Weeding out crooked immigration consultants
The first paper that I wrote in law school was about legal ethics. I submitted a seven-page essay arguing that restricting the practice of law to graduates of law...
Le suicide chez les hommes : ignoré par la santé publique
Quand on parle de suicide, la plupart des gens pensent à une jeune personne aux prises avec des troubles de santé mentale. Bien que cela puisse être la première...
Canada’s postcentennial generation
(This article has been translated into French.) Let’s be honest, it’s difficult to feel an emotional connection to the number 150. There’s nothing particularly personal about it. Canada’s sesquicentennial...
Rethinking copyright for Indigenous creative works
As it embarks on another five-year periodic review of the Copyright Act, Canada has an opportunity to reflect on its copyright regime in light of the gaps that exist...
Le libre accès aux publications scientifiques
Le droit d’auteur, dans la doctrine juridique occidentale, fait partie du champ de la propriété intellectuelle, qui le définit comme un rapport de propriété entre un créateur et sa...
The real impact of the pension reform plan
In June of 2016, the Liberal government announced reforms to Canada’s retirement income system. At the heart of the plan was a commitment to increase the benefits provided by...
Who owns Indigenous cultural and intellectual property?
The recent, very public dispute over the appropriation of Indigenous voices was just one manifestation of a much larger issue: the struggle for the protection of Indigenous cultural and...
How Canada will punch above its weight
Recent foreign and defence policy announcements by the Trudeau government have been just about as consequential as they come. On June 13, Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland laid out...
What else beyond carbon pricing?
Four provinces making up around 85 percent of Canada’s economic activity, and roughly the same share of the country’s GHG emissions, now have broad-based carbon prices. Those without such...
A Copyright Board for Canada at 150
Recognition and protection of the role of copyright in Canadian society goes back as far as Confederation. But just as the need to pursue the appropriate balances among competing...
The shelf life of defence White Papers
The Trudeau government has just published their much anticipated defence White Paper. Titled Strong, Secure, Engaged, the document was the product of unprecedented public consultations, ranging from round tables...
A report card on the national security bill
Bill C-59 is the government’s massive reform of Canada’s national security law. It is the real deal: the biggest reform in this area since 1984, and the creation of...
Governments have to start acting on poverty
Over a quarter-century ago, Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion by NDP Leader Ed Broadbent to end child poverty by 2000. Few such well-intentioned parliamentary actions have...
Traditional media still most trusted
Social media and mobile phones have become preferred options for news consumption among a growing number of users. However, in Canada, as in other countries among the 36 surveyed...
Droit d’auteur : protéger l’utilisation équitable
Alors que le gouvernement fédéral entamera bientôt un examen de la Loi sur le droit d’auteur, les universités canadiennes souhaitent rappeler qu’il est essentiel de protéger le principe d’« utilisation...
Some progress toward low-carbon economy, much more needed
Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Agreement has clearly outlined the challenge of leadership on climate action on this side of the Atlantic....
Second election not the answer to BC’s political mess
It has been six weeks since British Columbians went to the polls. The absentee ballots have been counted, the recounts are over, and the newly elected members have been...
The UK’s murky political future
It’s been a little under two weeks since the UK election, when support for Theresa May’s government plunged. She was left with not a super-majority as she hoped, but...
Vers une réelle modernisation du droit d’auteur
Au cours de la dernière décennie, il s’est passé quelque chose d’étrange et d’inattendu avec le concept de droit d’auteur : il a disparu. En fait, pas complètement, bien sûr....
Empowering seniors through vision care
As of 2015, more Canadians are aged 65 or over than are under 15. Governments must take into account this significant demographic shift when developing policies that respond to...
Justin Trudeau and “reconciliatory
federalism”
In the coming weeks the Canadian calendar is filled with days of celebration. On June 21, Canadians are invited to honour the contributions to Canada of First Nations, Métis...
Once more into the copyright breach
Once again – as mandated by legislation – the Copyright Act will be subject to review. This time around, a committee of the Senate or the House of Commons...
The value gap in Canada’s cultural industries
Back in 2003, a famous Canadian recording artist had this to say when he was asked about his prospects in the new digital economy: “We are entering a golden...
Maximiser le rendement de la R-D en santé
Depuis le retour à l’équilibre budgétaire, le gouvernement du Québec a fait de l’innovation sa stratégie prioritaire de croissance économique et de développement social. Ce mot est de tous...
Gender pay equity in Ontario
Thirty years after Ontario brought in the Pay Equity Act — the first law of its kind in the world — the gender wage gap has not gone away....
How copyright impacts post-secondary education
Since 2012, the last time the Copyright Act was reviewed and amended, the limited use of copyrighted materials without payment or permission has been allowed for educational purposes. As...
