Economy
Western Canada’s Monthly Economic Bulletin
The November issue of Currents: Western Canada’s Monthly Economic Bulletin, a Canada West Foundation publication, profiles hydro electricity in Manitoba and features the West’s population boom. Read

Putting Canada's Employment Downturn into Context
According to Statistics Canada, employment in Canada declined much faster in the early months of the current economic downturn than it did in the early months of the recessions in 1981 and 1990. However, employment levels in the next seven months of this current downturn were relatively stable, while employment had continued to decline in the previous downturns. Read

Economic Freedom of the World
This month’s issue of the Fraser Institute’s Fraser Forum contends that the benefits of economic freedom are numerous. The publication contains articles linking economic freedom with economic growth, the emergence of civil liberties, political freedom and more. Read

Experts Consider Trade Issues Related to Climate Change
Since early this decade, Centre for International Governance Innovation has organized and hosted an annual meeting of some 20 to 25 international trade experts from around the world. While in previous years the meeting has dealt with general topics such as the state of the trade system, prospects for multilateral or regional trade negotiations, or proposals for institutional reform, the meeting of trade experts this year focused on climate change and the trading system. Read

The Transformative Effects of the Global Economic Crisis
In his speech to the International Business Leader’s Adivsory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai, Thomas d’Aquino from the Canadian Council for Chief Executives discusses the effects of the global financial crisis. D’ Aquino outlines some of the challenges that the world as well as Shanghai will have to overcome in order to achieve a prosperous economic future. Read

Foreign Affairs
Building Stronger Ties between India and Canada: Better Late than Never
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit to India in November 2009 comes at a time when Canada-India relations are on an upturn, with past tensions over nuclear issues resolved, states the Asia Pacific Foundation’s David Malone. For Canada, India’s rapid economic growth offers the prospect of greatly increased business ties, Malone writes; while for India, Canadian resources and access to the North American market hold great attraction. The Indo-Canadian community offers a bridge that both countries can use to develop closer cooperation, he says. Read

The Canada First Defence Strategy - One Year Later
In June 2008 the Canadian Government formally issued the Canada First Defence Strategy that encapsulated the Government's perspective and plans for Defence. While actual measurements of success are difficult to define, George Macdonald examines progress in the areas of personnel, readiness, and infrastructure and demonstrates that there has been some movement towards achieving a balanced military capability in this Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute research paper. Read

Energy/Environment
Protecting the Vulnerable in a Changing Climate
There is no longer any doubt that the Earth’s climate is changing, avows International Development Research Centre's Simon Carter, however there lies an urgent reality that gets too little attention. Billions of the world’s poorest people are already living on the edge, and will need help adapting to climate change, he says. Read

The Environmental Information Infrastructure of Pulse Production in Canada
A brief case study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development assesses the information infrastructure employed to portray the environmental implications of lentil production in Canada. This case study illustrates the construction and use of a measurement system in the lentils value chain in Canada as it relates to the rise of sustainable agricultural practices, including conservation tillage and pulse production. Read

From Obscurity to Action: Why Canada Must Tackle the Security Dimensions of Climate Change
Margaret Purdy, Resident Scholar at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, spoke at the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS) International Conference on October 29th, 2009. In her speech, Purdy acknowledges the strides that Canada has made tackling the security dimensions of climate change but urges Canada to take more public and concrete action Read

Public Policy
Bringing the Provinces Back In
The regulatory regime for Canadian charities is fundamentally flawed, claims the C.D. Howe Institute’s Adam Aptowitzer. Historical happenstance and lack of provincial initiative created a regulatory vacuum that federal tax officials filled, he says, yet there is a better way. Read

The End of that 70's Show
In The End of that ‘70’s Show: Rethinking Canada’s Communications Regulatory Institutions for the Twenty-First Century, communications consultant and former Atlantic Institute for Market Studies research director Ian Munro argues that Canada’s communications regulatory regime needs to be renovated and that technological advances have made the existing regime obsolete. Read

Public Opinion
Most Canadians Not Worried about H1N1
Seven Canadians in ten are not at all worried or are not very worried about H1N1, according to a new Nanos Research poll. Furthermore, a majority of Canadians think that Ottawa is doing an adequate job of assuring a supply of the H1N1 vaccine, and that their provincial governments are doing an equally decent job of meeting the demand. Read

News from Canadian Universities
It’s Time to Maximize Benefits from International Students
The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade, released an important study last week that demonstrates how international students contribute significantly to Canada’s economy writes the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. The report contains some remarkable numbers, beginning with $6.5 billion – the total amount spent by the 178,000 international students in Canada last year. The magnitude of these figures provides additional evidence to support the call for a new investment to assist Canada’s member institutions in attracting this global talent to pursue their education and research in Canada. Read

Queen's Research Links Teens' Mental Health with Length of Schooling
Queen's University researcher Steven Lehrer has won a prestigious international award in recognition of his contributions to health economics. A professor in Queen's School of Policy Studies and Department of Economics, Dr. Lehrer shares the RAND Corporation's Victor R. Fuchs Research Award with Jason Fletcher of Yale University. Their prize-winning paper, recently published in the journal Forum for Health Economics & Policy, examines the effects of adolescent health on educational outcomes. Read

Novel Nano-devices Developed by Pioneering Researchers at the University of Toronto
There is no failure to launch at University of Toronto’s new electron beam nanolithography facility where researchers are already developing smaller-than-tiny award-winning devices. These tools will improve disease diagnoses and enhance technology in fields as varied as space exploration, the environment, health care and information and media technologies. Read

BC Cancer Agency to Lead $1.3-million Program Evaluating Medical-Isotope Alternatives
Together with TRIUMF and other partners, the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) has received a $1.3-million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to develop an alternative source of medical isotopes, announces the University of British Columbia. The BC grant is the largest out of seven nationally funded projects. Read