Foreign Affairs

An Opportunity for Reform in China?

In a new commentary, China scholar and Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada Senior Fellow Pitman Potter examines the implications of the Charter 08 manifesto issued by leading Chinese intellectuals. He notes that the Communist Party is faced with a challenge that, in time, offers it a way around the governance roadblocks that threaten China’s further development. Read

 

Towards a Lasting Mideast Peace

Through the Jerusalem Old City Project, University of Windsor Professor Michael Bell and his partners are developing a plan to facilitate a lasting peace in the Middle East. These partners include the Centre for International Governance Innovation, the Government of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Canadian International Development Agency and the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and international Affairs at Princeton University, among others. Read

 

The Theoretical Aspects of Targeted Killings

One of the measures employed in the war against guerrilla warfare and terrorism is the targeted killings of higher-ranking activists of the guerrilla or terror organizations. A new study from the University of Calgary’s Journal of Military and Strategic Studies examines the military theory that supports the mechanism for this kind of activity and explains the nature of targeted killings as an operational tool. Read

 

 

Economy

August Issue of Currents

The most recent issue of the Canada West Foundation’s Currents, the monthly economic snapshot of Western Canada, contains articles on the region’s energy usage and on increasing tourism; it also highlights British Columbia’s Okanagan Wineries. Read

Lessons for Banking Reform: A Canadian Perspective

According to a report by the Bank of Canada, the Canadian banking system has performed relatively well during the current financial turmoil. This strong performance can be attributed to good macroeconomic fundamentals, a conservative risk appetite, and a strong regulatory regime. However, Canada has not been immune to the global financial turmoil and its banking system will continue to face pressures in the wake of the global economic recession. Read.

 

Canada’s Growing Gap Explained

The income gap between the rich and the rest keeps growing, says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). A new video from CCPA illuminates this issue. Watch

 

Canada's Improved Business Investment Performance

Canadian businesses have tended to equip employees with less capital investment than their G7 counterparts have over the past 15 years, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. To make further progress, Canadians should focus on maintaining and, where possible, enhancing their fiscal, tax and regulatory advantages in the years ahead, the authors say. Read

 

 

Energy / Environment

Hybrid Vehicles Produce Scant Environmental Benefits, High Cost
Despite major costs to taxpayers in the U.S. and Canada, government programs that offer rebates to hybrid vehicle buyers are failing to produce environmental benefits, a new University of British Columbia study says. The study finds that hybrid sales have come largely at the expense of small, relatively fuel-efficient, conventional cars, rather than large SUVs, trucks and vans, which produce substantially greater carbon emissions. Read

 

 

Public Policy

The Hope and Reality of Immigration's Impact on Canada's Future

While immigration has been a key driver of Canadian population and workforce growth, it cannot, on its own, offset demographic trends that threaten our future living standards, concludes a new C.D. Howe study. Read

 

Innovation Nation: Building a Culture and Practice of Innovation in Canada

On May 27th 2009, the Public Policy Forum convened leaders from the private, public and research sectors for a national conversation about innovation in Canada. Entitled Science Day in Canada, the event was organized as a forward looking discussion about how to transform Canada into an innovation champion. The outcomes report has just been released. Read

 

Understanding Canada’s 3M (Multicultural, Multi-linguistic and Multi-Religious) Reality in the 21^st Century

The Policy Research Initiative, in partnership with the Multiculturalism and Human Rights Branch then housed in the Department of Canadian Heritage, undertook a policy research project on Canada’s approach to multicultural diversity. This project has identified opportunities and pressures for fostering inclusive citizenship in multicultural Canada, which is growing increasingly diverse with successive waves of immigration. Read

 

Canadians Left in the Dark about Potential Health Benefits of Certain Foods
Canada should follow America’s lead and allow advertisers to promote a wider array of health benefits associated with food products, claims Brett Skinner of the Fraser Institute. Read

 

 

Education

McGill/JGH Researchers Successfully Reverse Multiple Sclerosis in Animals

A new experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) completely reverses the devastating autoimmune disorder in mice, and might work exactly the same way in humans, say researchers at the Jewish General Hospital Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and McGill University in Montreal. The new treatment, appropriately named GIFT15, puts MS into remission by suppressing the immune response. This means it might also be effective against other autoimmune disorders like Crohn’s disease, lupus and arthritis, the researchers said. Read

 

University of Toronto among 20 Most-cited Institutions in Last Decade

The University of Toronto has placed first among Canadian universities and 13th among institutions worldwide for citations for its research in the last 10 years in new rankings by ScienceWatch.com. Placing first was Harvard University. Notable institutions ranking below UofT included Oxford, MIT, Yale and Cambridge. This finding comes a week after UofT finished 11th in rankings compiled by the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT), which measures the productivity, impact and excellence of published scientific papers. Read | ScienceWatch I HEEACT

 

Alberta Books an Investment in the Minds of Sierra Leone

During the 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone, schools were popular targets of the Revolutionary United Front. Therefore, when the University of Alberta’s (U of A) Chris Dyck came to Fourah Bay College (the oldest university in West Africa) he found the school heavily damaged and the library an example of the collateral damage of the conflict. To remedy this U of A has donated over 2,000 pounds of academic journals and books from areas such as law, political science, sociology, anthropology, linguistics and education, were donated. Those books will be making their way shortly to Fourah Bay College, arriving in early 2010. Read