Futureproofing Canada

Tax-Free Savings Accounts were designed to help lower-income Canadians put money away for retirement. But a decade into the program, new research shows that TFSAs are primarily benefitting higher-income savers. A saver’s credit and other tax changes could be the keys to fixing this flaw, writes Richard Shillington in a widely read study for the IRPP. Richard Shillington is a statistician specializing in poverty measurement, tax policy and low-income supports. He joins us on the podcast to discuss his study and its implications for low-income savers. His study is available here: https://irpp.org/research-studies/are-low-income-savers-still-in-the-lurch-tfsas-at-10-years/ Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

Although economists favour carbon pricing as the most efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the policy has taken an unpredictable path in Canada. With four constitutional challenges and even more provincial opposition, the near-consensus on carbon pricing has fallen apart. Joining us to discuss is Kathryn Harrison, a professor at the University of British Columbia who specializes in Canadian and US environmental and climate policy. Her featured talk for the 2019 Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities inspired our series on the evolution of carbon pricing in the provinces, for which she has written about the pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Energy and Climate Change and the BC carbon tax. The fleeting Canadian harmony on carbon pricing: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/july-2019/the-fleeting-canadian-harmony-on-carbon-pricing/ Lessons from British Columbia’s carbon tax: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/july-2019/lessons-from-british-columbias-carbon-tax/ Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

June 12 marked the release of the Final Report of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare. The Council recommended that Canada adopt universal, single-payer pharmacare, and set out a plan for how to go about it. Currently, Canada is an outlier: we have among the highest per capita pharmaceutical spending in the world, and are the only OECD country to have universal health insurance without drug coverage. We know the issues, and we’ve been debating them since the dawn of Canadian medicare. So why hasn’t there been more movement on this file? The IRPP’s own Colin Busby, who heads up the Faces of Aging research program, joins the podcast to discuss the history of pharmacare in Canada and the hurdles to implementation. For a summary of some of his main points, check out his piece for Policy Options: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/june-2019/big-hurdles-remain-in-pharmacare-implementation-plan/ Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

A move for closure on the debate and a marathon weekend session at the Quebec National Assembly saw the contentious Bill 21 finally pass, 73 to 35. The legislation prohibits public-school teachers, government lawyers, judges and police officers from wearing religious symbols to work, and mandates that citizens uncover their faces while receiving certain public services. And, for the next five years, it can’t be struck down by the courts due to the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause. Premier François Legault says Quebecers are on his side, but the bill is already facing challenges. On Monday, Montrealers took to the streets in protest, while earlier that same day the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association filed a motion for an injunction in Quebec Superior Court. Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Eric Mendelsohn, Robert Leckey, Jack Jedwab and Bochra Manaï, who unpack and critique some of the key dimensions of the bill – including the identity debate, the disproportionate effect on Muslim women, and the legal grounds on which it can – or cannot – be challenged. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP, @jbugiel or @JRicardoBM.

Countries around the world are grappling with how to identify and prevent a host of new threats to the integrity of their elections and democratic systems. With the next general election around the corner in Canada, is our policy framework up to the task of dealing with the deliberate spread of false information? We put this question to three experts: Elizabeth Dubois (University of Ottawa), Jennifer McGuire (CBC News) and Taylor Owen (Max Bell School of Public Policy). They spoke with Policy Options editor-in-chief Jennifer Ditchburn at our pre-election breakfast on May 7, held in partnership with the Max Bell School of Public Policy and sponsored by CBC and Microsoft. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

In Canada, thousands of migrants are detained at any time, with up to one third of detainees in maximum and medium-security prisons despite most never having been charged with a crime. The recent Canada v. Chhina Supreme Court ruling allows detained migrants to access the remedy of habeas corpus so that, in appropriate cases, they can challenge the legality and conditions of their detention before a judge. However, critics like migration expert Sharry Aiken say it fails to address the underlying issues of how Canada sets the grounds for detention and the basis for release. Migrant detention is actually a relatively new phenomenon in North America and, for the participants of the recent De-Carceral Futures conference at the Queen’s School of Law, it’s something we can and must do away with. We attended the conference to interview some of the scholars and activists who are working toward a world in which neither migrants nor citizens are incarcerated. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

Le gouvernement fédéral s’est engagé à investir près d’un milliard de dollars sur cinq ans dans cinq projets de supergrappes pour stimuler la collaboration entre sociétés industrielles, organisations et établissements de recherche dans les secteurs à fort potentiel de croissance. Quels seront les éléments clés pour rendre ces supergrappes efficaces ? Comment pourront-elles contribuer à renforcer les écosystèmes d’innovation ? Et quelles seront les retombées d’une telle initiative pour Montréal et, plus généralement, le Québec ? Catherine Beaudry, Pascal Beauchesne et l’animatrice Ariane Krol ont discuté de ces questions lors d’un 5 à 7 de l’IRPP le mardi 12 mars 2019 au Pub L’Île Noire. Graham Fox (IRPP) et Joanne Castonguay (IRPP) ont introduit le débat. Le téléchargement est gratuit. Nous mettons en ligne de nouveaux balados chaque deuxième mercredi. Vous pouvez envoyer vos commentaires par Twitter à @IRPP.

The 2015 federal election was Canada’s first after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action. Four years later, both the public discourse and the policy landscape have changed. Yet with critics arguing that many of the advances are symbolic, it’s clear Crown-Indigenous relations still have a ways to go. Today on the podcast, K̓áwáziɫ Marilyn Slett (Heiltsuk Tribal Council), Brock Pitawanakwat (York University) and Hayden King (Yellowhead Institute) take stock of this crucial relationship: where it is now, how it has changed over the years and where it might go. Their conversation with Policy Options editor-in-chief Jennifer Ditchburn, introduced by Gilbert Whiteduck of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, was recorded at Policy Options’ pre-election breakfast on April 2. The event was held in collaboration with the Yellowhead Institute, and our series is held in partnership with the Max Bell School of Public Policy. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

2019 has seen huge developments in Canadian politics, and we still have months to go until the federal election. We know some of the political questions that will define election 43. But what about the policy questions? For the next few podcasts, we’ll be sharing coverage from events held by Policy Options, the IRPP and our partners, where experts come together to discuss some of the key policy challenges facing our country. This week, Nancy Olewiler (director of the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University), David McLaughlin (director of climate change at the International Institute for Sustainable Development) and Céline Bak (founder and president of Analytica Advisors) talk climate change. They cover how the debate has fared, what’s on the table and where policy should go next. Their discussion took place on February 25 as part of Policy Options’ pre-election breakfast series. It was moderated by Jennifer Ditchburn of Policy Options and introduced by Chris Ragan of the Max Bell School of Public Policy. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

What were the highlights of the 2019 federal budget? Policy Options editor-in-chief Jennifer Ditchburn, IRPP research directors Colin Busby and Natalia Mishagina, and Veldon Coburn of Carleton University's Indigenous Studies program share their insights during this special podcast. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday.