Policy Options

In its 2016 Public Report On The Terrorist Threat To Canada, Public Safety Canada said domestic, violent extremists who could be inspired to carry out an attack are the...

Fifty-three to zero: this is the number of smog days in Ontario in 2005 compared with the number in 2014. Ontario had the better part of two full months...

At a First Nations education conference in late January in Calgary, sponsored by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, one of the presenters used the term “incrementalism.” She...

Across Canada, people enthusiastically join walks and runs to raise funds for disease charities. It’s a feel-good thing to do, walking to “find a cure” for Parkinson’s and kidney...

On January 10, 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Ahmed Hussen as the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship. Hussen replaced John McCallum, who had been the minister since...

Canada has a tailpipe problem. The country’s 24 million or so cars and trucks together generated 23% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2014, and were responsible for three...

In describing a unique campaign to raise funds for children’s cancer research in the late 1940s, Siddhartha Mukherjee writes in The Emperor of All Maladies, “For any illness to...

I recently attended a lunch about the “Cambie Clinic” case, an ongoing constitutional challenge to British Columbia’s public healthcare monopoly. One of the guests, a former premier of a...

We all act out of some degree of self-interest, but the arguments put forward recently by CBC executives are something to behold. First, CBC President Hubert Lacroix put forward...

En plus de sa politique des langues officielles, le Canada favorise la préservation et l’utilisation de ses autres langues. L’action gouvernementale en matière de langue ne se limite pas...

Canada’s major international development agencies focus on the most needy, particularly women and children, in the poorest communities and in the developing world. They are good at it. They...

Canada is facing an innovation dilemma that has the power to cripple our economy for decades to come. It is caused by two separate but related problems. First, Canada’s...

With the “Magnitsky law” now in effect in the United States, many have speculated that Canada might adopt similar legislation that would facilitate the application of sanctions on individuals...

After much anticipation, the federal government has announced the reinstatement of the Court Challenges Program. Set to cost $12 million over five years, the CCP will assist Canadians with...

Conservative MP Bob Saroya’s recent declaration that Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith was “irresponsible” and “completely careless” for suggesting that Canada should pursue full-scale drug decriminalization has reinforced how toxic...

With the onset of the surveillance age, the electronic documentation of the human experience is everywhere. Sports programs use instant replay and/or photo finishes to assess who crossed the...

Il n’y a rien comme un débat sur la santé aux États-Unis pour faire comprendre aux Canadiens la chance qu’ils ont. Dès son entrée en fonction, Donald Trump a...

Canada’s 150th birthday gives us all cause to reflect. What can we learn from the past? And what can we improve upon in the future? Canada’s economy has the potential...

If I had to count the number of times I have heard that we need to “lift Indigenous people out of poverty” and “make Indigenous people equal and productive...

On January 11, 2017, David Moscrop told us that we need to understand “how different people see the world,” in order to “combat” populism (notwithstanding that such combat undermines...

In 2015, the Liberal Party swept into power by presenting big ideas and promising to do things differently: foundationally important things to Canada, like massive infrastructure investments in cities...

The release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) 94 Calls to Action prompted many Canadian post-secondary institutions to re-examine the ways in which they are providing education to Indigenous...

Under Canada’s previous minister of foreign affairs, the government launched a process to consider incorporating penalties for human rights abuses into federal sanctions law as part of the legislated...

There has been some discussion recently about a proposal by the federal government to make employee health and dental plans taxable benefits. There are budgetary and ethical reasons to...

The Alberta power system is set for radical transformation between now and 2030. According to the Climate Leadership Plan, the province will end all coal-fired power generation and get...

En 2012, âgé alors de 84 ans, mon père a survécu à un accident vasculaire cérébral sévère. Lui qui avait été dans une forme exceptionnelle doit désormais prendre neuf...

There has been a flutter of concern recently about a motion introduced in the House of Commons by Liberal MP Iqra Khalid. Among other things, motion M-103 calls on...

With the large number of Senate appointments made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a more independent role for individual senators, a look at the current level of diversity...

Wildlife is central to the Canadian identity. From Indigenous communities to the urbanites of our largest cities, an overwhelming majority of Canadians want the federal government to protect and...

The conversation about women on boards in Canada has shifted in an encouraging direction over the past two years – it’s no longer a dialogue focused on why we...

It’s no mystery why the topic of “women in the workforce” was a centrepiece of the first face-to-face meetings between Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump on Monday. It’s a...

As Prime Minister Trudeau meets with President Trump for the first time today, there is little doubt that their nascent relationship represents a study in contrasts. Trudeau is a...

In 2015, when the Liberals were falling in the polls due to their stance on the Conservative government’s anti-terrorism bill, Justin Trudeau launched a pillar promise to fix the...

After a decision from the highest court in the country, we were hoping that British Columbians would be able to freely express themselves in the upcoming provincial election (scheduled...

Je vous vois aller. Toujours à la course, comme tous les journalistes avant vous. Mais pressés comme des citrons pour alimenter la presse de textes, photos, vidéos, tweets —...

In preparing its report The Shattered Mirror, the Public Policy Forum partnered with the Canadian Journalism Foundation and engaged the Earnscliffe Strategy Group to conduct research that would provide...

The Trudeau government’s lofty ambitions of fighting climate change are unlikely to succumb to Donald Trump’s presidency with a bang, but they could go out with a whimper. In...

As Canada looks to diversify its international trade and foreign investment portfolio, there are encouraging signs that it is moving to seize blue-chip opportunities being created in the United...

CBC-Radio-Canada (CBC-RC) looms large in the current debate over the future of Canadian media. The public broadcaster is seen as either the last bastion of public service journalism, or...

La médecine devrait‑elle faire de l’âgisme ? Une jeune interne m’a récemment dit que oui. Arguant que notre système de santé est engorgé, elle a expliqué son point de...

How innovative is Canada? How do our regions differ in their rates of innovation productivity? How do we compare with our international peers in innovation output? These questions are...

While the idea of a journalism crisis isn’t new, the perpetuation of fake news during the 2016 US presidential election, arguably, has intensified the crisis and the threat to...

By now, the contentious relationship between news media and America’s 45th president is well-established. At his first news conference since November’s election, Donald Trump berated a CNN reporter and...

As nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) today consider how to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the current UN development framework, it is helpful to reflect on how...

Business leaders, universities and governments are all seeking the knowledge and savvy that comes with international experience, an elusive set of characteristics sometimes described as cultural fluency. Businesses want...

In 1873, 10-year-old Edward Bok had an idea. Quench the thirst of New Yorkers under a sweltering Brooklyn sun by selling glasses of ice water for a penny. His...

As far as mainstream media is concerned, 2016 will be remembered as the year that print media ran out of runway, as the transition-to-digital bluff was called. It’s clear...

The recent attack on a Quebec City mosque has been attributed by a few commentators to the dangerous amalgamation of ethno-nationalism and xenophobia, that allegedly together constitute Quebec nationalism....

The recent comments by Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch, explicitly stating that she would abolish the Indian Act, raised a number of eyebrows within the Indigenous community, including my...

“Ailing,” “beleaguered” and “being murdered” — according to its own headlines, 2016 was a rough year for journalism in Canada. Entering 2017, it shows no signs of recovery. Legacy...

I’m a Patriots fan. I was born outside Boston and lived in New England as a child. If the dreamy Tom Brady needs a kidney, I’m there for him....

In the summer of 2015, a roomful of Ottawa folks got together at the National Arts Centre, eager to gain insights into the question, “What Stories Swing Votes?” The...

Justin Trudeau’s government is set to introduce changes to the rules governing political fundraising activities. The prime minister has faced heat for the so-called “cash-for-access” fundraisers it has held...

Most people I talk to have never heard of carbon leaks, which is when carbon policy causes emissions to be displaced to another jurisdiction. Yet the recent election in...

The impasse over the physician services agreement continues between Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and the Ontario Medical Association, which represents about 30,000 physicians in Ontario. Much...

Quel avenir pour le journalisme ? Voilà ce qu’on demande à une recrue toute verte, qui, il y a un an à peine, était encore assise sur les bancs...