Futureproofing Canada

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.

Black Canadians and the justice system, a Policy Options podcast. Black people are dramatically over-represented in Canada’s prison system, making up 8.6 of the federal prison population, despite the fact they make up only 3 percent of the population. What is more, between 2003 and 2013, the incarceration rate among Black people increased by nearly 90 percent. Anthony Morgan says the targeted policing of Black people in Canada isn’t only happening through the justice system. It’s also taking place in our education, child welfare and health care systems. Morgan is a lawyer at Falconers LLP. His practice focuses on state accountability litigation. He is also an advocate and commentator on Canadian multiculturalism, racism and critical race theory. Read Anthony Morgan’s Policy Options articles Doing justice by Black Canadians (part of our ongoing feature series Widening the Lens on Criminal Justice Reform) and Where are Black Canadians in the cannabis debate? Download for free. New episodes every second Tuesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Immigration detention and newcomer communities, a Policy Options podcast. According to the Canada Border Services Agency, about 7,000 men, women and children are detained through Canada’s immigration detention system every year. Stephanie J. Silverman joined the podcast to discuss how the system traumatizes newcomer and mostly racialized communities, criminalizes migration and requires extensive reform. Silverman is the outgoing Bora Laskin National Fellow in Human Rights Research, and teaches ethics, society, and law at the University of Toronto’s Trinity College. She is also a partner at Thinking Forward, a human rights consultancy, and the Canada country adviser for the International Detention Coalition. For more about reforming Canada's justice system, read the Policy Options feature series Widening the Lens on Criminal Justice Reform. Download for free. New episodes every second Tuesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Mitigating harm for sexual assault complainants, a Policy Options podcast. Over 90 percent of sexual assaults in Canada go unreported. According to law professor Elaine Craig, when sexual assault survivors do end up in court, the trials cause them further harm. Craig joined the podcast to discuss how sexual assault trials could be reformed to make the process less traumatic for those testifying. Elaine Craig is the author of Putting Trials on Trial: Sexual Assault and the Failure of the Legal Profession (2018). She is an associate professor in the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. Download for free. New episodes every second Tuesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Do female ministers affect women's civic engagement?, a Policy Options podcast. In governments around the world, women’s presence in cabinet is having a substantial impact on political office and policy-making, but what does it mean for women’s political involvement? Sarah Liu joined the podcast to discuss her study Do Government Positions Held by Women Matter? A Cross-National Examination of Female Ministers’ Impacts on Women’s Political Participation. Liu is an assistant professor in the School of Geography, Politics, and Sociology at Newcastle University, England. Download for free. New episodes every second Tuesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

Will AI just wind up automating inequality?, a Policy Options podcast. Proponents of automation say the developments will create a more efficient and advanced society, but there are concerns that the changes will not affect all citizens equally. According to Virginia Eubanks, the automation of social and welfare services in the United States is creating a "digital poorhouse,” deepening class divides and diverting poor and working-class people from accessing public resources. Eubanks joined the podcast to discuss her new book Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor. She is an associate professor of political science at the University at Albany, SUNY. Download for free. New episodes every second Tuesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP. Read the Policy Options feature series on the Ethical and Social Dimensions of AI.

Budget 2018 analysis live from the lockup, a Policy Options podcast. What were the highlights of the 2018 federal budget? Policy Options Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Ditchburn, IRPP Research Director Colin Busby and Jennifer Robson, assistant professor of political management at Carleton University's Kroeger College weigh in. Download for free. New episodes every second Tuesday

Gerald Stanley and the castle narrative, a Policy Options podcast. A complex narrative has emerged in defence of Gerald Stanley, who was recently acquitted of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Colten Boushie, a 22 year-old Cree man, in Saskatchewan. According to this narrative, the incident had nothing to do with race, but was rather a matter of a farmer protecting his land and family – defending "his castle." Gina Starblanket joined the podcast to explain how this perspective is intimately tied to the history of displacement and settlement on the Prairies, and throughout Canada. Starblanket is a professor in the native studies and women’s and gender studies departments at the University of Manitoba. She is Cree/Saulteaux and a member of the Star Blanket Cree Nation in Treaty 4 territory in Saskatchewan. Download for free. New episodes every second Tuesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP. Read Gina Starblanket’s op-ed "How the death of Colten Boushie became recast as the story of a knight protecting his castle. " Read the Policy Options article “The real ‘justice’ denied to Boushie.“