Policy Topics | Policy Briefings

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• Agriculture
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• 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

Labour and employment

Government agencies are hardly trying when it comes to transparency

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN | UPDATED December 9, 2025

• We have a very tenuous and shaky situation with increasing setbacks in disclosures, and more creative avoidance, delays, and denials.

Government agencies are hardly trying when it comes to transparency

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN | UPDATED December 9, 2025

• We have a very tenuous and shaky situation with increasing setbacks in disclosures, and more creative avoidance, delays, and denials.

Effective nation-building starts with the people and places where it happens

OpinionBY SHAIMAA YASSIN, ABIGAIL JACKSON, NOEL BALDWIN

Time to strengthen Canada’s infrastructure planning 

OpinionBY JENNIFER ANGEL, PETER WELTMAN

Feds must stay strong on restricting for-profit childcare

OpinionBY CANDACE RENNICK

The missing 27 per cent: why disability is DEI’s greatest opportunity

OpinionBY LORIN MACDONALD

Demystifying the detection of fraud and coerced victims

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

Striking a balance

OpinionBY CSG SENATOR TODD LEWIS

Canada’s local infrastructure fund must be fair to workers

OpinionBY RENZE NAUTA

Canada at a crossroads as history repeats itself

OpinionBY JOSEPHINE GREY, SHEILA REGEHR

MOST RECENT POLICY BRIEFINGS

Canada Part I: Interprovincial Trade & Labour

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Homebuilding & Affordable Housing

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University and College Research

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Unspinning the Trumpian disinformation on DEI: why it matters for all Canadians

OpinionBY KAIT LAFORCE, WILL SHELLING

• The vague attacks on DEI distract from the very real ways that Canadians interact with equity-oriented federal programs that bolster opportunity and reduce barriers.

Unspinning the Trumpian disinformation on DEI: why it matters for all Canadians

OpinionBY KAIT LAFORCE, WILL SHELLING

• The vague attacks on DEI distract from the very real ways that Canadians interact with equity-oriented federal programs that bolster opportunity and reduce barriers.

‘Prices have to go down’: housing experts say new agency’s success must be measured in cost, not construction outcomes

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Federal childcare program falls far short as costs balloon 

OpinionBY PETER JON MITCHELL

Fast, employer-aligned training is key to Canada’s economic recovery

OpinionBY MICHAEL SANGSTER

Feds need clearer focus on youth as unemployment hits 15-year high, critics say

NewsBY GRACE BESTARD

Bloc joins push for mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Dabrusin top-lobbied cabinet minister, Nature Canada pushes for nature strategy after absence of support in budget

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Scaling climate-resilient farming solutions for global impact

OpinionBY CAROL THIESSEN

The easiest policy win in Ottawa might just be hiding in plain sight

OpinionBY ORVILLE BOVENSCHEN

AGRICULTURE

Thinking clearly about the EV-canola tradeoff

OpinionBY BO CHEN, ISG SENATOR YUEN PAU WOO

Investing in the future of Canadian agriculture: a strategic imperative

OpinionBY TREVOR HECK

Canada can lead global efforts in tackling hunger

OpinionBY ANDY HARRINGTON

Canada must keep its promises to protect animals

OpinionBY EWA DEMIANOWICZ

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Biotechnology

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

OpinionBY BENOIT-ANTOINE BACON

Canada could have access to more than 10,000 doctors if licensing were less complicated, House Health Committee hears

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Turning innovation into impact: Canada’s biotech advantage

OpinionBY WENDY ZATYLNY

‘Cutting red tape,’ mental health and primary care on the health docket this fall

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

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DEFENCE & SECURITY

There’s no security without Indigenous sovereignty

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Minister called to de-haze budget math on cuts to veterans’ medical cannabis reimbursement

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Venezuela strikes are nothing but performative murder

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

Between a rock and a hard place

OpinionBY SCOTT TAYLOR

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Environment

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

OpinionBY JOSH LAUGHREN

As the Paris Agreement turns 10, Canadian policy must align to protect our health and future

OpinionBY MILI ROY

Likelihood of reaching long-term climate goals unclear until more details emerge from Alberta MOU, say environment experts

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Alberta’s new energy MOU could kick-start a race to the bottom on climate

OpinionBY RICK SMITH, DALE BEUGIN, DAVE SAWYER

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FINANCE

Champagne says CRA is taking a ‘step in the right direction’ after 100-day plan shows improvements

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Surge in lost public property sees total federal losses reach $730.4-million for 2024-25

NewsBY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

Building up Canada’s defence sector will depend on long-term homegrown support

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

MPs order release of records from new Defence Investment Agency after it leaves the PBO waiting

NewsBY IREM KOCA

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Fisheries and oceans

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

Federal fish science analyses continue to muddy the waters in salmon farm fight

NewsBY STUART BENSON

The markets are hungry for Canadian cod. Will we deliver?

