Economy

The Origins of the Economic Crisis

Writing for the Montreal Economic Institute, Pierre Lemieux of l’Université du Québec en Outaouais reflects on what the current economic crisis teaches us about the viability of a free market economy. Lemieux examines potential causes of the crisis—such as unavoidable economic cycles, bad market incentives, and mistaken monetary policy—to demonstrate how government intervention can accelerate rather than alleviate economic crises. http://www.iedm.org/uploaded/pdf/mars09_en.pdf

 

Prairie Agriculture at the Crossroads

High food prices driven by demand from China and India will be important for making Canadian farms viable, self-sustaining enterprises. But in order to achieve international competitiveness, says University of Manitoba economics professor Greg Mason for the Canada West Foundation, agricultural policy must shift from a model that resembles social assistance to one that one that supports entrepreneurial initiative.  http://www.cwf.ca/V2/cnt/publication_200903160850.php

 

A New Approach to Budgeting

In the face of falling commodity and oil prices Alberta’s fiscal planners must incorporate short- and long-term goals, asserts Colin Busby of the C.D. Howe Institute. Busby recommends a fiscal framework which would accommodate short-term, higher-than-sustainable levels of expenditures but also focus on how the province can reach and maintain a long-term balance. http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/Busby_EdJour_Mar11.pdf

 

 

Canada-U.S. Relations

The Emergence of Cross-Border Regions Between Canada and the United States

The Government of Canada’s Policy Research Initiative (PRI) recently completed the Final Report for its project on The Emergence of Cross-Border Regions Between Canada and the United States – Reaping the promise and public value of cross-border regional relationships. The project was a collaborative endeavour in which the PRI joined the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and Western Economic Diversification Canada, and outside experts and stakeholders, to examine cross-border regional relationships through a multifaceted approach. http://www.policyresearch.gc.ca/page.asp?pagenm=2009-0001_01

 

Lessons from Abroad for Health Care Reform in the U.S.

During the recent health care forum in Washington, D.C., Brian Lee Crowley of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies served as a unique Canadian representative. In his follow-up commentary, Crowley reveals the faults within Canadian health care and the lessons Americans should draw from the Canadian experience. http://www.aims.ca/library/HealthCareReform.pdf

Foreign Policy

La Mission des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo et genre

Les pressions exercées par les organisations internationales féministes, à partir du début des années 1990, ont rendu possible l’adoption de la Résolution 1325 sur les femmes, la paix et la sécurité par le Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies. Néanmoins, d’après Mélanie Coutu et Sandra Le Courtois du Centre d’Etudes des politiques étrangères et de sécurité, la mise en œuvre de cette résolution et le passage de la rhétorique à l’action se font difficilement. À cet égard, l’expérience de la Mission des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo et l’intégration d’une perspective de genre réalisée dans le cadre de cette mission, s’avère particulièrement révélatrice. http://www.cepes.uqam.ca/

 

Is a Cuban Impasse Inevitable?

Despite a softening of positions on both sides, relations between Cuba and the U.S. are unlikely to thaw out completely any time soon, writes Archibald Ritter of Carleton University and the Canadian Foundation for the Americas. Ritter notes that President Obama requires internal political changes, such as an abolition of the monopoly role of the Communist Party of Cuba, that Mr. Castro's government is unlikely to accept – to the detriment of both nations.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090311.wcocuba12/BNStory/specialComment/home

 

 

Public Policy

Efficient Cities

A new report from the Canada West Foundation confirms it is time to stop talking and take action when it comes to denser urban development based around existing public transit. Authors Phil Boname, Julia Zhu and Cody Matheson explain how years of unsustainable civic development have left western Canada’s cities plagued by urban sprawl, inefficient public transit systems and the lack of coordinated land use planning. The solution, they say, is to plan cities around mass transit corridors and augment population densities along those passages. http://www.cwf.ca/V2/files/GFG5.pdf

 

University Access and Affordability in Saskatchewan

Already a province with one of Canada’s smallest proportions of adults with a university degree, Saskatchewan continues to face declining enrolment at its universities. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Paul Gingrich generates a framework for alleviating rising tuition costs and for encouraging students, especially Aboriginal and returning students, to attend university there. 

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/~ASSETS/DOCUMENT/Saskatchewan_Pubs/2009/University_Affordability.pdf

 

The Changing Face of Care-giving in Canada

Demographic projections from the Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) suggest that Canada has yet to feel the full effects of eldercare issues. In a new report, CPRN authors avow that work-life conflict will become more problematic over the next several decades as more employed Canadians take on the additional role as caregiver for an aging or elderly dependent. They exmaine the key issues and challenges facing employed caregivers in Canada, and identify the support that key stakeholders (family, organizations, and governments) could offer. http://www.cprn.org/documents/51052_EN.pdf

 

 

Energy and Environment

Alberta Electricity Transmission Policy for the Next Generation

Alberta’s electricity transmission policy needs to be revamped to ensure proper planning for the next generation and to guard against unwarranted costs being passed on to electricity consumers, concludes a new report from the Fraser Institute. The Institute asserts that while electricity generation in Alberta was deregulated in 1995, regulations and policies pertaining to energy transmission remain a mass of confusion with little incentive to lower its costs. http://www.fraserinstitute.org/newsandevents/news/6546.aspx

 

Canadian Views on Energy
About two-thirds (63%) of Canadians continue to believe that conservation efforts will not be enough to offset future electricity demand, while slightly more than half (55%) feel there is not enough energy in their province. A new report by Ipsos-Reid for the Canadian Nuclear Association offers the latest polls revealing how Canadians view Nuclear Energy from both a provincial and national perspective. http://cna.ca/english/pdf/Studies/IPSOS/CNA-March09.pdf

 

 

Science and Technology

Research in Motion

Motion capture technology has advanced dramatically in the past decade to the point where digital characters in film and gaming are approaching photo-realism. But Aaron Newman sees the technology’s potential for more than just entertainment. The Dalhousie University psychologist and Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience is using motion capture to help better understand sign language and other forms of gesture-based communication. http://dalnews.dal.ca/2009/03/17/motioncapture.html

 

Sur une bonne piste

Des chercheurs de l’Université Laval et du Centre d’études nordiques élaborent un plan pour assurer l’intégrité des pistes d’atterrissage du Nunavik menacées par le réchauffement climatique.  Près de la moitié des pistes d’atterrissage des aéroports construits dans les 14 villages du Nunavik montrent des signes de dégradation.  Une des solutions envisagées pour les sections de piste problématiques serait l’installation de cheminées sous le remblai de façon à permettre l’évacuation de la chaleur à travers le couvert de neige.

http://www.aufil.ulaval.ca/articles/sur-une-bonne-piste-15302.html