Foreign Affairs

Flashpoints for the Pittsburgh Summit

The Centre for International Governance Innovation has released a compendium of brief policy papers on the G20. The special report highlights research on economic governance, financial regulation and reform, international trade, and the capacity of the expanded G20 leadership to prevent or resolve future crises. The report contains thoughtful commentary and comprehensive policy recommendations on how the G20 can strengthen economic governance and on the core issues that must be addressed at Pittsburgh on September 24-25, 2009. Read

Centre for International Governance Innovation Annual Conference

On October 2-4, the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) will host its annual conference. CIGI '09 will address the systemic impacts of the global economic crisis and the long-term prospects for international economic governance. This year’s event will feature a keynote address by the 2008 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, Dr. Paul Krugman. Read I Register

New Roles for Emerging Powers

In a recent article, Andrew Cooper of the Centre for International Governance Innovation discusses China's changing global role and offers his suggestions on how China can build on its momentum. Cooper also explains why the U.S. should still be considered a superpower despite its struggles during the financial crisis and why the U.S. is not solely to blame for the crisis. Read

A New Direction for the Canada-India Relationship

Since 2001 sitting Canadian governments have stated that Ottawa needs to raise the profile of the Canada-India relationship on a variety of fronts. There have, however, been precious few federal initiatives developed to achieve these aims, claims the Canadian International Council’s Ryan Toohey. He examines the relationship and offers his vision for the future. Read

Economy

Canada’s Tax Competitiveness: An “Eye-popping” Divergence

The 2009 scorecard of tax competitiveness for Canada and the provinces reveals an “eye-popping” divergence in approach to tax policy among governments, according to respected tax scholars Duanjie Chen and Jack Mintz. In their study, Chen, of the C.D. Howe Institute, and Mintz, of the University of Alberta, highlight New Brunswick, Ontario and British Columbia as taking steps on the path to prosperity. Meanwhile, Prince Edward Island retains the most outdated structure, with high tax rates on corporate income and retail sales, they say. Read

The Development of China’s Forestry Sector and the Opportunities for Canada

According to a report from the Canadian International Council, China’s rapid economic growth, with an average rate of 9% Gross Domestic Product over the last two decades, has encouraged a significant increase in its wood consumption claims. Author Guangyu Wang argues that Canada has the potential to benefit from this Chinese demand because of its national forest resources. Read

Women’s Poverty and the Recession

Canada still has high rates of women’s poverty but the recession seems to have sidelined anti-poverty policies, says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Author Monica Townson analyzes the issue and offers a comprehensive strategy to address women’s poverty in Canada. Read

Public Policy

Do Think Tanks Matter? Assessing the Impact of Public Policy Institutes

Don Abelson of the University of Western Ontario in the second edition of Do Think Tanks Matter? identifies the influence and relevance of public policy institutes in the US and Canada.  Focusing on the policy cycle, issue articulation, policy formation, and implementation, Abelson argues that individual think tanks have sometimes played an important role in shaping the political dialogue and the policy preferences and choices of decision-makers but often in different ways and at different stages of the policy cycle. Read

Security Watchdog Needed to Keep Canadians Safe and Informed?

As national security operations within government and between governments become increasingly integrated, accountability mechanisms must also be unified across institutional boundaries, according to a new study from the Institute for Research on Public Policy. The study examines Canada’s national security apparatus and outlines areas in which these mechanisms can be harmonized and improved. Read

Energy / Environment

The Peak on Oil Prices

The price of oil has been swinging for a number of years. Alarmist talk about resource depletion and overpopulation is coming back into fashion after an earlier peak in the 1970s, yet much of this is overblown, claims the Montreal Economic Institute’s Etienne Bernier. In a recent op-ed, Bernier addresses these concerns. Read I Lire

World Oil Demand Set to Resume Growth

World oil demand is set to grow next year for the first time since 2007 and return to pre-recession levels by 2012, according to IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates (IHS CERA) in its quarterly World Oil Watch report. The rebound would mark a turnaround from the largest drop in global oil demand since the oil crisis of the early 1980s. “There are a lot of questions as to whether things will be ‘different this time’ in terms of the recovery of oil demand,” said IHS CERA chairman and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Daniel Yergin. “While the answer is that it will be shorter, it is still going to take a substantial amount of time.” Read

Human Erosion Comparable to World’s Largest Rivers and Glaciers
A new study from The University of British Columbia finds that large-scale farming projects can erode the Earth’s surface at rates comparable to those of the world’s largest rivers and glaciers. The research, published in the journal Nature Geosciences, offers stark evidence of how humans are reshaping the planet. Authors Michele Koppes and David Montgomery also found that – contrary to previous scholarship – rivers are as powerful as glaciers at eroding landscapes. Read

Education

University of Waterloo Opens Dubai Campus

This week the University of Waterloo launched its new campus in Dubai United Arab Emirates. The students will be taught by Waterloo professors, spending their first 2 years in the UAE, then complete the final two years in Canada. The campus currently offers civil and chemical engineering courses, however, in the future, it will offer programs in financial analysis and risk management, and information technology management. Read

Can Those Blinded by Brain Injury Still “See”?

Except in clumsy moments, we rarely knock over the box of cereal or glass of orange juice as we reach for our morning cup of coffee. New research at The University of Western Ontario has helped unlock the mystery of how our brain allows us to avoid these mishaps. Read

Arctic Rocket Launching Opportunity for Students Opens Up

Four lucky undergraduate students from Canada will get the chance to launch a research rocket from an Arctic island in Norway this November. As part of a growing partnership between the universities in Norway and Western Canada, the Government of Norway has agreed for the first time to host four undergraduate students from the universities of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Calgary at their Andoya Rocket Range, two degrees north of the Arctic Circle. Read