Futureproofing Canada

Black Canadians are more likely to be targeted by police for stop and search, and more likely to be incarcerated. In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto, where he is a leading scholar of race and Canada’s criminal justice system. How does racial data get collected in Canada? What does it reveal about the treatment of Black people by the justice system? How have Canada’s drug laws been used as a tool of racialized social control? Tune in for answers to these questions and deep dives into various intersections of race and criminal justice in Canada.

Welcome to In/Equality! In this new series from the Policy Options Podcast, we explore various aspects of inequality with experts from political science, criminology, history, and other disciplines. We will hear from researchers about the latest research on economic inequality, racial inequality, disability justice, rural-urban divides, and more. In this first episode, IRPP President and CEO Jennifer Ditchburn helps us get to know the host of In/Equality, Professor Debra Thompson of McGill University. What brought her to research racial inequality? What motivated her to create this series? And what can we expect from the coming conversations.

In this episode, our series on federalism turns to one of the most contentious issues in Canada these days: healthcare. We go back to first principles to understand how federalism influences the way we approach healthcare in Canada. We also ask what makes an effective healthcare system? And how does federalism complicate or help that dynamic? What are the different roles of each level of government and the stakeholders they interact with? And how do they work or don’t? Our expert guests are Katherine Fierlbeck, McCullough Research Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University, and Chaim Bell, Physician-in-Chief at Sinai Health and Professor of Medicine and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. This episode was recorded during an online event held by the Canada School of Public Service and is the sixth and final installment of a partnership between the school and the IRPP’s Centre for Excellence.

How do municipalities fit into Canada’s federal structure? How do cities manage policy aims with limited revenue-raising powers. On this episode of the podcast, we explore the relationship between municipal and federal, provincial and territorial governments. Moderated by Tomas Hachard, independent researcher, author and former manager programmes and research for the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG), our conversation on municipalities features Enid Slack, Director at IMFG, and Kennedy Stewart, Director at Simon Fraser University's Centre for Public Policy Research and the former mayor of Vancouver.

This episode of the podcast explores how federalism interacts with Indigenous governance. Moderated by Danielle White, Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Policy and Partnerships and ISC Evaluation, the conversation features Darcy Gray, Former Chief of Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation, Catherine MacQuarrie, Fellow at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy & Administration, and Martin Papillon, Professor of the University of Montreal. It starts with a brief history of how Indigenous people and their governance structures have fit within Canadian federalism and how this relationship has evolved. We discuss the role of public servants in policy impacting Indigenous Peoples and the lived experiences of Indigenous leaders having to navigate relationships with other orders of government. This episode was recorded during an online event held by the Canada School of Public Service and is the fourth instalment of a partnership between the school and the IRPP’s Centre for Excellence.

The federal government is expected to announce major changes to the Employment Insurance system – the first major update since the 1990s. The IRPP released a report and a set of policy recommendations on how Canada should reform the EI system. In this episode of the podcast, IRPP Digital Engagement Officer Nesi Altaras speaks to our lead researchers on the topic Rachel Samson (Vice President of Research) and Ricardo Chejfec (Research Associate). The conversation covers why EI exists, what it can do for the Canadian economy, and how to pay for the various necessary changes to the program.

Building and maintaining infrastructure requires lots of funds, and often, it’s not clear who will be responsible. It’s a classic problem in federalism: who will fund what? This episode of the podcast explores how the structural characteristics of federalism impact Canada’s economic development and infrastructure. We’ll look at topics like the funding of infrastructure, how to manage regional competitiveness, and the legal and social frameworks that facilitate coordination between the federal and provincial governments. Moderated by Hugo Cyr, Director General at Ecole Nationale D’administration Publique (ENAP), the conversation features Herb Emery, Vaughan Chair of Regional Economics at the University of New Brunswick, and Alison O’Leary, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Communities and Infrastructure. This episode was recorded during an online event held by the Canada School of Public Service and is the third installment of a partnership between the school and the IRPP’s Centre for Excellence. This episode of the podcast is bilingual, with speakers shifting between English and French.

What does it mean to be a status Indian in Canada? Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii), a professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, answered this seemingly straightforward question in his keynote speech at our 50th anniversary gala. Explaining the processes of losing and gaining status in his family and the policies made to disempower Indigenous people over the last century, Sanderson paints a powerful portrait of how public policy shaped his life and that of Indigenous people across this land.   Sanderson’s words are followed by a stirring poetry performance from Greg Frankson (aka Ritallin), a leading Black Canadian poet and editor of AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets (2022). Frankson’s work in this selection continue the theme of inequality.  This episode of the podcast is a recording of Douglas Sanderson’s keynote speech and Greg Frankson’s poetry from November 23, 2022 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Debates around fiscal arrangements are always at the heart of federal-provincial relations in Canada. These days, health care funding and the Canada Health Transfer are even front-page news. Just a few months ago, equalization and Alberta’s demand for a fair deal that were making waves. In this episode, we do a deep dive into fiscal federalism: the current state of it, its history and how we got here, as well as the challenges ahead. The conversation is moderated by Antoine Brunelle-Côté, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet at the Privy Council Office. He is in conversation with Trevor Tombe, Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary and a Research Fellow at The School of Public Policy; and Mary Janigan, a journalist and historian, and author of the recent book, The Art of Sharing: The Richer versus the Poorer Provinces since Confederation. This episode was recorded during an online event held by the Canada School of Public Service and is the second instalment of a partnership between the school and the IRPP’s Centre for Excellence.

Countries around the world are increasing their ambition on climate policy, and low-carbon technologies across a range of sectors are reaching maturity. This is creating the conditions for rapid change in the energy system and, as a major producer and exporter, Canada will be particularly impacted. Policy-makers must prepare for a period of volatility, as systems make the necessary transformation to a low-carbon future. While the end-state is becoming clearer, the transition will be marked by volatility in energy markets. It will require policies that can manage the legacy systems that dominate today as well as support the development of new energy systems.