Policy Options

Canada stands at a critical crossroads. Our economic prosperity depends on international trade and investment, but new global realities are calling into question long-standing policy goals and approaches in...

Canadian agricultural lands are diverse: expansive prairie flats of grains, canola and pulses; rolling coastal berry bushes and potato fields; central acres of corn and soy; southern greenhouse vegetables...

The Conservative leadership race is over, and the contestants who pushed the envelope with more provocative policy ideas didn’t make the cut. They included Michael Chong, with his support...

The report of the expert panel on environmental assessment processes, Building Common Ground: A New Vision for Environmental Assessment in Canada, has been met with both scepticism and strident...

That Andrew Scheer would like to emulate the success of his predecessor at the helm of the Conservative Party makes perfect sense. Whatever you thought of Stephen Harper, he...

The planet has a temperature, and it’s not just because of climate change. The unpredictability of the future is making us sick with worry. But in the meantime, we...

When the idea of a national food strategy or policy is raised in Ottawa circles, it usually leads to more questions than answers. What is a national food strategy...

The Conservative Party of Canada is poised to elect a new leader. This decision will change Canada’s public policy landscape and affect Canadians across the political spectrum. There is...

Le verdict est tombé comme un couperet au congrès de Québec solidaire dimanche dernier : non à toute alliance électorale avec le Parti québécois ! Surprenant ou pas, c’est une...

There is a direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company that gives parents the opportunity to uncover their kids’ “hidden” talents. You can (allegedly) find out if your child has the...

Human beings are emotional creatures. We see it all over the place, nowhere more than in our political choices. Motivated by fear, hope, angst, sometimes anger, we collectively vote...

Do homeless people vote? Although they are citizens of Canada, the political participation of homeless people has rarely been considered. The health of our democracy should be measured by...

As we approach the election of a new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada this weekend, this is an opportune moment to examine the health of the policy-making...

En publiant un document d’à peine 200 mots le 26 avril dernier, la Maison-Blanche a donné le coup d’envoi à ce qui pourrait devenir l’une des plus importantes réformes...

Should federal judges be required to go back to school? That’s what is being considered in a draft law currently before Parliament. Although it seems like a good idea,...

Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, known as the “notwithstanding clause,” has just about acquired the status of a zombie law in recent decades, left...

Human creativity is the fuel of an innovative society. It is a natural, expandable, and infinitely renewable resource. However, rather than fully developing this resource in our young people,...

Canadian agricultural producers are innovators. Between 2011 and 2013, almost half of agricultural producers adopted at least one new or significantly improved product, process or practice. From environmental farm...

Canadian trade is at a crossroads. Rising economic anxieties combined with challenges to the global multilateral trade framework have necessitated a re-evaluation of Canadian trade policies and priorities. What should...

Budget 2017 proposes to replace the User Fees Act of 2004 with a streamlined new “Service Fees Act.” Both acts cover government fees charged for products, regulatory processes, authorizations,...

Avec des ventes de plus de 26 milliards de dollars en 2015, l’industrie de la transformation alimentaire est le secteur manufacturier le plus important au Québec. Elle est aussi...

Cultural appropriation has always been a divisive subject, one on which artists and academics have opined for years. Last week in Canada the topic exploded around the spring 2017...

Historically, agriculture has experienced three major innovations: mechanization, the introduction of chemicals and the application of modern genetics. All have significantly changed how food is produced. And now the...

You’ll often hear Ontario voters say it doesn’t matter who they vote for — all politicians are the same. There’s good reason for this attitude. It’s because the scope...

Maryscott Greenwood makes a characteristically strong and persuasive case that the United States and Canada should be bolder in reconciling the differences in our regulatory standards. Doing so would...

The Indian Act has structured the government’s and the Crown’s legal relationship with First Nations people for the past 146 years. It’s an outdated law that has its roots...

It was Saskatchewan’s NDP Premier Alan Blakeney who insisted that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms contain a provision that would allow elected officials to set aside judicial...

In our rapidly changing world, many potentially disease-causing micro-organisms are able to evolve and adapt at a rate that far exceeds our ability to develop new and effective drugs...

Canada’s commitment to fighting climate change is strong. It took an active role in negotiation of the Paris Accord, made significant investments through the 2016 and 2017 federal budgets...

Leaks have been around since governments and secrets were first invented. Recently they have occurred with more regularity and with more outrage from government officials, south and north of...

The British and Canadian monarchies are undergoing a transition. Now 91 years old, Queen Elizabeth II is cutting back on public engagements, and it’s unlikely that she’ll undertake any...

Food fraud is everywhere, and it seems that many consumers are aware of it. Dalhousie University recently released a study on the topic produced by a team I led,...

In Canada’s western interior, commercial agriculture has succeeded in one of the least favourable agro-climates on earth, with its short frost-free season and permanent water deficit.  Once called “the...

Dans les médias, chez les acteurs publics comme chez les simples citoyens, la notion de classe sociale est récurrente. Le premier ministre Justin Trudeau utilise régulièrement l’expression « classe...

The farming business has gone through some rapid structural changes in the last few decades. Commercial farm businesses have been growing in size, so the industry is becoming more...

In her April 28 article for Policy Options, Jennifer Mathers McHenry argues that the Trudeau government should have introduced dedicated paternity leave, instead of offering parents the choice of...

We’ve all been reading the negative and troubling headlines about a potential trade war between the United States and Canada on softwood lumber and dairy. But despite all the...

Of all the jurisdictions worldwide that permit some form of assisted suicide, Ontario stands alone in mandating that physicians participate in it. Assisted suicide, or “medical assistance in dying”...

Till the land. Seed annual crop. Fertilize and irrigate. Spray for weeds and pests. Harvest. Repeat. This simple process, give or take a few steps, describes a considerable (and...

We often hear the claim “More regulation is better.” But is it? Like everything else in society, regulations have a cost. Excessive regulations that delay the approval of an...

Quand les républicains ont présenté leur projet de loi sur la santé, en mars, tous les experts ont convenu que de nombreux Américains allaient perdre la couverture médicale que...

Policy Options’ Editor- in-Chief Jennifer Ditchburn and one of the magazine’s regular columnists, Timothy Caulfield, have received nominations for the 2017 Digital Publishing Awards. Ditchburn and Caulfield were both...

The runoff vote in France’s presidential election is less than a week away, in a campaign that has seen major political upheaval in the republic. The two parties that...

At a conference held last month on what it will take to decarbonize Canada’s economy, one of this country’s top economists asked me whether the nuclear industry would be...

The future is always hard to predict, but we already know that there is a new human disrupter at work on Planet Earth. Unfortunately for Canada, he lives just...

When the Finance Minister’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth put an emphasis on Canada’s agri-food sector in its second report, Canada’s food-system leaders viewed it as a gift. Those...