The CDHI Podcast

In part one of a two-part series, RBC’s John Stackhouse and Cynthia Leach join our Michael Hainsworth to discuss the road to reducing Canada's 730 million tonnes GHG to net-zero. With COP26 now behind us, the hard work of selling climate change action at home begins and Canada’s biggest bank has spent the last year investigating how best to shift to a net zero policy by 2050, or sooner, and calls it “The $2T Transition”.

The gig economy worker has been doing much of the heavy lifting during COVID-19, delivering everything from shopping packages to dinner. But when one loses their job, they fall through Employment Insurance holes in Canada’s social safety net. Author David Gray asks: should gig workers be covered by the EI regime? The answer, not surprisingly, is complicated.

In the home-stretch of Election 2021, how have the key parties fared? The NDP’s Jagmeet Singh and the PPC’s Maxime Bernier stole some of the thunder from the Liberals and Conservatives. Strategists Jenni Byrne and Scott Reid join the C.D. Howe Institute Podcast to discuss what’s going on in the final days.

Is now the time to pay for COVID-19 and to raise interest rates? Queen's University Stauffer-Dunning Fellow and Adjunct Professor Don Drummond is worried about saddling the next generation with today's debt, while University of British Columbia Professor Kevin Milligan believes a harsh cure may do more damage than good.

How will the US Federal Reserve normalize central bank policy without crashing the economy? Dallas Federal Reserve President and CEO Robert S. Kaplan tells Michael Hainsworth why he’s not focused on raising interest rates any time soon, and the role the Delta variant of COVID-19 may play.

As the Delta variant fuels a fourth wave of Coronavirus, small business in Canada is worried about another lockdown. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business reports only one third of businesses are back to "normal" and it fears Ottawa is moving too fast on winding-down support programs. President and CEO Dan Kelly joins the C.D. Howe Institute Podcast's Michael Hainsworth to discuss his petition calling for a plan to help SMB's stay open - and avoid further restrictions.

As the debate over vaccine passports continues, time is slipping away. In the report “Vaccine Ins and Outs: An Exploration of the Legal Issues Raised by Vaccine Passports,” two of its authors joined the C.D. Howe Institute Podcast to explain why a well designed passport will work – and is critical to putting COVID-19 behind us.

With most of Canada partially vaccinated and 41% going into a “two dose summer”, is now the time to pull back on COVID-19 related stimulus spending? The Institute’s Bill Robson and Jeremy Kronick tell Michael Hainsworth that the economic data support the move as consumers prepare to open their wallets wide.

Bill C-10’s attempts to amend Canada’s Broadcasting Act has it performing a high-wire act of its own. Globe & Mail columnist Andrew Coyne and Youtube’s Jeanette Patell sit down with Michael Hainsworth to discuss criticism around Canadian content requirements, and why they feel the bill’s foundational concern is flawed: that the playing field requires leveling in the first place.

The 1st anniversary of CUSMA is around the corner. But what does the future look like for the Canadian automotive industry in a post-CUSMA, and a post-COVID world? We turned to KPMG Canada’s Joy Nott and Transport Canada’s Megan Nichols to learn how much the breakdown in supply chain management over the last 15 months and a new trade deal will change the sector forever.