimité des Etats démocratiques durant les années 1980-1990, d’apr Denise Helly l’Institut national de recherche scientifique.  Elle analyse le discours sécuritaire, ainsi que les deux autres discours publiques prégnants depuis les années 1990, le discours sur la cohésion sociale et le discours sur la défense des identités nationales, comme des tentatives de refonder la légitimité des Etats.  http://www.conflits.org/index17270.html#author

 

 

Foreign Affairs

The Obama Administration, Asia Security and Canada

The Obama administration has signalled that Asia will play a far more central role in U.S. foreign policy than under the Bush administration. This poses a challenge for Canada, which the Asia Pacific Foundation says has neglected its ties with Asia for the past few years. Author Amitav Acharya describes how Canada can remedy its past inaction. http://www.asiapacific.ca/files/Bulletins/bulletin305.pdf

 

 

Energy and Environment

Sustainable Development and China

As China’s economy and importance grows, so too does its obligation to help with the world’s environmental challenges, write Jason Potts and David Runnalls of the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Reporting on the findings of an international taskforce initiated in 2006, they recommend several ways to enhance sustainability in three of China’s most economically important sectors—forestry, cotton and e-products. Throughout the paper, Potts and Runnalls emphasize the importance of international cooperation.  http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2008/china_sd_sum.pdf

 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Pricing and Canada’s Competitiveness

There is a growing consensus that if serious action is to be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, a price must be applied to emissions. The C.D. Howe Institute considers how Canada’s climate policy would coexist with the rest of the world, and how domestic industry would be affected. http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/commentary_280.pdf

 

Fraser Forum: Prospects for A New “Green” Economy

In its budget for 2009, the Canadian government committed to setting aside a substantial amount of money for the Green Infrastructure Fund: $1 billion over the next five years. Across the border, Obama has committed to creating a “new energy economy,” promising to generate five million new green jobs. These kinds of plans may be popular with some voters, but they don’t necessarily reflect sound economic policy, according to the Fraser Institute. The Institute dedicates this month’s Forum to explaining why.    http://www.fraserinstitute.org/commerce.web/product_files/FraserForum_March_2009.pdf

 

 

Science and Technology

Researchers Find Differences in Brains of Believers and non-Believers

Believing in God can help block anxiety and minimize stress, according to new University of Toronto research that shows distinct brain differences between believers and non-believers. Compared to non-believers, the religious participants showed significantly less activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, a portion of the brain that helps modify behaviour by signalling when attention and control are needed.

http://www.news.utoronto.ca/social-sciences-business-law/researchers-find-brain-differences-between-believers-and-nonbelievers-1.html

 

Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization Develops New Research Tool

University of Saskatchewan scientists have developed a new tool that enables scientists to analyze the function of a crucial set of proteins in animals—a finding that could lead to a host of better drugs for human disease and deeper insights into the workings of cancer.
http://www.usask.ca/research/news/read.php?id=852&newsid=1