Futureproofing Canada

In this special crossover episode with the Humans, on Rights podcast, Policy Options copyeditor and contributor Shannon Sampert, a political analyst and media specialist, speaks to host Stuart Murray about her career in journalism and the intersections of media, politics, and gender. From covering high school sports as a teenager to critiquing reporting on sexual assault cases, she shares her experiences in different positions across Canadian journalism, highlighting the role of media in raising public awareness for the right of free expression.

For the 50th anniversary of the IRPP, we are exploring the biggest public policy challenges facing Canada through a series of panel discussions held at some of Canada’s major policy schools. This episode is a recording of our discussion on political polarization held March 30, 2022, in collaboration with the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. We ask if polarization even exists in Canada. And if it is, what forms does it take, and does it pose a threat to our democracy? The conversation is moderated by IRPP President Jennifer Ditchburn and features Anita Lee, the editor-in-chief of The Green Line; Eric Merkley, an Assistant Professor at the Munk School; Sean Speer, a Senior Fellow at the Munk School; and Darrell Bricker, the CEO of Ipsos and a Senior Fellow at the Munk School.

As Russia’s attack on Ukraine carries on, nearly two-thirds of Ukrainian children have fled their homes. 2 million have gone to other countries while 2.8 million are internally displaced, and dozens have been killed or injured. The war also disrupted crop production and shipment from Ukraine and Russia, the largest exporters of wheat, putting millions more children around the world at risk of hunger. Policy Options Editor-in-Chief Les Perreaux talks to David Morley, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada, about the threats to children arising from this war and what Canada can do to help Ukraine’s vulnerable children and children around the globe dealing with the ripple effects of drought, COVID-19 and war.

L’IRPP célèbre son 50e anniversaire en s’associant aux principales écoles de politiques publiques du pays pour une série de tables rondes, intitulée « Sur le radar des priorités politiques », qui nous aideront à identifier les prochains défis qui occuperont nos décideurs. Cet épisode du balado d’Options politiques porte sur l’impact de la pandémie de COVID-19 sur les clivages existants au sein de la société canadienne. Quels rôles jouent les médias sociaux dans l’élaboration et la diffusion de théories complotistes ? La pandémie a-t-elle eu un effet sur l’évolution du système partisan au Canada ? Après deux ans de pandémie, comment se porte la confiance envers nos institutions politiques ? Cette discussion a eu lieu 24 mars 2022 en partenariat avec le département de science politique de l’Université Laval. Le panel a été modéré par Sule Tomkinson, la directrice du Centre d’analyse des politiques publiques à l’Université Laval. Elle était accompagnée de la professeure titulaire de science politique à l’Université Laval Aurélie Campana, du professeur agrégé de science politique à l’Université Laval Eric Montigny et de Jackie Smith, conseillère municipale et cheffe du parti Transition Québec.

For the 50th anniversary of the IRPP, we are exploring the biggest public policy challenges facing Canada through a series of panel discussions held at some of Canada’s major policy schools. This episode is a recording of our discussion on shifts in regulatory governance held on March 22, 2022 in collaboration with Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. What is the role of regulation in government policy and how is it changing? How will the COVID-19 pandemic effect how we craft policy? How can regulation be better coordinated at different levels? Moderated by Robert Shepherd of Carleton University, our panel features Darcy Gray, the Chief of Listuguj First Nation, Catherine MacQuarrie, a School fellow of Carleton’s School of Public Policy and Administration, Professor Alexandra Mallett of Carleton, and Kevin Stringer of Carleton University. Each panellist delivers a presentation on an aspect of regulatory governance, followed by a Q&A.

