Futureproofing Canada

It seems like every day, we’re seeing new changes that COVID-19 is bringing to the world of work. Firms are choosing to automate and digitize, and they’re turning increasingly to remote and casual work. Policy-makers have helped people and businesses through the early days of the crisis. But now it’s time to meet the future of work head on. Today on the podcast, we have Natalia Mishagina, research director of the IRPP’s new program on The Future of Skills and Adult Learning. She’ll be building on a recent IRPP study by Statistics Canada’s Marc Frenette and Kristyn Frank to talk about who’s at risk of seeing their jobs transformed by automation. Next, we’re bringing on Sunil Johal to discuss how policy-makers should meet the labour market challenges accelerated by COVID-19. Sunil serves as a fellow to the Public Policy Forum and the Brookfield Institute. From 2012 to 2019 he was policy director at the University of Toronto’s Mowat Centre, and in 2019, he was named chair of the Expert Panel on Modern Labour Standards by the federal Minister of Labour. Download for free. New episodes every other Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel. The Demographics of Automation: Who Is at Risk? -- https://on-irpp.org/3dJt2hr

As calls to “defund the police” have spread around the world, we’ve seen the violence police inflict upon communities of colour. Race-based data is hard to come by in Canada, but the data we do have show Black and Indigenous people to be disproportionately policed and to face high rates of police violence. Now, many Canadians are seriously considering the need to reform or even abolish our police forces. But what does the movement to defund the police require from a policy perspective? And how can people working within Canadian institutions play a role in this global movement? To answer some of those questions, we’re joined by Holly Campeau and Kiké Roach. Holly Campeau is an assistant professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Alberta specializing in the intersection between criminal justice, cultural sociology, and law. She is also Senior Researcher with the Global Justice Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Kiké Roach is the Unifor National Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University, where she teaches courses in social movements and politics, and in human rights. As a lawyer, she was an advocate for accountability and reform in policing and in detention centres for many years representing organizations such as the Black Action Defense Committee. Download for free. New episodes every other week. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

Au-delà des manchettes et de la course des meneurs, les électeurs sont peu nombreux à savoir comment se déroule une élection. Qui en sont ses acteurs clés ? Quel rôle jouent les médias dans l’élection ? Comment le gouvernement continue-t-il de fonctionner durant la campagne ? L’ouvrage Inside the Campaign: Managing Elections in Canada se penche sur ces questions et nous mène dans les coulisses de la campagne électorale fédérale de 2019. Dans ce balado, Thierry Giasson, professeur de sciences politiques à l’Université Laval et codirecteur de l’ouvrage, nous parle du travail des personnes qui tentent d’orienter le choix des électeurs et de la manière dont se déroule une élection canadienne.

Earlier in June, the Fair Deal Panel made public its final report to the Alberta government. The stated goal of the panel was to find ways to get Alberta a better deal in the federation, and promote the province’s economic interests along the way. In the recommendations, some of the items are now standard fare for Alberta politics, including the referendum on equalization promised by Premier Jason Kenney. Others, like establishing a provincial police force and withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan, not so much. This week on the podcast, we take a deep dive into the policy and politics of the Fair Deal Panel, and what they tell us about Alberta today, with Trevor Tombe and Melanee Thomas. Trevor Tombe is an associate professor of economics and a research fellow at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy. He’s also the author of the IRPP paper, "An (Overdue) Review of Canada’s Fiscal Stabilization Program," which we discussed on an earlier podcast. Melanee Thomas is an associate professor of political science at the University of Calgary. She’s written several pieces for Policy Options, including one about separatist anger in Alberta and another about Jason Kenney’s focus on Quebec. What’s the deal with fiscal stabilization?: https://options-po.li/2uXBzNk An (Overdue) Review of Canada’s Fiscal Stabilization Program: https://on-irpp.org/38OBr1q Jason Kenney’s case of Quebec envy: https://options-po.li/2KOTiLE As Alberta’s anger deepens, it gets harder to turn off: https://options-po.li/311g0GG

Canada’s system of long-term care was a powder keg; COVID-19 the spark that set it alight. As the virus overtook nursing and care homes across the country, we began to hear about the outdated facilities and the population unable to advocate for itself. Then there are the workers themselves, forced to work across multiple facilities just to make ends meet. These overwhelmingly female and disproportionately racialized workers have increasingly taken the spotlight, as researchers have pointed to our undervaluing of care work as a factor in COVID’s deadly spread. One of these researchers is Ivy Lynn Bourgeault. She’s a professor of sociology and University of Ottawa research chair in Gender, Diversity and the Professions, with an international reputation for her research on gender and the healthcare workforce. She joins the podcast to discuss her recent piece for Policy Options on the need for a revaluing of the work that goes into long-term care. Her piece for Policy Options: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2020/long-term-care-work-is-essential-but-essentially-under-recognized/ Policy Options' series on Facing up to Canada’s Long-Term Care Policy Crisis: policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may…olicy-crisis/ Download for free. New episodes every other week. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

