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February 2020

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Published by
  • Economy
  • Education
February 28, 2020

The skilled trades are in need of strengthened apprenticeship programs

Provincial governments across the country have taken a renewed interest in promoting apprenticeships and the skilled trades. This newfound attention crosses partisan and regional lines and involves various policy...

Brian Dijkema, Sean Speer
  • Health
  • Policy-making
February 28, 2020

How far should the assisted-death law go? Look to the Charter

Now that the federal government has tabled proposed amendments to the law governing medical assistance in dying (MAiD), it’s imperative that the law’s severe restrictions be lifted so that...

Jason LeBlanc
  • Health
  • Social Policy
February 27, 2020

Pandémies, COVID-19 et facteurs sociétaux

Durant l’été de 1999, j’ai lu le livre The Hot Zone, un thriller de Richard Preston qui raconte les origines du virus Ebola. À l’époque, j’avais commencé à travailler...

Benoît Mâsse
  • Environment
  • Politics
February 27, 2020

Enhance Gulf of St. Lawrence’s environmental governance

Dying whales, municipal sewage dumping, invasive species, marine conservation, fisheries allocation and petroleum exploration — these are but a few examples of contested and interconnected environmental issues in the...

Peter Clancy, Mario Levesque
  • Health
  • Law
February 26, 2020

We need to understand that psychological suffering can be unbearable, too

I became a psychiatrist because I value life, deeply. I value the search for meaning in every kind of life, and I am in awe of the fact that...

Justine Dembo
  • Global Affairs
  • Politics
February 26, 2020

Canadians should support the country’s bid for a UN Security Council seat

As Canada pursues its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council, we should all be rooting for its success. The Security Council’s primary purpose is to maintain...

Nicolas Moyer
  • Health
  • Media & culture
February 25, 2020

Getting past the misinformation about the coronavirus

People are generally bad at understanding what’s a threat to them. We have lots of research and examples to back that up: people are scared of nuclear power even...

Scott Mitchell
  • Science & Tech
  • Social Policy
February 25, 2020

Facial recognition technology requires checks and balances

A few weeks ago, members of the Nexus traveller identification program were notified that Canadian Border Services is upgrading its automated system, from iris scanners to facial recognition technology....

David Eaves, Naeha Rashid
  • Indigenous
  • Law
February 24, 2020

Quelles leçons tirer du conflit sur le gazoduc Coastal GasLink?

Quels enseignements peut-on tirer du conflit actuel entourant la construction du gazoduc Coastal GasLink en Colombie-Britannique ? Alors que l’attention médiatique et politique est tournée vers les solutions à...

Martin Papillon
  • Indigenous
  • Law
February 24, 2020

Give the Wet’suwet’en space to conduct their law-making, away from barricades

In 1986, in preparation for the Delgamuukw land rights trial that would be held in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, an all clans feast was held in in...

Douglas Sanderson
  • Indigenous
  • Science & Tech
February 21, 2020

Indigenous DNA database should be managed by its people

Canada’s use of DNA collection and analysis was expanded in March 2018 through the creation of five new DNA databases. Three were created for humanitarian purposes, and the other...

Todd Hataley, Ann-Mary Bouchard
  • Environment
  • Science & Tech
February 21, 2020

Defence strategy is proof a carbon tax can spur energy sector innovation

Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson faces the tough task of finding a way to meet Canada’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. With few policy mechanisms at his disposal, he...

Karlis Vasarais
  • Media & culture
February 20, 2020

News has moved online, and media oversight in Canada must catch up

There were a few tense moments earlier this month and news organizations and journalists from across the country held their collective breath, after Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault...

Brent Jolly
  • Economy
  • Environment
February 20, 2020

Canada can lead on net-zero transition for heavy industry

Climate change is creating a new generation of green technologies on the one hand and on the other it is shrinking investment in fossil fuels due to fears that...

Robert Smith, Scott Vaughan
  • Social Policy
February 19, 2020

Racisme et discrimination systémiques à Montréal

En 2019, à la suite d’une importante mobilisation de la société civile, la Ville de Montréal a lancé une consultation publique sur le racisme et la discrimination systémiques. Les...

Balarama Holness
  • Health
February 19, 2020

The fundamental risk of expanding Medical Assistance in Dying

The federal government plans to expand Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (“MAiD”) regime, less than four years after the practice was legalized. The move is in response to Truchon...

