Canada-U.S. Relations

Finding the Balance: Shared Border of the Future

Major benefits flow from the Canada-U.S. relationship, including 7.1 million jobs in the United States and 3 million jobs in Canada. And this unparalleled cooperation has the potential to move our economies back in the right direction, says a report prepared jointly by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Prepared in consultation with 47 business associations in both countries, the focus of the paper is to identify areas to reduce border costs in the short term and to increase the competitiveness of Canada-U.S. industries. Read

Toward A New Frontier Improving the U.S.-Canadian Border

In an age of international terrorism and illegal immigration, a well-functioning border is vital for homeland security. For the U.S. and Canada, however, it is also vital for national prosperity, for each is the other’s largest trading partner. In a new joint report released by the Brookings Institution and the Canadian International Council, Chris Sands of the Hudson Institute explains why the time is right for instituting reforms that will resolve specific problems and open the door to a broader dialogue about a “new frontier” for the 21st century. Read

Technological Integration to Enhance Border Security and Reduce Transnational Crime

Writing for the Canadian International Council, Margaret Kalacska examines the areas between ports-of-entry along the Canada-US border, focusing on criminal activities. This analysis considers the root causes of major illicit activities that flourish as transnational ventures in these border regions and reiterates the need for increasing security without imposing further restrictions on legitimate travel and trade. Read

International Affairs

Canada’s Role in Combating Afghanistan

In all aspects, Canada is today at the forefront of the conflict with al Qaeda, says Alex Wilner in a report featured by the Canadian International Council. Wilner identifies Canada’s role and argues for a strategy that combines measures that diminish al Qaeda’s coercive capabilities and developmental, political and diplomatic efforts that degrade al Qaeda’s ideological potency. Read

The Dispatch, Summer 2009

The Summer 2009 edition of The Dispatch, produced by the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute, covers issues ranging from the Pilkhana Revolt in Bangladesh to the prosecution of piracy. Read

Revisiting and Reviving R2P

Since its formal adoption at the 2005 UN Summit meeting, “responsibility to protect” (R2P) has been a doctrine honoured rather more in principle than in practice, asserts Ernie Regher in a Centre for International Governance Innovation article. R2P was crafted to protect against four deadly crimes: genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The prospect of another debate at the United Nations is unlikely to hearten those who bear the brunt of those crimes. Still, without debate and without some concerted diplomatic and intellectual effort to forge new ways of responding, existing crises will only deepen, Regher says. Read

Propelling the G20 from Concept to Reality

As a global economic crisis committee, the G20 leaders’ summit has not only become a catalyst for innovative solutions, it has become the hub of an emerging framework of global governance, alleges the Centre for International Governance Innovation’s Andrew Cooper. He evaluates past predictions regarding an expanded G20 and reveals several accurate prognostications. Read

Economy

As Good As It Gets? The International Dimension to Canada’s Monetary Policy

How has the international experience with monetary policy changed over the past decade or so? So asks Pierre Siklos, writing for the C.D. Howe Institute. Siklos considers the consequences of the spread of inflation-control regimes worldwide in shaping where Canada’s policy goes from here. Read

C’était prévisible!

Certains affirment que l’économie se portera mieux dans quelques mois, qu’il faut être patient, expose Nathalie Elgrably-Lévy de l’Institut économique de Montréal dans un texte d’opinion. Toutefois, ceux qui ont adopté d’ambitieux plans de relance se trouveront avec une dette colossale à rembourser, ce qui prolongera la récession et ralentira la reprise. Les plans de relance keynésiens ne fonctionneront jamais tout simplement parce qu’ils défient le gros bon sens, dit l’auteur. Lire

Monetary Policy’s Current Challenges

In a recent presentation at the C.D. Howe Institute, David Laidler offered his perspective on the challenges facing monetary policymakers in Canada. Monetary policy right now faces two complementary tasks, he contends: to play its part in coping with the current mess and to prepare for the renewal or revision of the inflation-targeting regime in 2011. Read

Energy / Environment

A Guide to Purchasing Carbon Offsets

Carbon offsetting is essentially a service—the purchaser pays someone else to create greenhouse gas reductions on his or her behalf. Yet due to the fact that the voluntary market for carbon offsets is largely unregulated and is still relatively new, the quality of offsets on the market and the reliability of vendors can vary considerably. To help deal with this, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute have prepared a guide to help Canadian consumers, businesses, and organizations assess the quality of carbon offsets and the reliability of the vendors that sell them. Read

The State of Canada’s Parks

This review, produced by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, explores the good, the bad and the ugly pertaining to Canada’s wilderness and natural parks. According to the report, the pace of park creation slowed in 2009, but there is still good news: several major parks were created this year by various governments in Canada, and others further protected from development. Read

Science & Technology

World’s Most Precise Microscope Headed for the University of Victoria

A new microscope that views the subatomic universe—the first of its kind in the world—is being built for the University of Victoria (UVic) in collaboration with Hitachi High-Technologies. The new microscope is called a Scanning Transmission Electron Holography Microscope. “The capabilities of this microscope are awesome—it’s really like having 100 microscopes in one,” says Dr. Rodney Herring, a UVic mechanical engineer and the lead researcher on the project. Read

Education

Graduates of Ontario University Programs Survey Released

Graduates of undergraduate programs at Ontario universities consistently experience high employment and earning rates, according to a recent survey by the Council of Ontario Universities. The study found that two years after graduation in 2006, the overall average employment rate for graduates of undergraduate degree programs was nearly 96%. Read