International Affairs

Call in the Neighbours: Indian Views on Regionalizing Afghanistan Strategies

In Afghanistan, the most difficult battlefield may not be on the ground, but in the political arena, asserts the Asia Pacific Foundation's Ajay Parasram. Without the support of its neighbours, solutions to Afghanistan's problems can only be short-term, he says. Parasram argues that when it ends its combat troop commitment in 2011, Canada should be prepared to invest heavily in development through partnerships with Kabul and other regional states. Read

Economy

Shoring up the Competitive Posture of Canadian Manufacturers

In a time of global economic recession, James Brox of the University of Waterloo and Jeremy Leonard of the Institute for Research on Public Policy examine the many interrelated factors affecting labour productivity in Canadian manufacturing. They conclude that addressing investment needs in computer and networking technology and public infrastructure is critical to improving productivity growth. Read

Great Right North

Reports last week that the recession is draining Social Security and Medicare funds were just one more reminder that the U.S. needs to fix its finances, say the Cato Institute’s Chris Edwards, Jason Clemens and Niels Veldhuis. For inspiration in how to remedy these ills, the authors say, why not look to Canada? Long derided by American conservatives as "socialist" and praised by the left for its generous government spending, Canada is casting off those stereotypes, the authors explain. Read

New Report Compares Ontario Cities with Others

Despite the current economic environment, Ontario is well positioned to compete and prosper in the ongoing global economic transformation. While the economic environment has worsened in the past year, the current upheaval only accelerates the longer-term trends - especially the shift from more routine-oriented to creativity-oriented jobs. Yet Ontario can do more to ensure it is a globally competitive jurisdiction, says new research from the University of Toronto. Read

Energy / Environment

The Canadian Oil Sands: Energy Security vs. Climate Change
Rhetoric in Washington often focuses on areas where energy security and climate change, two increasingly prominent elements of U.S. domestic and foreign policy, align. Many important decisions, though, will require difficult tradeoffs between them. The Canadian oil sands—a massive but emissions-intensive source of oil—presents policymakers with precisely such a challenge. A new Council on Foreign Relations report by Michael Levi, explores both the energy security and climate change implications of expanded oil sands production. It assesses current and future trends in the oil sands, including in the scale and cost of production and in the oil sands’ impact on world oil markets, and evaluates the potential impacts of a range of policy options. Read

Growth in the Canadian Oil Sands

Technological advance in the Canadian oil sands has made Canada the world’s second largest holder of recoverable oil reserves, after Saudi Arabia, and “an increasingly important part of the fabric of hemispheric and global energy security”, according to a new major study by IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Read

Issues, Obstacles and Outlook for the Copenhagen Climate Change Negotiation

In a new article, John Whalley and Sean Walsh of the Centre for International Governance Innovation assess the fundamental issues surrounding the December 2009 climate change negotiation in Copenhagen. The authors are optimistic that despite varying opinions on the existence of climate change in the international community, the political will to reach an agreement in Copenhagen remains strong. Read

Uranium Enrichment in Canada

Globally, the environment surrounding nuclear power production is rapidly changing and developing—and Canada is at the forefront—write David Jackson and Kenneth Dormuth of the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Their paper discusses the Canadian mining of uranium, its subsequent processing, current enrichment technologies and the capital and operating costs of a modern centrifuge enrichment plant. They find that Canada has considerable profit potential in uranium enrichment and such initiatives would be unlikely to have deleterious environmental consequences. Read

Public Policy

Reducing Health Inequalities among Children

In recent years the well-being of Canadian children in low-income families has been identified as a policy priority, says Claire Oliveira of the C.D. Howe Institute. She suggests that in-kind transfers of goods and services directed to children should receive more emphasis in the dominant political discourse. Oliveira also examines the relationship between household income and children’s health, and finds that the health and education of parents play an even more significant role than household income in determining children’s health status. Read

The Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway: Human Resources Needs

Despite the economic downturn, there may be shortages of skilled labour in certain occupations, concludes a study from the Centre for the Study of Living Standards. The report examines human resource and skills issues pertaining to the Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor over the short- to medium-term. Read

La Porte continentale entre l’Ontario et le Québec : Analyse de la situation des besoins en ressources humaines

Ce rapport, produit par le Centre d’étude des niveaux de vie, examine les enjeux reliés aux ressources humaines et aux compétences dans le cadre du projet de la Porte continentale et du Corridor de commerce entre l’Ontario et le Québec à court et à moyen terme. Malgré le ralentissement économique, il se peut que des pénuries potentielles de main-d’œuvre existent pour certaines professions. Lire

The Effect of Increasing Aboriginal Educational Attainment on the Labour Force

A new Centre for the Study of Living Standards report examines the potential economic gains of increased Aboriginal education. Most notably, the authors conclude that if the Aboriginal population were to attain complete economic and social parity with the non-Aboriginal population, Canadian governments would improve their balance sheets by nearly $12 billion in 2026 alone. Read

Political Theory

In Defence of Liberty: Help Is on the Way:
Writing for the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, Classical liberal author and political thinker Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute explains how developments in the 21^st century will reformulate the case for liberty. Read

Science & Technology

Alberta Technology Travels to Space

It’s not every day that technology created and tested by Alberta scientists gets shot into space and travels more than 1.5 million kilometres from Earth to view what might be the origins of star formations and galaxies. However, earlier this month the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory will carry the largest, most powerful infrared telescope ever launched into space. Herschel will transport three instruments—two of which have Alberta connections through the Institute of Space Imaging Science (ISIS) which includes University of Calgary and University of Lethbridge. Read

University of Guelph to Help Create “Green Cars”