OpinionBY SYLVIE LAPOINTE

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FOREIGN POLICY

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

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

India eyes speedy, year-long negotiation to finalize trade pact with Canada 

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

Trump’s many ‘peace’ deals turn sour

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

Canada’s China reset just got much harder

OpinionBY VINA NADJIBULLA

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health

New report recommends making pharmacare permanent with annual funding as progress on bilaterals remains stalled 

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

House Health Committee shines spotlight on foreign-funded medical residencies and feds’ role in attracting health-care workers

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Youth mental health is Canada’s economic blind spot

OpinionBY ZAHID SALMAN

Alberta’s hybrid health-care plan breaks the spirit—and likely the law—of Canadian Medicare

OpinionBY KAREN S. PALMER

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Industry and Manufacturing

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

Canada’s ZEV mandate will leave 450,000 drivers stranded

OpinionBY BRIAN LIVINGSTON

Budget 2025 is more of the same

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

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infrastructure and transport

The joys of winter biking aren’t without politics

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Chief says feds’ engagement with First Nations ‘needs to improve’ after ‘very limited’ contact on major projects

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

B.C. offers a warning to Ottawa’s billion-dollar construction fund

OpinionBY RYAN MITTON

Living in Canada’s Arctic North: why federal investment matters

OpinionBY SOLOMON AWA

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innovation

Budget suggests Carney blinked again in pursuit of digital sovereignty

OpinionBY ANDREW CLEMENT

Canadian AI sovereignty requires more than just servers

OpinionBY DANIEL ESCOTT

Canada needs a strong EV market to secure future jobs

OpinionBY ADAM THORN, MEGAN GORDON

Adopting a made-in-Canada policy could result in losing the battle for AI supremacy

OpinionBY MICHAEL CHOLOD

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intergovernmental

‘He’s a welcome dose of fresh air’: Kinew ranked most popular premier

NewsBY CHRISTOPHER GULY | UPDATED December 11, 2025

The MOU’s real value may be for those on the outside looking in

OpinionBY TIM POWERS

Ottawa-Alberta energy deal could open door for other provinces to pursue weakened climate policies, say environmental experts: ‘this is just a massive step back’

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT, RIDDHI KACHHELA

‘I don’t know if she’s playing any role’: NDP critic slams Environment Minister Dabrusin’s ‘rubber stamping’

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

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justice

Alberta’s intent to suspend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for trans health care for youth sets a dangerous precedent

OpinionBY JENNIFER EVANS, ALISON LI, JACQUELINE MURRAY

How best to stop coverups: end government misuse of non-disclosure agreements

OpinionBY INDEPENDENT SENATOR MARILOU MCPHEDRAN, JULIE MACFARLANE

A debt of gratitude for Ivan Zinger, correctional investigator

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

OGGO hearing confirms: our government continues to persecute whistleblowers rather than protect them

OpinionBY DAVID HUTTON

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Labour & employment

Let’s not forget Canada Post is a public service

OpinionBY WOJTEK GWIAZDA

Canada’s Student Work Placement Program a youth employment lifeline 

OpinionBY ROB HENDERSON

Easter Seals, CFIB lobbying feds to end Canada Post’s strike

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

‘Get back into shop floors’ and contrast Carney’s ‘lurch to the right,’ say NDP leadership hopefuls of party’s path forward 

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

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Lobbying

House Ethics Committee to review Lobbying Act in 2026 after AI study, says chair Brassard

NewsBY HUNTER CRESSWELL

Blanchard defends Carney’s ethics screen as a ‘rigorous process’

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

The unintended consequences of stricter rules on public policy engagement

OpinionBY JACQUES J.M. SHORE, SUZANNE SABOURIN

Budget a step in the right direction, but fails to deliver on the ‘hype,’ say lobbyists

NewsBY SERGIY SLIPCHENKO

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natural resources and energy

Canada must find its climate path beyond fossil fuels

OpinionBY DAMON MATTHEWS

The Alberta energy deal is worse than you think

OpinionBY STEPHEN THOMAS

Jump-starting a Canadian power grid

OpinionBY MADELEINE MCPHERSON, PETER FAIRLEY

Canada’s chance to lead the critical minerals race should be based not only on extraction, but also on tech

OpinionBY APOORV SINHA

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Women, Gender and Diversity

How Mark Carney can win back friends and influence critical outcomes

OpinionBY SHARI GRAYDON

Liberal women are taking notice, Carney would be wise to remember the estrogen wave that handed him the election

OpinionBY SHEILA COPPS

Constituent seeking help for brother and others fleeing Sudan civil war says immigration minister ‘angry, rude, and dismissive’ in phone call

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

Stepping back from feminism in foreign policy exposes a deeper crisis of commitment at home

OpinionBY YUSRA QADIR

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Indigenous Relations

Feds removed 643 more companies from its Indigenous business directory this year

NewsBY IREM KOCA

Canada’s renewed pipeline fixation threatens more than the environment

OpinionBY ALIENOR ROUGEOT

The responsibility to avoid fraud

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

Deloitte’s certification as partner to Indigenous firms raises questions about access to feds’ contract regime, says Indigenous business owner

NewsBY IREM KOCA

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Upcoming Policy briefings

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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

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

MPs’ annual office budgets for 2025-26

MPs’ annual office budgets for 2025-26

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Take The Hill Times politics quiz