fr
Skip to content

Policy Options irpp irpp

November 2020

Donate fr

Menu

irpp
  • U.S. Election
  • Feature Series
    • The U.S. 2020 Presidential Election
    • Tackling Inequality as Part of Canada’s Post-Pandemic Recovery
    • Addressing Vulnerabilities for a More Equitable Pandemic Response
    • Building a More Inclusive Innovation Economy After the Pandemic
    • The Insider’s View Behind the Scenes of Election Campaigns
    • More
  • Sections
    • Economy
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Global Affairs
    • Health
    • Indigenous
    • Law
    • Media & Culture
    • Policy-making
    • Politics
    • Social Policy
    • Science & Technology
  • Podcasts
  • Events
    • Videos
  • About
    • Letter from the Editor-in-chief
    • Our commitment to readers
    • Advertising
    • Policy Options submissions
    • Submitting a response
    • Contact
Published by
  • Politics
November 30, 2020

Inquiétudes face à la dette publique en temps de pandémie

Outre les aspects sanitaires, psychologiques, sociaux et économiques, la pandémie a des effets majeurs sur les finances publiques. À l’annonce de chaque nouvel investissement et encore davantage lors d’une...

Luc Godbout, Jean-Herman Guay
  • Policy-making
  • Politics
November 27, 2020

Canada can prove it’s a leader in deliberative democracy

In the pandemic, Canadians are actually feeling better about their representative democracy. At the Samara Centre for Democracy, we looked at the Consortium on Electoral Democracy’s national public opinion...

Michael Morden, José Ramón Martí
  • Policy-making
  • Science & Tech
November 27, 2020

Policy-makers must get up to speed on AI

When COVID-19 upended plans in the U.K. for secondary school graduate exams this year, a new system was introduced that created an uproar. Teachers assigned grades based on past...

Gaga Boskovic
  • COE
  • Health
  • Politics
November 26, 2020

In the Canadian federation, pandemic response is hyper-local

This article has been translated into French. Despite having markedly lower COVID-19 death rates than most G7 nations, Canada is on track to record 20,000 COVID-19 cases a day across...

Paisley Sim, Charles Breton
  • Economy
  • Health
November 26, 2020

The other lethal pandemic is worklessness

There is another pandemic. Depression, drug abuse, and suicide are its symptoms. Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer reported the grim story last month: “The situation is most stark in...

Pierre Poilievre
  • Global Affairs
November 26, 2020

Les électrices : un bloc homogène ? Sondages postélectoraux aux États-Unis

Tenue dans le contexte de l’actuelle pandémie, l’élection présidentielle de 2020 n’avait rien d’ordinaire. Le taux de participation a été le plus élevé de tous les temps ― quelque...

Andréanne Bissonnette
  • COE
  • Policy-making
  • Politics
November 25, 2020

COVID-19 and Canadian federalism

COVID-19 has tested Canada’s intergovernmental system. With the stakes as high as they are, it’s crucial that all levels of government continue to meet, communicate, and try to work...

Mireille Paquet, Robert Schertzer, Roxanna Benoit, Charles Breton
  • Social Policy
November 25, 2020

Diversity isn’t a zero-sum game

Fostering Canada’s rich diversity continues to be a national priority, as emphasized in the latest speech from the throne. Yet, critics often view diversity as a zero-sum game. One...

Chu Q. Wang
  • Environment
  • Policy-making
November 25, 2020

Canada must adopt an emergency mindset to climate change

Even before the arrival of COVID-19, the history of the Second World War was making a remarkable comeback. Our movie theatres (remember those?), Netflix streams and bookstore shelves were...

Seth Klein
  • Global Affairs
November 24, 2020

Les États-Unis et le monde après Trump

La politique étrangère de l’administration Trump a été marquée par des revirements majeurs. Sous la bannière « L’Amérique d’abord », les États-Unis ont fragilisé les alliances traditionnelles, vu la Chine comme...

Philippe Fournier
  • Economy
  • Science & Tech
November 24, 2020

New privacy bill is a data protection reset for Canada

It is no secret that Canada’s data protection laws are lagging badly behind both the technological challenges to data protection and emerging international standards. Canada, in fact, faces an...

Teresa Scassa
  • Global Affairs
November 23, 2020

The nuclear ban treaty is entering into force. What now for Canada?

On Oct. 24, UN Day, the Central American state Honduras made history. It did so by being the 50th state to ratify the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of...

