Economy
Western Canada and the Global Community
Through expanded trade and immigration western Canada is vigorously embracing the world, and the world is at its doorstep, proclaims the Roger Gibbins, president of the Canada West Foundation. If you want to be at the centre of things, this is the place to be, he says. Read

A Sustainable Development Roadmap for the WTO
The World Trade Organization has already identified sustainable development as a goal, at least on paper, writes Aaron Cosbey of the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Cosbey considers how the WTO can achieve these objectives. Read

Canadian Tab for Corporate Welfare Exceeds $200 Billion
Canadian governments provided businesses with more than $202 billion in bailouts, loans, and subsidies between 1994 and 2007, according to a new study released by the Fraser Institute. Read

Public Policy
Canada’s Population Estimates
Canada's population continues to get older, according to Statistics Canada. As of July 1, 2009, the median age of Canada's population was 39.5 years. Canada's youngest population was in Nunavut, where the median age was 24.2 years and where children aged less that 15 represented 32.1% of the population. Among the provinces, Alberta had the lowest median age (35.6 years). Conversely, Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest median age of the country (42.9 years). Read

Demographic Headwinds Threaten Atlantic Canada Economies
The twin demographic challenges of an aging population and slow workforce growth will affect Canada’s Atlantic provinces more acutely than other regions of the country, according to a study by the C.D. Howe Institute. The authors explain that combating this demographic decline requires a suite of policies from all levels of government. Read

Pension Reform and Old Age Security
Canada’s Old Age Security (OAS) system needs improvement in order to help ensure the economic security and dignity of Canadians in retirement, says a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The report reviews OAS and its associated programs, while offering measures that could be taken to strengthen this part of Canada’s pension system. Read

Foreign Affairs
Sustainable Peacebuilding?
In a new report from the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa, author Michael Williams examines NATO’s suitability for post-conflict reconstruction. Read

New Issue of the Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
The most recent publication from the University of Calgary’s Journal of Military and Strategic Studies contains insightful articles on security at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Canada’s role in constructing U.S. military power and more. Read

Environment
Climate Change and the Trading System
The global community is preparing for another attempt to forge a new climate change agreement at a meeting in Copenhagen beginning on December 8, 2009. Two vitally important elements of such an agreement will be how to provide for sound action on climate change without collateral damage to the international trading system. Recently, the Canadian International Council hosted a meeting that brought together experts from the two communities – trade policy and climate change – to discuss this issue. Read

Climate Change's Impact in Arctic Worse than Thought
Arctic sea ice has duped satellites into reporting thick multiyear sea ice where in fact none exists, claims a new study by University of Manitoba researcher David Barber. After sailing an ice breaker to the southern Beaufort Sea this past September, Dr. Barber and his colleagues found something unexpected: thin, “rotten” ice can electromagnetically masquerade as thick, multiyear sea ice. Read

News from Canadian Universities
H1N1: An Ecological Perspective
In a timely article, Dalhousie University biology students explain the spread and effects of the diseases on populations – with a particular focus on the H1N1 virus. The students examine how best to combat transmission and receive immunity. Read

Discovery Leads to Helpful Drought Defence
Canadian scientists say they've found the manner in which a forest's trees genetically cope with drought differs according to the time of day. A University of Toronto research team led by Professor Malcolm Campbell examined how poplar trees use their 45,000 genes to respond to drought. Campbell and doctoral student Olivia Wilkins said the use of different combinations of genes creates different programs. The genetic combination that trees use in response to a stress, such as drought, determines whether the tree can survive. Read

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