COVID-19 has been a death sentence for many Canadians living or working in long-term care. The scale of this loss is overwhelming, with over 80 percent of COVID deaths in Canada linked to nursing and retirement homes.  This crisis brings to light what many have known for years: the system is broken, and society's most vulnerable are paying the price. Dr. Samir Sinha joins the podcast to make sense of this political and policy failure, and to call on all of us to act. Dr. Sinha is the director of geriatrics at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network in Toronto and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He’s also the director of health policy research at Ryerson University’s National Institute on Ageing. COVID-19 tracker: https://ltc-covid19-tracker.ca/ Policy Options' series on Facing up to Canada’s Long-Term Care Policy Crisis: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2020/facing-up-to-canadas-long-term-care-policy-crisis/ Download for free. New episodes every other week. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

Depuis le début de la pandémie de COVID-19, les différents gouvernements, les professionnels de la santé et la population ont dû prendre des décisions difficiles qui ont d’importantes dimensions éthiques. Quels principes devraient guider l’allocation de ressources médicales limitées ? Les mesures de confinement imposées par les gouvernements sont-elles disproportionnées ? Devrait-on utiliser des outils technologiques comme le traçage de contacts et la géolocalisation pour mieux faire face à la pandémie ? Ce sont quelques-unes des questions d’éthique qui ont été soulevées ces dernières semaines. Président de la Commission de l’éthique en science et en technologie et professeur titulaire de philosophie à l’Université Laval, Jocelyn Maclure nous parle de la dimension éthique des mesures adoptées pour faire face à la pandémie et de la place que devraient prendre les considérations éthiques dans les décisions gouvernementales. Le téléchargement est gratuit. Nous mettons en ligne de nouveaux balados chaque deuxième mercredi. Vous pouvez envoyer vos commentaires par Twitter à @IRPP ou @JRicardoBM. Ce balado fait partie du dossier « La pandémie de coronavirus : la réponse du Canada. » Cliquez sur le lien qui suit pour accéder au dossier : https://policyoptions.irpp.org/fr/magazines/march-2020/la-pandemie-de-coronavirus-la-reponse-du-canada/

How do you make policy, good policy, in a crisis? That’s the question on everyone’s minds, as all levels of government try to find ways of putting out fires without sparking new ones. You have to be quick. You have to actually be able to make your policies happen. And you have to be responsive when citizens tell you what’s not working.  Jennifer Robson knows this. She’s an associate professor in the Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management at Carleton University, and an expert on social policy, tax policy and financial inclusion. Her plain-language guide on accessing the COVID-19 benefits has been picked up by media outlets, think tanks and citizens’ groups alike.  She joined the podcast last Wednesday, April 8th, to discuss how Canada is faring on these policy-making goals, and how we can better support those most at risk.   Her benefits guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lOJn7XS6ETIkbLRodYk681M_2dxkkQsc/view Download for free. New episodes every other week. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Over the next while, here at Policy Options we’ll be putting out special “corona-casts” so we can look at the many sides to the COVID-19 pandemic. And specifically, how policymakers can respond in a way that helps the majority of Canadians without ignoring those most at risk. Today we’re laying the groundwork with Colin Busby. He’s a Research Director at the IRPP, where he heads the Faces of Aging program and co-heads the Skills and Labour Market Policy program. He gives us the lowdown on the current economic response plan and how the federal approach has changed over time. Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan.html Download for free. New episodes every other week. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has made headlines for his proposal to hold a referendum on equalization. Now, Canadian premiers have a long history of taking shots at equalization. But what’s different here is Kenney’s focus on fiscal stabilization. It’s a program most of us are likely unfamiliar with, or were until recently. But Kenney is tying these two programs together – describing fiscal stabilization as an “equalization rebate” – and saying that it, too, isn’t giving Alberta its due. So, what exactly is fiscal stabilization, and how does it relate to equalization? Will these programs be reformed? Should they be? Today on the podcast, we're joined by James Feehan, an honorary research professor and former professor of economics at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He’s the author of a recent IRPP Insight, Canada’s Equalization Program: Political Debates and Opportunities for Reform. We're also joined by Trevor Tombe, an associate professor of economics and a research fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. He’s the author of another recent IRPP Insight, An (Overdue) Review of Canada’s Fiscal Stabilization Program. Canada’s Equalization Program: Political Debates and Opportunities for Reform: https://irpp.org/research-studies/canadas-equalization-program-political-debates-and-opportunities-for-reform/ An (Overdue) Review of Canada’s Fiscal Stabilization Program: https://irpp.org/research-studies/an-overdue-review-of-canadas-fiscal-stabilization-program/ Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.