Policy Options

 I want to focus specifically on a topic all too familiar to you — our lagging productivity performance. In fact, in remarks this year Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney...

It’s been quite a year for Canada. Western Canada had a particularly active year, with a series of events that shaped national — and even international — news for economic,...

The random telephone poll of 1,017 Canadians from November 1 to 5, 2010 found that Canadians this holiday season are not very festive. The Canada “right direction” number is 52.2 percent...

Too often, when world attention turns to Canada, it is intermittent and with a narrow lens, rather than a broad focus. That is unfortunate, because in today’s volatile and...

“Afghanistan is at war, and Canadians are combatants.” Thus began the 2008 report of the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan. It was the panel’s intent not to...

When it comes to federal politics, the year 2010 should be remembered as having been exactly like a midway roller-coaster ride. There have been many ups and downs, twists and turns,...

Bloody revolutions happen more often than the defeat of Canadian municipal politicians. Canadian councillors defy that old axiom that all political careers end in “death, defeat or dishonour.” Few die...

Quand Jean Charest a été réélu en décembre 2008, il ne se doutait probablement pas que moins de deux ans plus tard, sa cote de popularité serait au plus bas....

When Rob Ford won the mayoralty election in Toronto on the night of October 26, 2010, his victory speech was an enthusiastic thanks to the clever voter-shoppers of Toronto....

L’an 2 010 s’annonçait comme une année faste. Les Jeux olympiques de Vancouver en février et la tenue des sommets du G8 et du G20 en juin à Toronto...

Warning: ignore those headlines that called the American elections a split decision, claiming the Republicans fell short, by winning only the House of Representatives and not the Senate. The...

The major role that potash plays in Saskatchewan politics was evidenced in 1975 when my husband, Peter, and I were moving to the province: as soon as our car...

From Native reserves to suburban schoolyards, from cross-border communities to downtown convenience stores, there are few places untouched by contraband tobacco. The issue made headlines throughout 2010: newspaper series...

Global concerns regarding preventable maternal and childhood mortality prompted the Canadian-led Muskoka Initiative on Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH). Through this initiative Canada, partner nations and private foundations...

For two full days, “Chi chi chi! Le le le!” was chanted around the world. The heroic rescue of the 33 Chilean miners in October was without a doubt...

The ubiquitous presence of the Internet and the growing dependency on it for a wide spectrum of human activity has naturally given rise to concerns about the security of...

The sources of government revenue in economies have shifted greatly over recent decades. Less now comes from taxing business, more is paid directly by people. The trend may vary in...

Much of Stephen Harper’s story involved a campaign against himself, against the opposition within. That opposition was the dark, vindictive side of his character — a side that at...

In April 1963, Washington Post publisher Phil Graham delivered a speech to the overseas correspondents of Newsweek ina London, which continues to be quoted today: So let us today...

Canadians accept a national stereotype of being boringly reasonable. No one would make that claim for the two most prominent Canadians in the Great War, 1914-19. Sam Hughes may...

Paul Heinbecker’s new book comes highly recommended by three former Canadian foreign ministers of differing political stripes (Joe Clark, Lloyd Axworthy, John Manley), but it is not one which is...

En nous choisissant, annonçait Jean Charest dans son discours inaugural d’avril 2003, « les Québécois ont tourné la page sur un modèle d’État ». « Nous avons maintenant une mission...