Policy Options

Ottawa may be getting its fiscal house in order, forecasting a return to balance by 2014, a year earlier than scheduled. But several important provinces — Alberta, Ontario and...

My transition from public to private life has reinforced my long-standing belief in the importance of open dialogue between the private sector and governments. As a minister I always...

Alberta is a rich province due to the fact the government and citizens of Alberta enjoy the benefits of a huge resource endowment in the form of oil and...

The global economic landscape of the past 10 years has not been kind to Ontario. Arguably, the two most important economic developments of recent years have been the emergence...

En mars 2009, la ministre des Finances du Québec, Monique Jérôme-Forget, a présenté son dernier budget. Ce document révélait qu’à moins d’un sérieux coup de barre aux revenus et...

Avant même la récession, le Québec tout comme les autres pays de l’OCDE connaissaient tous, à divers degrés, des problèmes de finances publiques, et les plans de relance adoptés...

The stars are aligned for our country and we have an unprecedented opportunity to expand our leadership and influence around the globe. “Fortune favours the bold,” as the poet...

If Canadians needed a wake-up call to the power of regional blocs and the pace of political integration within the European Union, we got it last October with Canada’s...

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary in 2010, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada convened a high-level forum in Vancouver to discuss the state of Canada-Asia relations. The...

If current political debate in Britain is any indication, the liberal democratic state may be entering a defining moment. Fundamental questions about the respective roles of the state and...

A decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on wholesale Internet billing became headline news early this year. In late January, the CRTC affirmed its position (originally...

The senior leadership of the public service is a cornerstone element of governance in our country. The professional minefields a deputy minister must navigate are many, and few would...

One of the paradoxes of most federations is that the education or training of the citizen, typically the jurisdiction of sub-federal levels of government, is often sharply at odds...

It is always difficult to keep abreast of current issues in Canadian post-secondary education. The country’s educational needs vary demographically, historically, geographically and perhaps (surprise, surprise!) even politically. But...

Creating sustainable value is our 21st-century challenge. Canadians have long relied on governments and community organizations to meet evolving social needs, while leaving markets, private capital and the business...

In 1989, Wayne Helgason, a respected leader in Winnipeg’s Aboriginal community, was looking for better quarters for Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata, an Aboriginal child welfare agency he headed....

Canada’s cities use various models of government. Neither theory nor practice tells us which model of government is best suited for large metropolitan areas. Models that work well in...

En 2009, le taux d’emploi des femmes en âge d’avoir des enfants était de 78,8 p. 100 au Québec, en hausse de 7,4 points de pourcentage par rapport à...