Futureproofing Canada

A path forward for innovation policy, a Policy Options podcast. Innovation has become an essential element of policy conversations about economic growth. But given trends like globalization, technological change and population aging, how exactly will it help boost the economy? Peter Nicholson joins the podcast to talk about why innovation policy matters, evaluate Canada’s innovation record in an international context, and explain why he thinks the federal government’s current innovation plan doesn’t go far enough. Peter Nicholson is the founding president of the Council of Canadian Academies. He is a former policy adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office and was a business executive. Read his new paper for the Institute for Research on Public Policy, Facing the Facts: Reconsidering Business Innovation Policy in Canada. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @madihaslam.

A universal pharmacare plan for Canadians, a Policy Options podcast. As the federally appointed Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare prepares the blueprint for a national pharmacare plan, what can Canadians expect it to look like? Colleen M. Flood joins the podcast to talk about the need for universal pharmacare and how it could work within our federal system. Colleen is professor, Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, and director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa. Read the study she co-authored for the Institute: Universal Pharmacare and Federalism: Two Policy Options for Canada. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @madihaslam.

Canada’s cannabis economy, a Policy Options podcast. What kind of economic impact can we expect from recreational cannabis legalization? Contributors to our Policy Options feature series The Economics of Canadian Cannabis join the "potcast" to discuss. Colin Busby, IRPP research director and co-editor of the series, gives an overview of some of the key economic questions being raised as the Oct.17 legalization date approaches. Allan W. Gregory, professor of economics at Queen’s University, looks at the future of the medical cannabis market. And Rebecca Jesseman, director of policy at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, breaks down the potential health costs of legalization. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @madihaslam.

Why isn’t social assistance improving health outcomes?, a Policy Options podcast. Income levels and health are closely linked, and people living in poverty are far more likely to have poor health than people with higher incomes. Social assistance programs should be helping to close this gap, but a study recently submitted to the Ontario government shows that support programs in Canada, the US and the UK are falling short. Arjumand Siddiqi joined the podcast to discuss social determinants of health, the results of her study, and why we need more effective strategies to address income-based health inequities. Arjumand Siddiqi is an expert adviser with EvidenceNetwork.ca, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Canada Research Chair in Population Health Equity. Read the Policy Options article she co-authored: Social assistance is not improving health. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Revitalizing the Inuktut language, a Policy Options podcast. Inuktut, the collective name for the languages Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun, is the mother tongue of 65 percent of the Nunavut population. The language is central to Inuit culture and identity, but its use is declining by 1 percent a year. Aluki Kotierk joined the podcast to discuss the protection of Inuktut, how the federal government can support language revitalization efforts, and the ongoing fight for bilingual essential public services in Nunavut. Aluki Kotierk is the president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., an Inuit organization that ensures promises made under the Nunavut Agreement are carried out. Read her Policy Options article Promoting the use of Inuktut, a founding language Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

The future of the Safe Third Country Agreement, a Policy Options podcast. As the Trump administration persists with its harsh immigration policy south of the border, calls are mounting for Canada to suspend or rescind the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). Implemented in 2004, the STCA requires those seeking asylum in Canada or the US to make a refugee claim in whichever country they arrived in first. Sharry Aiken joined the podcast to discuss the STCA and its history. She argues that the US is currently unsafe for refugees, and looks at the political implications of suspending the agreement. Sharry Aiken is an associate professor at Queen’s Law, where she teaches international refugee law, immigration law, international law and international human rights law. She is a past president of the Canadian Council for Refugees. Read the Policy Options article Aiken co-wrote in April 2017: Fortress USA and policy implications for Canada. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Why does encryption policy matter?, a Policy Options podcast. How does encryption impact our daily lives? What’s at stake in the policy debate over the challenges raised by encryption? Lex Gill joined the podcast to discuss how effective encryption technology protects human rights, public safety, national security and consumer interests. Lex Gill is a research fellow at the Citizen Lab. She has written and spoken internationally on issues like privacy, freedom of expression, equality rights, cybersecurity policy, national security law, censorship regulation and surveillance technology. Read the Citizen Lab’s report, by Lex Gill, Tamir Israel and Christopher Parsons, Shining a Light on the Encryption Debate: A Canadian Field Guide. Read the Policy Options feature series Recalibrating Canada’s Consumer Rights Regime. Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

What are the policy moves and events that have defined Justin Trudeau’s Liberals first mandate? What should we expect from the upcoming federal election? These were the topics discussed at a recent Policy Options working lunch in St. John’s, Newfoundland. A panel consisting of IRPP President Graham Fox, Amanda Bittner (Memorial University) and Alex Marland (Memorial University) took stock of the last three years in federal politics and looked ahead to Election 2019.

What can Canada expect from the G7 summit?, a Policy Options podcast. Despite anticipated trade tensions at the G7 summit in Charlevoix on June 8-9, the Trudeau government will promote its agenda focusing on inclusive economic growth, peace and security, climate change and oceans, gender equality and jobs of the future. John Kirton joined the podcast to discuss Canada’s priorities at the meeting, the six-plus-one dynamic with US President Donald Trump, and what a successful G7 summit would look like for Canada. John Kirton is director of the G7 Research Group, co-director of the G20 Research Group and a research associate at the Munk School of Global Affairs. New episodes every second Wednesday. Download for free. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Canada’s surveillance of Indigenous movements, a Policy Options podcast. From the fight against the Northern Gateway pipeline to the anti-fracking protests involving Elsipogtog First Nation and the Idle No More movement, Canadian surveillance organizations have kept close watch of Indigenous resistance movements over the past decade. Andrew Crosby and Jeffrey Monaghan, authors of Policing Indigenous Movements: Dissent and the Security State, joined the podcast to discuss why the government monitors Indigenous social and environmental movements. They say this surveillance characterizes land and water protectors and other activists as security threats, delegitimizing the actions of Indigenous rights holders. Andrew Crosby is a coordinator with the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) at Carleton University. Jeffrey Monaghan is an assistant professor at Carleton’s Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice. New episodes every second Wednesday. Download for Free. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.