Paul Meyer
  • Health
November 23, 2020

Without good data we can’t improve mental health care

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked concern about the mental health of the population and the ability of health care systems to respond to treatment needs. Robust, valid data collected...

Paul Kurdyak, Stan Kutcher
  • Economy
  • Education
November 20, 2020

How supporting skills and training can fuel a resilient recovery

This article has been translated into French. This fall’s speech from the throne made very clear that helping Canadians gain access to training will be critical to Canada’s post-pandemic...

Denise Amyot, Paula Burns
  • Environment
  • Science & Tech
November 20, 2020

Making federalism work for energy efficiency

Energy efficiency figures prominently in proposals for how to recover from COVID-19’s economic impacts and in plans for achieving net-zero emissions. The International Energy Agency, Green New Deal proposals...

Brendan Haley, James Gaede
  • Politics
November 20, 2020

Le 117e Congrès et l’avenir des relations canado-américaines

Nul doute que la nouvelle de la défaite de Donald Trump a été accueillie avec soulagement à Ottawa. La Chambre des communes a d’ailleurs adopté à l’unanimité une motion...

Christophe Cloutier-Roy
  • Law
  • Policy-making
November 19, 2020

Solitary confinement continues in Canada under a different name

Exactly one year ago, in November 2019, Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) were implemented by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) in federal prisons to replace the old solitary confinement...

Adelina Iftene
  • Health
  • Science & Tech
November 19, 2020

Canada should reject the idea of deliberately infecting vaccine volunteers

More than 11,000 Canadians have died from COVID-19. As the number of deaths continues to rise, so, too, does the pressure on researchers and biotechnology companies to produce safe...

Landon J. Getz, Françoise Baylis
  • Global Affairs
November 18, 2020

Will Biden test Mexico’s hand’s-off approach to bilateral relations?

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was one of the first world leaders to congratulate U.S. president-elect Joe Biden on his victory, the Mexican government has chosen to hold off....

Yvonne Stinson Ortíz
  • Economy
  • Environment
November 18, 2020

Canada’s newest nuclear industry dream is a potential nightmare

This year, the federal government has made apparent its enthusiasm for the nuclear industry’s latest dream – small modular reactors (SMRs). Following up on an SMR “Action Plan” released...

Mark Winfield
  • Politics
November 18, 2020

Quelle politique étrangère pour le Canada après Trump ?

L’enthousiasme avec lequel le Canada a accueilli la victoire de Joe Biden ne devrait pas empêcher Ottawa de tirer toutes les leçons en matière de politique étrangère des quatre...

Amadou Sadjo Barry
  • Global Affairs
  • Politics
  • Special Features
November 17, 2020

The U.S. 2020 Presidential Election

The 2020 U.S. presidential campaign was bitterly fought, and unfolded against the ominous backdrop of a worsening coronavirus pandemic. The aftermath has been just as acrimonious and turbulent, as...

  • Economy
  • Environment
November 17, 2020

Canada’s clean-energy gazelles are outperforming fossil fuels

There seems to be a view that Canada can’t compete in a global low-carbon economy. After all, who will want Canada’s fossil fuels or internal combustion engines as the...

Dave Sawyer
  • Education
November 17, 2020

Will the pandemic help shift the education system back to teaching?

Students are now routinely referred to as “learners” in the school system-bound world of K-12 education. Teaching is “facilitating learning,” the classroom is a “learning environment,” and pursuing continuing...

Paul W. Bennett
  • Politics
November 16, 2020

L’implacable discipline de parti aux Communes
Chronique d’Alain Noël

La Barbade, 287 000 habitants, annonçait en septembre qu’elle s’affranchira d’ici un an de la Couronne britannique pour devenir une république. Presque 55 ans après son indépendance, l’île des...

Alain Noël
  • Economy
  • Policy-making
November 16, 2020

A guaranteed minimum income would be more effective than current government programs

When COVID-19 put the economy on hiatus in March, Employment Insurance (EI) was insufficient to ensure displaced workers had access to enough money to meet their basic needs. That’s...

Evelyn L. Forget
  • Policy-making
November 16, 2020

Public servants can’t win for losing in these COVID times

During these COVID times, many workers are being lauded for their ability to adjust and adapt to the new world order. That is not necessarily the case for those...

Jane Allt, Angela Poirier
  • Economy
  • Environment
November 13, 2020

The economic case for investing in renewable energy is strong and getting stronger

Alan Keeso makes some interesting points in his Policy Options op-ed of October 16, 2020. He is correct that Canada must absolutely increase its institutional accountability with regard to...

