Futureproofing Canada

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.

How Ottawa police treat white protesters compared to others including Black and Indigenous people reveals an entrenched Canadian double standard. Read the full article here: https://options-po.li/3gx7vMK By: Anna Drake French version read by Ricardo Montrose

At the onset of the pandemic, it was difficult to predict how the virus would impact our lives. We understood that hospitals were at risk of overflowing, and we knew we needed to prepare for that. There were also a million other things that we didn’t or couldn’t predict would happen due to COVID-19, but if we have learned anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. And we certainly have got better at it. This virus is not the only existential threat that humanity currently faces. Climate change is here, and Canadians are seeing it’s disastrous effects. We collectively failed to address it before entire towns in Alberta and British Columbia were wiped off the map by forest fires, before people died as a result of heat waves, and before neighbourhoods were transformed into shallow lakes. And the reality is, it’s only going to get worse from here. That’s why, as we scale up efforts to soften the impacts of climate change, we need to also work toward adapting to them. We have to alter our policies and investments around infrastructure so that we can adapt. But much like the pandemic, changes in the climate are extremely unpredictable, so how do we know what those investments should be and prepare for the challenges that we do not expect? Today I am speaking with Ryan Ness. Ryan is adaptation research director at the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices (CICC). We will be discussing the state of Canada’s infrastructure in relation to climate change, the CICC’s report on navigating the known and unknown costs of adapting to it, and what policies could be implemented to help Canada remain resilient in the face of it.

When a snap election was called in August, Canadians had a little over a month to prepare for a federal election and digest the platforms put forward by the political parties vying for their votes. Each party focused on what they thought would get them the most seats in the House. The New Democrats talked about affordability writ large, the Conservatives prioritized financial well-being, the Bloc put Quebec’s interests first, the Greens focused on environmental sustainability and the Liberals promised a suite of measures to help stop COVID in its tracks. Months of intense planning goes into every election campaign. So how are these platforms conceived and developed in the first place? Who decides what makes the final cut? And what happens when something goes wrong?

Over the past few years, the need for governments to work with one another has been ramping up. Canada is facing a long and unpredictable pandemic, a changing economy and high expectations from Canadians. 2022 is upon us, and with the new year come new policies for governments to fight over and old disagreements to revisit. So, what issues are on the horizon at all levels of government as we enter our second full year of the pandemic? To discuss that question, we are joined by the IRPP’s Charles Breton. Charles is the director of the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation at the Institute. We will be speaking about the provincial and federal economies and what major battles Canadians can expect from their governments in the coming year, as well as his work at the Centre of Excellence.

Over the summer of 2021 the world saw what can only be described as the fall of Afghanistan. Taliban offensive forces rapidly overtook the country in a matter of weeks, causing chaos within its borders and concern from the international community about what would happen to its citizens. There was a collective understanding that these individuals needed support, and along with it an understanding that we needed to take in refugees from that country. A few weeks later, the Canadian government committed to accepting Afghan 40,000 refugees (until now only 5,500 have been admitted). This isn’t the first time Canada has taken in a large group of refugees at one time. There are parallels (and considerable differences) between what is happening now and what happened during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis, and we can learn a lot from our successes and mistakes during that 2015 initiative. On this episode of the podcast I speak with three individuals who have deep experience in refugee migration and settlement in Canada. First up is Thomas Soehl, an associate professor at McGill University and Canada Research Chair in International Migration. He is currently working on Tajribati, a project in which a McGill team is conducting interviews with thousands of Syrian refugees to explore the socio-cultural and political aspects of their adjustment to life in Canada, with a focus on intergenerational dynamics and informal support networks. Next is Alexandra Dawley, Senior Manager of Refugee Resettlement and Integration Programs at Mosaic ─ a British Columbia-based organization ─ one of Canada’s largest resettlement nonprofits, which serves immigrant, refugee and migrant communities throughout BC. Last I talk with Ramez Al-Jassem, who arrived in Canada in late 2016 as a Syrian refugee, to discuss his experience as a refugee and a Canadian citizen.

The killing of women and girls in Canada is not accurately tracked. Data needs to emphasize prevention, not just the administrative needs of government. Read the full article here: https://options-po.li/3pjJvkc Article by: Myrna Dawson Read by: Cléa Desjardins

In 2020, 5.5 million Canadian workers lost their jobs. In that same year, 47 Canadian billionaires saw their wealth increase by 78 billion dollars. But rising inequality did not start during the pandemic. In fact, since the 1980s, the richest Canadians have increased their wealth, while middle- and low-income Canadians saw theirs diminish. Between 1982 and 2018, the top 1 per cent of Canadians saw their income double, the upper middle class saw an income increase of around 10 per cent, and everyone else’s salary didn’t see any increase at all. In fact, those salaries didn’t even keep up with inflation. Wealth inequality in Canada is staggering. Last September, Statistics Canada reported that the wealthiest 20 per cent of Canadians currently hold over 65 per cent of the wealth in the country, while the bottom 40 per cent – almost half the country, holds just 2.5 per cent of wealth as of 2020. Coming out of the pandemic, governments are looking for ways to reduce debt and fix systemic issues in healthcare and long-term care, as well as fill gaps in the social safety net that were made apparent in the last two years. This week Angella MacEwan joins the podcast. Angella is the senior economist at the Canadian Union of Public employees, a policy fellow at the Broadbent Institute, and a former federal NDP Candidate for Ottawa Centre. I will be speaking with her about the steps the Canadian government has taken to reach this point of inequality, and the Broadbent Institute’s plan to tax the rich.