The federal government tabled the 2022 budget on April 7. Coming in the third year of the pandemic, hot off the Liberal-NDP agreement, and the escalating Russian invasion of Ukraine, the federal budget responds both to immediate needs and long-term priorities. On this special crossover episode, we share a conversation from the Voice Above podcast, with host Kate Todd talking to Charles Breton, the Executive Director of the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation, and Colin Busby, a Research Director at the IRPP, about what the budget includes, what it lacks, and what its impacts will be in areas from housing to healthcare. The new budget evaluated the emergency pandemic response programs, phased out some and kept others. It included various policies meant to tackle the extreme rise in housing prices, though our experts are not optimistic that the housing allocations will have the intended effect, especially without significant municipal and provincial cooperation. While there is funding for the dentalcare program – an outcome of the Liberal-NDP agreement – implementation might be the larger hurdle. On the other hand, the budget is mum on the question of healthcare funding: how it will be shared between the federal and provincial governments and the strings that come with federal funding. All that and more in this quick but deep dive into the 2022 federal budget. https://anchor.fm/voice-above

Le gouvernement fédéral a dévoilé le 29 mars son plan très attendu de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES). Le plan détaille entre autres comment le Canada prévoit atteindre son objectif de générer 40 % moins de GES en 2030 par rapport à 2005. Pour parler de ce projet complexe et certainement ambitieux, le directeur du Centre d’excellence sur la fédération canadienne de l’IRPP Charles Breton s’est entretenu avec celui qui aura la mission d’en assurer la mise en œuvre, le ministre de l’Environnement et du Changement climatique M. Steven Guilbeault.

The past few years have been extremely disruptive for Canada’s labour market. In a period of considerable economic change, we have also been facing a pandemic that has shaken the labour market to its core. Some sectors of the economy were shedding jobs and others were frantically searching for workers. It has become clear that workers’ ability to take advantage of emerging job opportunities will determine their resilience over the immediate and longer terms. To enable individuals to make the best career and training choices and adapt to these changes we need more effective information tools, so that those who lose their jobs or are underemployed and want to change jobs can quickly identify appropriate employment opportunities. Matthias Oschinski (founder and CEO of Belongnomics and faculty member at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy) and Thanh Nguyen (undergraduate student in computer science and engineering at MIT) developed two algorithms that, based on an individual’s skillset, suggest potential jobs and provide a pathway to help make those job transitions possible. They are the authors of this recent IRPP study, and today Matthias joins the podcast.

Over the past few years municipal budgets have been strained. In addition to the regular costs, the pandemic has created new and unpredictable expenses, climate-related disasters are increasing in number and scale, and municipalities are on the front lines as first responders supporting their citizens. That’s where provincial-municipal equalization payments come in. Similar in concept to federal equalization payments, they are administered by the province. But the  design of the provincial-municipal equalization process needs to be revamped. Improving this system will not be easy, and when finances are on the line transparency is key. This week Enid Slack joins the podcast. She and the late Richard M. Bird have outlined a way for provincial governments to work toward a better system of municipal equalization payments. Enid is director of the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

In the last few decades, Canada’s economy has changed. We have seen a massive shift in how online enterprises conduct business and how Canadians purchase goods, and these changes have altered the way business is done in Canada. While this is no surprise to many, some may not know that one of the most important laws governing these businesses – the Competition Act ─ has not been updated since 2008, the same year that Apple’s app store was launched. Our competition legislation has fallen behind business trends, and it needs to be brought into the 21st century. A 2022 report from the Competition Bureau states that “Canada faces real challenges to its competition policy framework,” and that the Bureau experiences “friction” in applying the Act on a day-to-day basis. The Bureau recommended a “comprehensive review.” But the Act is an extremely important piece of legislation, and when we do reopen it, we need to make sure it is revised correctly. So, how can it be effectively modernized? Vass Bednar and Robin Shaban both wrote articles for the Policy Options series on modernizing the Competition Act, and they join the podcast to answer these questions. Vass Bednar is the executive director of Master of Public Policy in Digital Society Program and an adjunct professor of political science at McMaster University. Robin Shaban is a co-founder and senior economist at Vivic Research, a winner of the 2021 Globe and Mail Report on Business Changemakers award, and was an officer at the Competition Bureau.