The next chapter in pension reform
The announcement a year ago by Canada’s finance ministers that they had finally reached an agreement on a plan to enhance CPP benefits for future generation of retirees brought...
Libraries and the copyright (balancing) act
The upcoming review of the Copyright Act presents an opportunity to discuss and debate the state of copyright in Canada and for the library community to offer a vision...
Empowering women entrepreneurs globally
The burden of poverty is not shared equally. In most developing nations, low-income women experience unique barriers that hinder their ability to lift themselves out of poverty. These include...
La rémunération des créateurs : revoir la philosophie juridique
Un article paru dans Options politiques en mai dernier, sous les plumes de Phil Jarvis et Jennifer Fraser, nous invite à favoriser l’éclosion de la créativité chez nos jeunes....
How Ontario’s labour law changes will affect unions
Ontario’s late-May labour law announcements, which include an increase in the minimum wage to $15 per hour, longer vacation time, and expanded leave policy, are a huge win for...
What’s next, after the 2012 copyright overhaul?
The decade-long debate over Canadian copyright that preceded the 2012 legislative overhaul was marked by sharply divided views among stakeholders across the spectrum. Five years later, the reform package...
Reviewing Canadian Copyright Policy
Reforming the Copyright Act was a tough slog the last time around, a balancing act for policy-makers and legislators, who heard from wildly different perspectives on what would be...
Policy thinking beyond Canada’s 150th
Canada’s 150th anniversary is a time to celebrate and appreciate what we have as a country and society and to reflect on what we have learned. It is also...
Rebates should be part of electric car strategy
Last month, Ottawa officially kicked off work on a national strategy for zero-emission cars. And this week, a thoughtful report from Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission said that offering incentives to...
Indigenous people and the Constitution conversation
Last week, when Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard suggested that it might be time for a Constitutional conversation, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wasted no time in shutting the federal door...
Résignés, notre façon d’être fédéralistes
Chronique d’Alain Noël
Avant même que la nouvelle Politique d’affirmation du Québec et de relations canadiennes — intitulée Québécois, notre façon d’être Canadiens — ne soit rendue publique, le premier ministre Justin...
Reconciliation: Beyond incremental change
In 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a statement of apology on behalf of the Canadian government to former students of the Indian residential school system. In it, he...
Plotting the policy path for recreational cannabis
In 2014, Canada opened the door to a competitive, commercial industry of licensed producers (LPs) approved by Health Canada to grow and distribute cannabis for medical purposes. In doing...
Strategies for a new world of work
The world of work has changed. A wave of technology, globalization and new ways of working has created employment challenges that threaten the future prosperity of our young people....
Trump’s Paris withdrawal, Canada’s opportunity
Donald Trump may have done the world a big favour last Thursday afternoon when he announced he was pulling the United States out of the Paris agreement. In a...
Why Trump’s climate change move is not a Kyoto redux
We expected it was coming, given President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Yet we followed the news each day, intensely, reading...
Promoting national cohesion through multiculturalism
Immigration has sparked nativist sentiments, racial divisions and economic insecurities in Western liberal democracies. The election of Donald Trump as the US president is evidence of the political foothold...
Assisted dying and the lessons of history
In mid-May, a respected physician and scholar stepped down as chair of a working group of the Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying. The working group will study...
The urban/rural divide and a more inclusive Canada
Donald Trump’s unexpected election victory and first months in office have understandably caused Canadians to revisit some basic questions about our own democracy. It is a worthwhile exercise but...
The West is dead. Long live the West
There is much gloom and even a hint of doom in the world today in the wake of last month’s disastrous G7 summit in Italy. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s comments...
Policy Options columnist wins Digital Publishing Award
Policy Options columnist Tim Caulfield has won a 2017 Digital Publishing Award for his work in the magazine. Caulfield, who holds a Canada Research Chair in health law and...
Canada’s opportunity as a convening power
Canada is a country that can legitimately claim to be advancing inclusive economic growth and a liberal international order. When it takes on the G7 presidency next year, Canada...
An ode to Manchester
On the eve of the tribute concert for the victims of Manchester’s bombing, politicians and policy-makers can draw lessons from the response of this great city to the horrendous...
A great, and terrible, day for climate action
When reflecting upon yesterday’s climate change news, I thought back to a pivotal moment in the movie City Slickers when Billy Crystal’s character Mitch and his pals Phil and...
Putting the “public” in public servant
Working on social policy in 2017 feels a bit like folding propaganda flyers into origami so they’ll look prettier — Band-Aid solutions for gaping global social wounds and inequities....
De Québec solidaire aux gouvernements de coalition
Les membres de Québec solidaire ont choisi le 21 mai dernier de rejeter la possibilité d’une alliance avec le Parti québécois en vue de la prochaine élection. Au-delà des...