Policy Topics | Policy Briefings

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• Agriculture
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• Environment
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• Infrastructure and Transport
• Innovation
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• Indigenous Relations
• Justice
• Labour & Employment
• Lobbying
• Natural Resources and Energy
• Women, Gender and Diversity

Intergovernmental

The CAQ’s language shell game fooled everyone

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

• A report last week from the Office québécois de la langue française indicates the status of the French language since 2017 has been 'stable.'

The CAQ’s language shell game fooled everyone

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

• A report last week from the Office québécois de la langue française indicates the status of the French language since 2017 has been 'stable.'

Is there another Charest in the Quebec Liberals’ future?

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Horrendous death of three women brings some action on gender-based violence, but there’s a long way to go

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

A closer look at the federal carbon tax

NewsBY STEPHEN JEFFERY

Are we sleepwalking to another national unity crisis?

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Mass departures from municipal politics are understandable

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

The Bill 21 judgment is a disgrace

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

‘There’s a lot of trauma’: N.W.T. braces for another tough fire season as governments look for lessons from 2023 response

NewsBY STEPHEN JEFFERY

A dire nursing shortage, private-sector windfall profits all part of Ford’s disastrous approach to Ontario health care

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

MOST RECENT POLICY BRIEFINGS

The North

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New study says long waits for health care in Canada are driven by high demand, not low supply of doctors

NewsBY IAN CAMPBELL

• A report from Get Well Canada found that the number of physicians—including family doctors—per capita in Canada has been rising steadily despite persistent wait times. One year on from the 2023 health accord, the think tank calls for governments to focus more on investing in wellness instead of medical care.

New study says long waits for health care in Canada are driven by high demand, not low supply of doctors

NewsBY IAN CAMPBELL

• A report from Get Well Canada found that the number of physicians—including family doctors—per capita in Canada has been rising steadily despite persistent wait times. One year on from the 2023 health accord, the think tank calls for governments to focus more on investing in wellness instead of medical care.

Right at home in Canada: Tucker Carlson spews lies and hate in Alberta

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

A bill to recognize heartache

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Distance from Trudeau an advantage for Liberals on the Rock

OpinionBY TIM POWERS

Parental rights battle cry is turning private grievance into public policy

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Canada is completing Confederation

OpinionBY KEN COATES

Derrick Bragg will be missed by so many in Newfoundland and Labrador

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Nunavut’s infrastructure and housing crises are closely linked and need a federal partner to step up

OpinionBY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT

Quebec mayors dismayed with Poilievre’s accusations of incompetence, but pollsters say Conservative leader ‘doesn’t have much to lose’ by going on attack

News

AGRICULTURE

Canada’s system of supply management: an innovative, modern solution

OpinionBY ROGER PELISSERO

Economic value of agriculture industry often overlooked by feds, argue sector advocates

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Climate change will affect your grocery prices

OpinionBY NAVIN RAMANKUTTY AND KUSHANK BAJAJ

Agriculture can do more than just put food on our plate

OpinionBY RENE VAN ACKER, AMY PROULX, AND MARTIN SCANLON

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Biotechnology

Does Canada need a more integrated strategy for pandemic responses? Yes

OpinionBY ISAAC BOGOCH AND DAVID NAYLOR

Canada’s biomedical brain drain is reversing. Let’s continue that trend

OpinionBY MICHAEL MAY, ALLISON BROWN

Talent shortage a priority for biotech sector emerging from pandemic

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Canada’s place in the world of biotechnology research and application is in jeopardy

OpinionBY NDP MP RICHARD CANNINGS

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DEFENCE & SECURITY

Canada’s military procurement: a laundry list of broken promises

OpinionBY SCOTT TAYLOR

Cyber threat ‘continuously evolving,’ with autocratic states posing ‘greatest strategic cyber threat to Canada,’ Senate committee hears

NewsBY MIKE LAPOINTE

Struggling low-cost air carriers require feds’ intervention on price competition, says aviation expert

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Canada’s updated defence policy muted on UN peacekeeping as historic low contributions persist  

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

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Environment

Coral reef condoms: how to save a dying ecosystem

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

Canada’s investment in AI should inform a global ‘rights-based’ approach

OpinionBY ANN FITZ-GERALD, JATIN NATHWANI, MARAL NIAZI

We need to bring back extensive urban, inter-urban rail and buses: letter writer

Opinion

Buried in the budget: a potential breakthrough in meeting Canada’s net-zero goals

OpinionBY NA’IM MERCHANT

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FINANCE

Public service unions sound alarm over feds’ plan to trim bureaucracy by 5,000 jobs through ‘natural attrition’

NewsBY MIKE LAPOINTE

Budget’s ‘slow rollout’ pharmacare funding leaves program vulnerable to change in governments, say policy experts

NewsBY IAN CAMPBELL

Budget 2024 offers promising pledges for science, but falls short in a few ways

OpinionBY SARAH LAFRAMBOISE, FARAH QAISER

Canada is struggling and government is part of the problem

OpinionBY KEVIN LYNCH, JIM MITCHELL

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Fisheries and oceans

Unlocking the power of the ocean: threading the economic needle on the path to net zero

OpinionBY KENDRA MACDONALD, TRINE JøRANLI ESKEDAL

Reel returns: the economic mandate for rebuilding fisheries

OpinionBY REBECCA SCHIJNS

Department of Fisheries and Oceans undermining minister’s mandate

OpinionBY KAREN WRISTEN

Catching up with Fisheries Minister Lebouthillier’s team

FeatureBY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

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FOREIGN POLICY

Military mutiny or political collapse: Ukraine is running out of options

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

‘Insufficient for the scale of need’: foreign service reform gets initial ‘down payment,’ but follow-up needed, say Parliamentarians

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

Canada going ahead with Ecuador trade talks despite Mexican Embassy raid rebuke

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

Trump, the John Gotti of U.S. politics

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

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health

Feds must expand pharmacare to include essential drugs for our deadliest diseases: cancer, heart conditions, and stroke

OpinionBY ANDREA SEALE, DOUG ROTH

Protecting public health care has never been more important

OpinionBY LIBERAL MP YASIR NAQVI

All hands on deck for the future of health care

OpinionBY LIBERAL MP SEAN CASEY

Getting everyone a ‘front door into the health system’: Jane Philpott weighs in on fixing health care, and her future in politics

FeatureBY PETER MAZEREEUW

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Industry and Manufacturing

Feds’ groceries bill is worth less than the paper on which it’s printed

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Foreign investment rules designed for an economy that no longer exists

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

Firefighters and environmentalists are asking for PFAS action

OpinionBY CASSIE BARKER

Expanded electric capacity to handle EVs must be taken seriously, say experts

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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infrastructure and transport

Budget overlooks need for trade-enabling infrastructure

OpinionBY LINDSAY KISLOCK

Roads, horses, and carts, oh my! Time for Canada to take trade-enabling infrastructure seriously

OpinionBY PASCAL CHAN

Better climate-risk mapping data a must as Canada addresses housing crisis, says experts

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Time to stop building infrastructure for yesterday’s climate

OpinionBY RYAN NESS

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innovation

Correcting the record on Bell’s restructuring: BCE exec

Opinion

We are on the path to legal singularity

FeatureBY ABDI AIDID AND BENJAMIN ALARIE

Should telecommunications be nationalized?

OpinionBY MARK HANCOCK

EV battery fires are a global problem that we need to address in Canada

OpinionBY JOSIPA PETRUNIC

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justice

Feds should act fast on potential judge residency rule repeal

OpinionBY EDITORIAL

Exploring the legacy of COVID pandemic panic

FeatureBY JOANNA BARON, CHRISTINE VAN GEYN

Parties have ‘free rein’ with voter data, finds report, but veteran party ops say that’s vital for democratic engagement

NewsBY IAN CAMPBELL

Bill 21 should be quickly repealed

OpinionBY FRANK BAYLIS

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Labour & employment

The personal transformation of Pierre Poilievre

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

Tenants’ advocates warn of landlords ‘double dipping’ into green retrofit fund without greater transparency or strings attached

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Housing the latest skirmish pitting progressive government against zombie neoliberalism

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

A trading nation needs a globally engaged workforce

OpinionBY PERRIN BEATTY

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Lobbying

Budget 2024 provides key themes for advocacy strategies in advance of anticipated election budget, says lobbyists

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Beef farmers seek exemption from federal carbon price in March dominated by environment lobbying

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Sponsored travel climbed back to pre-pandemic levels in 2023 as MPs accept trips to Israel, Taiwan, U.K.

NewsBY STEPHEN JEFFERY

Poilievre’s communication record shows corporate lobbyists shouldn’t panic, say lobbyists

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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natural resources and energy

First Nations and the right to say yes

OpinionBY CONSERVATIVE SENATOR DAVID WELLS

Environmental groups urge an end to fossil fuel subsidies in two reports outlining Canada’s oil and gas financing

NewsBY MIKE LAPOINTE

A cap on emissions will actually hinder Canada’s environmental, social, and economic efforts

OpinionBY DEBORAH YEDLIN

Budget 2024 is critical to the future of made-in-Canada biofuel projects

OpinionBY BOB LAROCQUE

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Women, Gender and Diversity

Beyond International Women’s Day: sustaining support of Indigenous women entrepreneurs

OpinionBY MAGNOLIA PERRON

Difference does not mean worse: embracing neurodiversity in the workspace

OpinionBY AMIN KAMALEDDIN

Will Canada support changes to international law on gender persecution?

OpinionBY RHONDA GOSSEN

House report on preventing human trafficking met with mixed reviews

NewsBY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

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Indigenous Relations

Funding for Manitoba landfill search welcome, but First Nations-led response still needed

OpinionBY GRAND CHIEF CATHY MERRICK

Equity loan guarantees will pave path to economic reconciliation

OpinionBY WAYNE MCQUABBIE, GREGORY NEWTON, JOHN BEAUCAGE

Canada’s budgetary process: a failing grade in First Nations partnership

OpinionBY GRAND CHIEF CATHY MERRICK

We must demand greater accountability from police

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

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Exclusive lists

Cabinet’s communications and chiefs of staff list, 2024

Cabinet’s communications and chiefs of staff list, 2024

U.S. election preoccupies Canada’s top 50 foreign influencers as feds’ focus gets pulled from Asia strategy

U.S. election preoccupies Canada’s top 50 foreign influencers as feds’ focus gets pulled from Asia strategy

Cabinet’s communications and chiefs of staff list, 2024

Cabinet’s communications and chiefs of staff list, 2024

House committee trips that have been granted a travel budget in the 44th Parliament, so far

House committee trips that have been granted a travel budget in the 44th Parliament, so far

Fraser voted best minister in Question Period and best public speaker in The Hill Times’ Politically Savvy Survey 2023

Fraser voted best minister in Question Period and best public speaker in The Hill Times’ Politically Savvy Survey 2023

Telford three-peats at the top of the 20th Terrific 25 Staffers list, LRB’s Wendy Wu voted Best All-Round

Telford three-peats at the top of the 20th Terrific 25 Staffers list, LRB’s Wendy Wu voted Best All-Round

A ‘more challenging and volatile’ world: Russia, China, U.S. top of mind for top 50 foreign policy influencers

A ‘more challenging and volatile’ world: Russia, China, U.S. top of mind for top 50 foreign policy influencers

Top 30 consultant lobbyists with highest number of communications in 2022

Top 30 consultant lobbyists with highest number of communications in 2022