Duncan Gibb
  • Politics
November 13, 2020

Les chemins qui restent pour le Québec : l’intégration ou l’indépendance

J’aimerais répondre ici à l’article de mon collègue Eric Montigny, publié récemment dans les pages d’Options politiques, en rappelant le superbe ouvrage d’Yvan Lamonde sur quatre figures de la...

Marc André Bodet
  • Media & culture
  • Politics
November 13, 2020

After Trump, a struggle for shared truth

Almost four years ago, Donald Trump’s presidency began with a small, silly lie about the size of his inauguration crowd. On Nov. 7, as Joe Biden’s lead in the...

Daniel Tisch
  • Global Affairs
  • Politics
November 12, 2020

Why being a gracious winner is an essential strategy for Biden

The United States of America (along with the rest of the world) has exhaled. Americans made it through an election and appear to be making their way through the...

Sarah Goldfeder
  • Science & Tech
November 12, 2020

When science gets it wrong

This article has been translated into French. Public trust in science is crucial to the good functioning of contemporary societies. When used by elected officials and policy-makers, science supports...

Elise Smith, Bryn Williams-Jones
  • Global Affairs
November 12, 2020

Canada must play a role in renewing multilateralism for a changing world

The opening of the new session of the United Nations General Assembly at the end of September marked 75 years since the creation of the UN. In 1945, the...

Lea Matheson
  • Economy
November 11, 2020

Make the Canada Infrastructure Bank private sector-driven

The government is investing $10 billion in an infrastructure “growth plan” as a key element of its COVID economic recovery strategy. To support implementation of this plan, the Canada...

George Abonyi, David Abonyi
  • Politics
November 11, 2020

Reimagining the Canadian federation through an urban lens

Canada’s cities have borne the worst of COVID-19. Looking ahead, it’s clear they’ll need targeted support in any future recovery plans. But they’ll also need new tools to help...

Gabriel Eidelman, Don Iveson
  • Health
  • Policy-making
November 11, 2020

Bill C-7 lacks adequate limits for advance MAiD requests

Agnes looks at the person asking her kindly to extend her arm. She does not remember when she arranged to end her life through medical assistance in dying. Nor...

Thomas McMorrow
  • Environment
  • Global Affairs
November 10, 2020

What a Biden presidency means for climate change and Canada

As the dust settles on the 2020 US election, much remains uncertain, but the general outcome is clear: Joe Biden has won and will become president in January. This...

Will Greaves
  • Social Policy
November 10, 2020

Le droit au logement pour les plus démunis est fragilisé

La situation du marché du logement locatif privé est alarmante dans certaines villes et municipalités du Québec : elles font face à une importante pénurie de logements abordables, qui touche...

Hélène Bélanger
  • Law
  • Science & Tech
November 9, 2020

Facial recognition is transforming our borders, and we are not prepared

When global travel emerges from the constraints imposed by the pandemic, travellers may find themselves returning to border crossings that are unfamiliar. Facial recognition is rapidly becoming embedded in...

Tamir Israel
  • Education
  • Science & Tech
November 9, 2020

Les universités et collèges sont des intermédiaires de l’innovation

Peu nombreuses sont les discussions sur l’innovation où l’on n’entend pas fuser le mot « rupture ». Pourtant, les organisations au Canada ont l’habitude de récompenser la prédictibilité et...

Chris Whitaker, Ginger Grant
  • Indigenous
  • Law
November 9, 2020

Canada’s actions around the Mi’Kmaq fisheries rest on shaky legal ground

Acting on treaty right recognized in the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision 21 years ago in R v Marshall, the Sipekne’katik First Nation launched its moderate livelihood fishery in...

Naiomi Metallic, Constance MacIntosh
  • Media & culture
  • Politics
November 6, 2020

How did Donald Trump do so well at the polls?

It didn’t take long after polls began to close in the United States on Nov. 3rd for hopes of a Blue Wave to crash against reality. President Trump was...

David Moscrop
  • Social Policy
November 6, 2020

Le non-recours aux prestations : une menace pour l’État‑providence

Selon Jennifer Robson et Saul Schwartz, les citoyens qui n’ont pas produit de déclaration de revenus au fédéral en 2015 ont laissé sur la table des prestations d’une valeur...

Pierre-Marc Daigneault
  • Global Affairs
  • Politics
November 5, 2020

Despite a polarizing US election, there are signs of political consensus

The voting has stopped, and many results of the election remain unclear. Yet I can confidently predict that peace and quiet will not return to Washington until inauguration day...

