Policy Topics | Policy Briefings

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• Agriculture
• Biotechnology
• Defence & Security
• Environment
• Finance
• Fisheries and Oceans

• Foreign Policy​
• Health
• Industry and Manufacturing
• Infrastructure and Transport
• Innovation
• Intergovernmental

• Indigenous Relations
• Justice
• Labour & Employment
• Lobbying
• Natural Resources and Energy
• Women, Gender and Diversity

Intergovernmental

Referendum fever: it’s like Waiting for Godot

OpinionBY NELSON WISEMAN

• The Parti Québécois has preached separation for more than half a century. Clear the air sooner rather than later. This half century has been like Waiting for Godot.

Referendum fever: it’s like Waiting for Godot

OpinionBY NELSON WISEMAN

• The Parti Québécois has preached separation for more than half a century. Clear the air sooner rather than later. This half century has been like Waiting for Godot.

Lack of flexibility, questions about long-term funding have been stumbling blocks in signing pharmacare deals, say some premiers

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Canada’s housing crisis isn’t just about building more—it’s about getting governments to talk to each other

OpinionBY ADRIAN SCHUT

Bravo to Carney for speaking the truth

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Quebec: inhaling the ‘hopeium’ of the next ‘Mark Carney’

OpinionBY KEN POLK

A shifting geopolitical environment leaves the Arctic central to Canada’s sovereignty and security

OpinionBY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT

Legault’s legacy: incompetence and division

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

The slow, uphill climb to fix the housing mess

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

Big-name staffers steal candidate spotlight as B.C. Conservative leadership race takes shape

NewsBY STUART BENSON

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Far-right ideology is a prescription for bad health

OpinionBY DORIS GRINSPUN

• Once political leaders learn they can dictate health policy through culture wars, the intrusion rarely ends.

Far-right ideology is a prescription for bad health

OpinionBY DORIS GRINSPUN

• Once political leaders learn they can dictate health policy through culture wars, the intrusion rarely ends.

Encore une fois: a constitution for Quebec?

OpinionBY NELSON WISEMAN

Legault’s resignation leaves ‘a big vacuum’ as Quebec gears up for an election amid two leadership races, say politicos

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Bill 13 is Alberta’s law—but all Canadians must pay attention

OpinionBY BUKOLA SALAMI, NNAMDI NDUBUKA, SUME NDUMBE EYOH, MODUPE TUNDE-BYASS

Next year ‘an important one for Quebec’ as possibility of referendum looms, say Bloc MP, politicos

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Buried in the MOU: a licence to lie

OpinionBY LEAH TEMPER, SAMANTHA GREEN

Nothing is sacred in Doug Ford’s Ontario

OpinionBY JENN JEFFERYS

Alberta’s health-care reforms don’t go far enough  

OpinionBY NADEEM ESMAIL, TEGAN HILL

Charting our course: four shores, one voice

OpinionBY GRO SENATOR IRIS PETTEN

AGRICULTURE

Bloc MP Perron condemns ‘ridiculous’ spending cuts that will shutter research farms across Canada

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

MPs celebrate canola tariff relief, but national security, pork, remain opposition concerns with China

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

‘Unprecedented’ 2025 for canola industry, with record-breaking economic lobbying

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Liberals ‘taking a sledgehammer’ to the public service, says interim NDP leader Davies

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

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Biotechnology

Canada’s missing life sciences industrial strategy is leaving economic growth on the table

OpinionBY MICHELLE MCLEAN

PMPRB closes all open drug-pricing investigations before implementing new guidelines on Jan. 1

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Bloc joins push for mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Canada’s research strength is world-class—now we need to all pull in the same direction

OpinionBY BENOIT-ANTOINE BACON

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DEFENCE & SECURITY

U.S. envoy is making Canada’s F-35 decision a no-brainer

OpinionBY SCOTT TAYLOR

Industrial benefits policy needs a ‘relook,’ says ex-senior public servant, as Conservative MP pushes for contract records

NewsBY IREM KOCA

Empower hardtech innovators to step up to sovereignty threats

OpinionBY HUGH CHOW

Time to close the U.S. arms export loophole

OpinionBY ALEX NEVE

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Environment

How the pursuit of innovation and sustainability can supercharge the Canadian economy

OpinionBY MARENA WINSTANLEY

Canada’s largest pension manager ‘backsliding’ on climate, risks being unable to pay out pensions: report

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Build more homes—but don’t lock Canada into higher emissions

OpinionBY KATE KOPLOVICH

Priorities for Canada as 2026 gets underway

OpinionBY ELIZABETH MAY

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FINANCE

Three measures to tackle ‘wicked’ health policy problems

OpinionBY AZIN PEYROW

‘Not a chance’: Green Leader May says she can’t support budget omnibus bill without major changes, but NDP skeptical

NewsBY STUART BENSON

MPs face a choice this Parliament: play partisan games or meet the moment

OpinionBY BHAGWANT SANDHU

IMF report says Canada’s elevated trade uncertainty reinforces long-standing weaknesses in productivity and competitiveness

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

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Fisheries and oceans

Nearly 2,000 jobs and $1.5-billion to be cut across five departments by 2030, PBO analysis shows

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Canada’s plan to boost its economy must include rebuilding wild fisheries

OpinionBY JOSH LAUGHREN

Coastal communities ‘running out of time’ without fisheries fund renewal, say opposition critics as DFO faces $544M in cuts

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Q&A | Cod quota ‘pressure is enormous’ on fisheries minister

