Le cosmopolitisme contre la démocratie ?
Chronique d’Alain Noël
De nouvelles notes de recherche sur les gilets jaunes français montrent comment les appuis à ce mouvement se trouvent surtout chez les électeurs moins éduqués et peu fortunés, ceux-là...
Crafting a digital democracy
Today, many of the most crucial policy questions are also digital questions, and how we choose to address them has the potential to transform policy-making at the highest levels....
To truly modernize social programs, it will take big data and analytics
Finding better ways of wiring for e-government is important and necessary. Nobody would disagree with the need for better computing, electronic communications and information management. However, digital improvements will...
Quebec pharmacare might just be what Ottawa is looking for
Canada is about to take a critical shot at a national approach to pharmacare — ensuring that every citizen is able to fill a doctor’s prescription regardless of income,...
A conversation with experts on climate change policy
Canada’s climate change policy was up for debate at the second event in Policy Options’ Pre-election Breakfast Series, in partnership with the Max Bell School of Public Policy. Nancy Olewiler (Simon Fraser...
Court ruling on voyeurism could have broad social impact
The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously determined earlier this month that Ryan Jarvis, while teaching at a high school in London, Ont., had committed the criminal offence of voyeurism....
Embrace the unknowable: Four digital-age strategies for governments
Governments have been hearing for decades about how they should change to keep pace with an increasingly digital society. Public servants are urged to make their organizations “agile,” “connected,”...
We need to start tracking the billions that go to social services
Picture this: two business partners decide to expand to a new city. Partner A will continue to take care of the head office. Partner B heads off with a...
A lot is riding on how we manage asylum seekers
The next federal election is just eight months away. Immigration, and particularly asylum seekers and irregular border crossers coming from the US, is sure to be a thorny issue...
Cannabis bill a valuable test for how new Senate could work
Although it is still early days in the reform of Canada’s Senate, the success of an independent senator and his colleagues in sponsoring the Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) legalizing...
It would be a deadly mistake to discourage breast cancer screenings
If a Canadian wide-body jet were to crash because of maintenance problems, killing all 400 people on board, it would be seen as a national disaster and would occupy...
Alcool, jeu et cannabis : entre promotion et dissuasion
Au Québec, la Société des alcools (SAQ) fait du marketing ciblé pour vendre ses produits alcoolisés, et Loto-Québec utilise l’argent public pour promouvoir le jeu. À l’opposé, de nombreuses...
The silence/shame double bind for women in power
The saga unfolding around former Liberal cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has been characterized as many things – evidence of the old guard that still pulls the levers in Ottawa,...
A turning point for misogynist and Islamophobic speech?
A few weeks ago, a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice found James Sears and Leroy St. Germaine, the editor and publisher of Your Ward News, guilty of...
Créer des villes intelligentes inclusives
En vous promenant dans un quartier ou au centre-ville d’une ville canadienne typique, vous passerez peut-être devant une caméra de circulation ou devant un commerce de vélos qui collectera...
Making doctors choose between their convictions and their calling
In its 2015 ruling in Carter v. Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the Criminal Code prohibition against assisted suicide as an unjustified violation of the Charter of Rights and...
Immigration policy requires a rethink
Immigration has evolved into a defining issue of national politics in most western countries, dividing liberals from populists and globalists from nationalists. Policy in this area is increasingly intertwined...
Is the next big fight over the Northwest Passage coming?
In late 2018, American Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer made an extraordinary comment with potentially serious ramifications for Canada. During a talk on naval security at the Center...
Québec 2018 : les raisons du vote
Chaque campagne électorale donne lieu à des stratégies de la part des partis pour convaincre les électeurs de leur accorder leur vote. Toutes s’accompagnent également d’analyses de chercheurs et...
How infrastructure could build Canada’s clean economy
There’s an opportunity to fight climate change that is literally all around us. It’s the road you took to get where you are. It could be the building where...
A digital strategy for Canada
As more aspects of the economy go digital, Canadian businesses face new challenges along with new opportunities. It’s clear that Canada’s economic growth depends on how we seize these...