Derek Ross
  • Education
  • Environment
February 18, 2020

Canadian law schools must do their part to help combat climate change

The intensifying physical and socio-economic effects of climate change, mainstreamed by political debates and scientific evidence on anthropogenic disruptions to the global climate system, have motivated changing legislation, regulation,...

Ling Chen
  • Law
February 18, 2020

Trauma must be considered in cases of intimate partner violence

In December, the Ontario Court of Justice dismissed all charges against Joshua Boyle, the former Taliban prisoner accused of sexually assaulting and physically abusing his wife, Caitlan Coleman. Before...

Daniel Del Gobbo
  • Indigenous
  • Politics
February 17, 2020

The breathtaking hypocrisy of the howls for “rule of law”

Last October, an international celebration occurred in the verdant coastal community of Bella Bella, BC. Members of the Heiltsuk Nation finally opened their Gvakva’aus Hailzaqv, their Big House, a...

Jennifer Ditchburn
  • Law
  • Social Policy
February 17, 2020

Independent national body would address violence against athletes

Our most prized Canadian athletes are too often experiencing violence in sport and suffering in silence. While national-level athletes perform spectacular athletic feats on the world stage as millions...

Gretchen Kerr
  • Media & culture
  • Social Policy
February 14, 2020

Why Canada needs a national policy for Black arts, culture and heritage

Like the ones before it, this Black History Month is blessed with a cascade of creative programming that will uncover and convey Black Canada’s complex and compelling stories through...

Anthony N. Morgan
  • Global Affairs
  • Law
February 14, 2020

Sexual assault policy must better protect migrant women

Although Canada provides many resources to support women who have experienced sexual violence, migrant women with precarious immigration status are practically invisible and do not usually have access to...

Deepa Mattoo
  • Economy
  • Policy-making
February 13, 2020

The changing strains of federalism

For most foreign observers, Canada is a fascinating and gifted country. Its citizens enjoy a high standard of living. With rapid population increase since the war, there has been...

Pierre Lortie
  • Law
  • Politics
February 13, 2020

Le fédéralisme sous tension : un retour aux années 1980 ?
Options politiques a 40 ans

Pour son 40e anniversaire, Options politiques a demandé à des collaborateurs de différents horizons politiques de commenter des articles qui sont parus dans notre magazine en 1980, notre première...

Pierre Lortie
  • Law
  • Social Policy
February 13, 2020

The gaps in Canada’s efforts to stop sexual violence against children

There are different faces of sexual violence against children – some get a lot of attention and others remain hidden and under-reported. There’s been news coverage of how RCMP...

Kathy Vandergrift
  • Global Affairs
February 13, 2020

Development aid as foreign policy is a flawed idea

In a recent speech at a conference on liberal Internationalism in Toronto, Canada’s Minister for International Development Karina Gould discussed the usual topics, including the importance of her new...

Themrise Khan
  • Politics
  • Science & Tech
February 12, 2020

Why creating an AI department is not a good idea

When I give public talks and training on AI in government, I am often asked why Canada has no “Department of Artificial Intelligence” to govern AI. Some jurisdictions, like...

Mark Robbins
  • Law
  • Social Policy
February 12, 2020

Quebec City murder underscores need to abolish prostitution

Can prostitution be made safe? The question has landed again in our national conversation following the murder of a woman in Quebec City. The short answer is no. Those...

Trisha Baptie, Cherry Smiley
  • Education
February 11, 2020

Bringing fairness to campus sexual violence complaint processes

About one in four female students will be sexually assaulted while studying at a Canadian post-secondary institution. Many complainants experience a drop in their grades, have difficulty concentrating and...

Karen Busby, Joanna Birenbaum
  • Economy
  • Environment
February 11, 2020

Canada needs an ambitious energy-retrofit plan for buildings

Canadians voted in October 2019 for strong action to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Energy efficiency is a tool in our climate action toolbox that was featured in...

Brendan Haley, James Gaede
  • Economy
  • Health
February 10, 2020

Health care sector needs an ambitious skills agenda

(This article has been translated into French.) The rallying cry for more “beds and buildings” in Canada’s health care system is understandable. Hospitals are overcrowded. Wait times for priority procedures...