NewsBY PETER MAZEREEUW

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FOREIGN POLICY

America’s drug-pricing reset will reverberate far beyond Washington

OpinionBY AKOLISA UFODIKE

Multilateralism isn’t dead—it’s being forced to deliver

OpinionBY ESTEBAN CRESPO POLO

Americans unwittingly elected their first anti-Canadian president in history

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

It’s time to get serious about diversifying our suppliers

OpinionBY JAMIE CARROLL

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health

‘Diseases do not recognize borders’: U.S. decision to leave WHO ignores reality of how diseases spread, says Liberal MP Powlowski

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Health workforce, toxic drug crisis on health critics’ agendas this winter

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Make federal funding permanent for Canada’s suicide crisis helpline, say Conservative and NDP critics

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Health care is 13 per cent of Canada’s economy, and must be central to nation-building

OpinionBY JIMMY YANG

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Industry and Manufacturing

Canada’s auto sector ‘hangs in the balance’ as CUSMA review looms in 2026: ‘there’s no sugar-coating it, this is going to be a critical year for the industry’

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Renewable energy sector adds concerns about wind-tower costs to steel industry crisis talks: ‘there’s a ton of urgency’

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Steel tariff missteps threaten Canada’s energy future

OpinionBY VITTORIA BELLISSIMO, FERNANDO MELO

‘Quiet buzz’ on Bay Street about Carney’s ‘nation-building’ major projects, says Tobin

NewsBY CHRISTOPHER GULY

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infrastructure and transport

Health organizations have questions, but few answers about feds’ new $5-billion Health Infrastructure Fund

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Can Build Canada Homes make a dent in the housing crisis?

OpinionBY ALAN BROADBENT

The joys of winter biking aren’t without politics

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Time to strengthen Canada’s infrastructure planning 

OpinionBY JENNIFER ANGEL, PETER WELTMAN

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innovation

Taking a stand for sovereignty

OpinionBY CATHERINE TAIT

Transforming Canada’s energy abundance into economic leadership in the AI age

OpinionBY PETER MASSIE, CHRISTOPHER COLLINS

The missing mandate in Canadian innovation policy

OpinionBY CONSERVATIVE MP RAQUEL DANCHO

Canada’s AI moment is a values-based one

OpinionBY KRISTEN CORDELL, SABEEN DHANANI

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justice

Emergencies Act architect says courts checked government overreach, advises against further appeal

NewsBY STUART BENSON

America lost justice when Renee Nicole Good was killed

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

We need to go beyond criminal law reform to end gender-based violence

OpinionBY LANA WELLS

Bill C-16 ‘progress,’ but needs tougher language to codify femicide as a standalone crime, advocates say

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

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Labour & employment

Solving Canada’s housing crisis starts with a reality check

OpinionBY JANICE MYERS

Nuancing our understanding of Canada’s housing affordability crisis

OpinionBY STEVE POMEROY

This one policy could allow Canada to dramatically reduce land costs for affordable housing

OpinionBY COLIN O’LEARY, ACACIA PANGILINAN

Affordable housing is slipping away. Here’s how we get it back

OpinionBY REBECCA BLIGH

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Lobbying

Ottawa’s lowered lobbying registration thresholds will reshape government relations

OpinionBY SUZANNE SABOURIN, MICHAEL WALSH

Libya was a warning, Venezuela is the test

OpinionBY AKOLISA UFODIKE

‘It’s like molasses in January’: pharmacare implementation stalled, say health-care groups, but others argue time needed to get deals right

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Joly top-lobbied minister in November, universities push to attract research talent driven away from U.S.

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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natural resources and energy

Canada’s green jobs strategy needs more than good intentions

OpinionBY LIN AL-AKKAD

Federal environmental impact assessments are in even more jeopardy   

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

Trump’s hit on Venezuela just gave Canada a bruise

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Canada’s rising disaster costs call for adaptive design

OpinionBY HOSSEIN BONAKDARI

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Women, Gender and Diversity

Governments can do more to fight against Islamophobia

OpinionBY WAHEED KHAN

Women entrepreneurs are a crucial asset for Canada’s economy, they deserve a voice in shaping it

OpinionBY ROSALIND LOCKYER

Artificial action: feds offering tepid response to AI abuse

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

When a parliamentary committee recently politicized EDI in research, they put Canadian science and patient care at risk

OpinionBY RACHEL REEVE

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Indigenous Relations

Indigenous innovation: part of the tradition, not the trend

OpinionBY KATHY MANNERS

‘The ground on which we stand’: innovation and Indigenous sovereignty

OpinionBY JESSICA KOLOPENUK

Housing is reconciliation: why Canada must prioritize Indigenous housing

OpinionBY MARGARET PFOH

‘I will always be an advocate,’ says retiring Indigenous senior civil servant Gina Wilson after decades working to ‘bridge worlds’

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

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Exclusive lists

Who’s backing the NDP leadership contenders?

Who’s backing the NDP leadership contenders?

Tracking job cuts in the federal public service

Tracking job cuts in the federal public service

Take The Hill Times year-end news quiz

Take The Hill Times year-end news quiz

First-quarter expenses: MPs spent nearly $28-million

First-quarter expenses: MPs spent nearly $28-million

This Parliament’s ethics roundup: blind trusts, recusals, gifts, and more

This Parliament’s ethics roundup: blind trusts, recusals, gifts, and more

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Carney government bills: tracking their progress into law

Carney government bills: tracking their progress into law

The number of sick days claimed by bureaucrats, broken down by department

The number of sick days claimed by bureaucrats, broken down by department