Christopher Sands
  • Policy-making
  • Science & Tech
November 5, 2020

Canada can harness AI to help with post-pandemic recovery

Netflix’s documentary The Social Dilemma has many Canadians rethinking their intimate relationship with big tech. Among the many revelations, Canadians learned how these multinational firms deeply ingrain artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like...

Fadi Haddad
  • Health
  • Media & culture
November 5, 2020

What we can learn from COVID communications in other countries

Wise societies learn from others. In one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s daily press conferences on April 2, he said that “we’ve learned a lot from South Korea, Singapore,...

Heidi Tworek, Ian Beacock, Eseohe Ojo
  • Global Affairs
  • Politics
November 4, 2020

What American politics has taught us about democratic legitimacy

The sorry spectacle of the 2020 U.S. presidential election continued to play out Wednesday, with President Donald Trump falsely claiming that the election was a “fraud” even before all...

Toby Fyfe, Karl Salgo
  • Policy-making
  • Social Policy
November 4, 2020

Le projet de loi 70 sur les thérapies de conversion doit aller plus loin

Cette semaine se tiendront à la Commission des relations avec les citoyens des consultations particulières et des auditions publiques sur le projet de loi 70, qui a été présenté...

Florence Ashley
  • Education
  • Health
November 3, 2020

Are students and educators learning during the pandemic?

The United Nations Secretary General has decried effects of the pandemic as a “generational catastrophe” in education. It’s clear, in the middle of the panic, politics and near-chaos of...

Kelly Gallagher-Mackay
  • Health
  • Indigenous
November 3, 2020

What #JusticeforJoyce should mean for policy-makers

Let’s start with the body, for so much is won and lost and lost and lost there. –  Billy-Ray Belcourt Canadians in the fall of 2020 sit uncomfortably in...

Gillian Calder, Irehobhude O. Iyioha
  • Social Policy
November 2, 2020

Rebalancing and improving refugee resettlement in Canada

In 2019, Canada resettled 30,100 refugees, overtaking the United States and Australia in the number of refugees admitted that year. But about three in five refugees who have arrived...

Ervis Martani
  • Health
  • Indigenous
November 2, 2020

Excising racism from health care requires Indigenous collaboration

Canada’s history of colonization has laid the foundation for the implementation of racist health policy and the delivery of culturally unsafe health care, resulting in health disparities that are...

Carrie Bourassa , Danette Starblanket, Sadie Anderson

Sections

  • COE (9)
  • Economy (979)
  • Education (165)
  • Environment (426)
  • Featured Main (1)
  • Featured Secondary (3)
  • From our archives (3)
  • Global Affairs (852)
  • Health (525)
  • Hide from listings (66)
  • Indigenous (223)
  • Law (436)
  • Media & culture (325)
  • Podcasts (116)
  • Policy-making (437)
  • Politics (1508)
  • Recent Stories (2415)
  • Science & Tech (351)
  • Social Policy (886)
  • Special Features (67)
  • Trending (4)
  • Uncategorized (9)
  • Videos (26)
X

Republish this article

You are welcome to republish this Policy Options article online and in print periodicals. We ask that you follow these guidelines.

Please attribute the author(s) and mention that the article was originally published by Policy Options magazine. Editing the piece is not permitted, but you may publish excerpts.

November 2020

by Policy Options. Originally published on Policy Options
October 30, 2020

Creative Commons License

You are welcome to republish this Policy Options article online or in print periodicals, under a Creative Commons/No Derivatives licence.

1

Creative Commons License

You are welcome to republish this Policy Options article online or in print periodicals, under a Creative Commons/No Derivatives licence.

 

Support Our Work

Donate

Connect

Canadian Online Publishing Awards
2018 Silver
Best Column
Best Podcast
2017 Silver
Best Column
Best Podcast
Digital Publishing Awards
2018 Silver
Best Column
2017 Gold
Best Column

Get our newsletter

  • Sections
    • Economy
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Global Affairs
    • Health
    • Indigenous
    • Law
    • Media & Culture
    • Policy-making
    • Politics
    • Science & Technology
    • Social Policy
  • About
    • Letter from the Editor-in-chief
    • Our commitment to readers
    • Advertising
    • Article Submission
    • Response Submission
    • Contact
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Policy Options Archive

Contact Us

(514) 985-2461 irpp@irpp.org

1470 Peel St. #200
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3A 1T1

irpp irpp Published by

Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Site Map