John Stackhouse
  • Environment
February 10, 2020

From Australia, a burning message for fossil fuel producers

Earlier this year, acclaimed Australian novelist Richard Flanagan blasted politicians in his country, saying unwavering political support for fossil fuel industries in Australia is leading the country to commit...

Philippe Le Billon
  • Social Policy
February 10, 2020

Les hommes victimes d’abus sexuels durant l’enfance

Un homme sur dix révèle avoir été victime d’abus sexuels durant l’enfance. Ce taux ne représente probablement que la pointe de l’iceberg, puisque les études qui tiennent compte des...

Jean-Martin Deslauriers, Natacha Godbout, André Samson
  • Economy
  • Global Affairs
February 7, 2020

Decoupling from China
is hard to do

Eighteen months after US President Trump launched a bruising trade war against China, the two sides signed a truce in which Washington agreed to ease some tariffs on Chinese...

Ari Van Assche
  • Law
February 7, 2020

Sex-assault prosecutions often fail women with mental disabilities

Women who have a psychiatric or intellectual disability are four to five times more likely than other women to be sexually assaulted. Yet discussions of “rape culture” do not...

Janine Benedet, Isabel Grant
  • Politics
February 6, 2020

Justin Trudeau and the politics of federalism

Parliament has finally resumed sitting, but it’s hardly a fresh start for Justin Trudeau. The regional and ideological fault lines of the last election aren’t going anywhere. And now,...

Chantal Hébert, Daniel Béland, Christopher Ragan, Charles Breton
  • Law
  • Social Policy
February 6, 2020

External monitoring body would hold military accountable for sexual assaults

In 2018, the federal government controversially argued that it did not owe a “private law duty of care” to provide a safe, harassment-free work environment, or policies against sexual...

Maya Eichler, Marie-Claude Gagnon
  • Media & culture
  • Science & Tech
February 6, 2020

Feds faced with two visions for future of communications

With the release of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review’s (BTLR) final report last week, Canada now has two regulatory visions for the future of its communication systems. Before...

Fenwick McKelvey
  • Environment
  • Global Affairs
February 5, 2020

Canada has a moral obligation to accept climate migrants

Ioane Teitiota fled from Kiribati, an island country in the central Pacific, to New Zealand in 2010. He was the first human face of what have now been called...

Stephen Kaduuli
  • Law
  • Media & culture
February 5, 2020

Médias et agressions sexuelles : prévenir ou nuire

De quelle façon la population canadienne s’informe-t-elle de la criminalité ? Selon une étude réalisée par Éric Bélisle, 95 % des Canadiens passent par les médias traditionnels pour s’informer...

Claudie-Émilie Wagner-Lapierre
  • Law
  • Social Policy
February 4, 2020

Nova Scotia restorative inquiry offers new vision of justice

The Restorative Inquiry for the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children released its final report at a public ceremony in Halifax in November 2019. The 556-page report details the...

Jennifer Llewellyn
  • Health
  • Social Policy
February 4, 2020

Les inégalités sociales de santé
Chronique d’Alain Noël

En 2006-2008, l’espérance de vie sur le territoire du CLSC Hochelaga-Maisonneuve à Montréal était de 74,2 ans, comparativement à 85 ans pour le territoire plus favorisé du CLSC Saint-Laurent....

Alain Noël
  • Law
  • Social Policy
February 4, 2020

Support services still lacking for survivors of sexual assault

Changes in the wake of the #MeToo movement have been monumental. Perhaps the most promising outcome is recent research suggesting that survivors themselves are feeling less self-doubt, more supported...

Grace Lore, Dalya Israel, Tracy Porteous
  • Media & culture
  • Politics
February 3, 2020

Do you need to punch to be prime minister?

One of the most poignant moments in political leadership occurred nearly a year ago, in the aftermath of the devastating hate murders of 50 people. New Zealand’s Prime Minister...

Jennifer Ditchburn
  • Law
  • Social Policy
February 3, 2020

Rape myths and sexism still cloud police responses to sexualized violence

Confidence in Canada’s criminal justice system among victims of sexual assault is demonstrably at an all-time low. Just five percent of sexual assaults are reported to the police and,...

Holly Johnson

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February 2020

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January 31, 2020

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