Futureproofing Canada

À mesure que la population canadienne vieillit, les politiques de soins de fin de vie gagnent en importance et suscitent un nombre grandissant de questions. Le gouvernement du Québec a tenté de répondre à certaines de ces préoccupations en établissant en 2015 un régime de directives médicales anticipées. Mais en quoi consiste exactement ce régime et quel est son impact sur les proches des patients et les professionnels de la santé ? Dans ce balado, Louise Bernier et Catherine Régis discutent de l’importance des directives médicales anticipées, des lacunes du régime actuel et de ce que peut faire le gouvernement du Québec pour l’améliorer. Leur analyse détaillée, Improving Advance Medical Directives: Lessons from Quebec, est publiée sur le site de l’IRPP. 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 saw the most women elected to Parliament yet. But with women making up only 26 percent of MPs, it’s clear that structural barriers to political participation remain. For racialized and Indigenous women, the path to politics is harder still. This week, Erin Tolley and Mitzie Hunter come on the podcast to discuss the experiences of racialized women in politics. Erin Tolley is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto and the author of "Framed: Media and the Coverage of Race in Canadian Politics." Mitzie Hunter is the member of provincial Parliament for Scarborough-Guildwood and finance critic for the Ontario Liberals. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

Today, many of the most crucial policy questions are also digital questions, and how we choose to address them has the potential to transform policy-making at the highest levels. Agencies like the Canadian Digital Service are working to innovate within the bureaucracy, but governments are slow to change. Meanwhile, opposition to Sidewalk Toronto's planned smart neighbourhood shows that concerns about digital democracy aren’t going anywhere. Alistair Croll and Amanda Clarke join the podcast to explore the best practices and greatest challenges of digital government. Alistair Croll is an author, tech entrepreneur and co-founder of the FWD50 conference on digital government. Amanda Clarke is the Public Affairs Research Excellence Chair at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. Her book, Opening the Government of Canada, was just published by UBC Press. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

As more aspects of the economy go digital, Canadian businesses face new challenges along with new opportunities. It’s clear that Canada’s economic growth depends on how we seize these opportunities. Our past few federal budgets have addressed this: they have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to grow innovation networks and streamline innovation programs. But as the pace of innovation increases worldwide, Canada must lead or be left behind. David Wolfe joins the podcast to discuss the obstacles facing Canadian businesses and the path to a successful digital policy strategy. Wolfe is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto (Mississauga campus) and co-director of the Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He is currently leading a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant for the project Creating Digital Opportunity for Canada. To learn more, you can read his report, “A Digital Strategy for Canada: The Current Challenge.” Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

The Wet’suwet’en Nation made headlines across the country with its resistance to the Coastal GasLink LNG pipeline. TransCanada has said it gained consent of every First Nation along the pipeline route. But out on Wet’suwet’en territory, the nation’s hereditary chiefs tell another story. They say the responsibility for matters of land and title rests with them, and they were never consulted. Dr. Bruce McIvor joins the podcast to give a legal and historical perspective. McIvor is principal at First Peoples Law, a law firm dedicated to defending and advancing Aboriginal title, Aboriginal rights and Treaty rights. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia’s Allard School of Law. You can read more about the legal precedents he addresses in "First Peoples Law: Essays in Canadian Law and Decolonization," available at www.firstpeopleslaw.com. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Welcome to Uberland, a Policy Options podcast. For passengers and drivers, Uber is either a convenient option for hailing an affordable ride or making a quick buck. But the influential technology company is also transforming labour and legal landscapes across North America. As the ride service arrives in more Canadian cities, how should policy-makers regulate its impact on workers and consumers? Alex Rosenblat joins the podcast to discuss the topic. Rosenblat is a technology ethnographer and researcher at the Data & Society Research Institute. She is the author of Uberland: How Algorithms Are Rewriting the Rules of Work. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Le nouvel échiquier politique québécois, un balado d'Options politiques. Que signifie le nouvel échiquier politique québécois pour les grands enjeux de société ? Pour la première fois depuis 1966, un parti autre que le Parti libéral ou le Parti québécois a pris le pouvoir, et le projet d’indépendance semble être mis en veilleuse. Le débat s’est centré sur des questions telles que l’immigration, l’intégration des minorités et des nouveaux arrivants, et la réforme électorale. Ces enjeux seront en effet déterminants pour l’avenir du Québec. François Cardinal (La Presse), Mireille Paquet (Université Concordia), Alain Noël (Université de Montréal) et Sophie Seguin-Lamarche (Institut du Nouveau Monde) ont discuté de ces questions lors du 5 à 7 de l’IRPP le 27 novembre. Graham Fox, président de l’IRPP, a animé le débat. Les rencontres de la nouvelle série 5 à 7 de l’IRPP sont une occasion pour les jeunes intéressés par les grands débats de société d’en discuter dans un cadre informel et convivial, et de rencontrer des experts de politiques publiques. Le téléchargement est gratuit. Nous mettons en ligne de nouveaux balados chaque deuxième mercredi. Vous pouvez envoyer vos commentaires par Twitter à @IRPP.

Upskilling workers for the new economy, a Policy Options podcast. Disruption as a result of automation is fast changing the nature of work. As machine labour increasingly replaces human labour, old jobs are disappearing or changing and new ones are being created. So how do we ensure workers are receiving the skills training they need to navigate the future of work? Ethan Pollack joins the podcast to discuss innovative policy ideas to help citizens acquire the right skills for the new economy. He is the associate director of research and policy for the Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative. Read the rest of our feature series Preparing Citizens for the Future of Work. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @madihaslam.

Polling and the Quebec election, a Policy Options podcast. The outcome of the 2018 Quebec election was a surprise: Coalition Avenir Québec beat the Quebec Liberal Party by 12.6 percentage points, for a majority government. Not only did pollsters fail to predict this result, but the gap between the polls and the actual vote for the leading parties was the largest recorded in Quebec political polling history. Claire Durand joins the podcast to discuss what went wrong with the pollsters’ predictions, the national and international context for political polling, and why accurate polling matters. Claire Durand is a professor in the Department of Sociology at Université de Montréal and president of the World Association for Public Opinion Research. Her research focuses on the impact of methodologies on pre-election polling estimates. Read her Policy Options article Quebec 2018: A tough night for pollsters in English and French. And if you’re in Montreal on November 27, don’t miss the Institute for Research on Public Policy’s 5 à 7 to discuss Quebec’s new political landscape. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @madihaslam.

New approaches to development assistance, a Policy Options podcast. Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy aims to contribute to global efforts to eradicate poverty by prioritizing investments in gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The government’s commitments include an investment of about $800 million in the Global Financing Facility (GFF). Housed at the World Bank, the GFF funds health initiatives for women, children and adolescents in low-income countries around the globe. Monique Vledder, Practice Manager of the GFF, joins the podcast to discuss the GFF’s country-led approach to financing, why it’s important to prioritize investments in women’s and children’s health, and how new funding practices are reshaping the dynamics of international assistance. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @madihaslam.