Canada needs a robust digital ID system
The concept of digital government, when we’re already living in a digital society, should be widely welcomed. This is especially true in the area of identification, where establishing who...
Legislators behaving badly and what to do about it
Parliament and provincial legislatures are meant to be showcases of Canadian democracy. Over the past several years, however, they have been rocked by instances of bad behaviour. Misconduct takes...
‘Trust Us’ doesn’t cut it on the SNC-Lavalin affair
At the pinnacle of Canada’s justice system is a member of cabinet who plays a dual role, being both the attorney general (AG) and the minister of justice –...
Outdated procurement rules hindering digital government
Government digital-services teams are on a mission to make Canada the most advanced digital nation in the world. With leading-edge approaches to user design and experimentation, they’re piloting projects...
Les médias locaux : une nécessité démocratique
L’arrivée du Web et de nouvelles technologies numériques à grande échelle dans nos foyers a révolutionné nos façons de communiquer et de consommer. Or, si les médias d’information sont...
How a standards council could help curb harmful online content
The minister for democratic institutions recently announced coordinated efforts to safeguard elections from online threats. The announcement highlighted concerns that social media platforms could be used to spread disinformation...
How data visualization in government can empower dialogue
The World Economic Forum defines our time as the fourth industrial revolution, when “data will rule in a world where nearly everyone and everything is connected in real time.”...
Why is Ontario cutting midwife funding?
When governments make funding cuts, they are doing more than removing financial support; they are signalling that they are prioritizing or, more accurately, deprioritizing certain interests. On November 8,...
Insights for Canada’s new digital government minister
Following Scott Brison’s retirement from federal politics in January, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed Jane Philpott to replace him as Canada’s second minister of digital government (in addition to her...
Tools for horizontal collaboration in government
When the Mowat Centre recently asked public servants to identify the greatest challenges they face, most did not name big societal challenges like homelessness and climate change. Rather, the...
Lessons from Estonia on digital government
An emerging model of digital government pioneered by Estonia and India is illustrating how governments can do a better job of delivering services. Both countries have devised ways to...
Suède : la social-démocratie en otage
Chronique d’Alain Noël
Il aura fallu un peu plus de quatre mois aux élus suédois pour former un gouvernement après l’élection législative du 9 septembre dernier. Dirigé par le premier ministre social-démocrate...
Exploiter le potentiel des données massives en santé
La transformation des organisations de santé, qui remplacent le traditionnel dossier papier par un dossier électronique, promet une révolution. C’est que l’utilisation du dossier électronique par les professionnels produit...
First Nations water problems a crisis of Canada’s own making
It is hard to imagine that in 2019, First Nations in Canada could lack access to clean drinking water in their own territories — but many do. In fact,...
How is tech lobbying shaping federal policy?
Technology and its influence in Canadian life was easily the top story of 2018. The Cambridge Analytica scandal kicked off the year; then issues surfaced about Facebook’s lobbying presence...
Proportional representation won’t fix Canada’s accountability problem
Now that British Columbia voters have given proportional representation another referendum defeat, what’s next for democratic reform in Canada? The promise of proportional representation is elections that work better...
A better system for active-shooter alerts on campuses
Last week, somewhere deep in the labyrinth of the Carleton University security system in Ottawa, someone hit the wrong key at the wrong time. We all do this. But...
The public service’s digital literacy problem
Let’s take a step back in time 20 years to 1999. Personal computers were becoming more powerful and affordable, and increasingly a common part of work, school, and home...
Innovation juridique et données : la responsabilité des sources
À la suite du développement du Web, à l’aube des années 2000, l’information juridique canadienne produite par l’État est principalement distribuée par le biais de services et d’initiatives privées...
Canada’s “prove it” approach to Aboriginal title
The world watched in early January as an armed RCMP force entered Wet’suwet’en territory and arrested 14 people. The RCMP was enforcing an interim injunction obtained by Coastal GasLink...