Policy Topics | Policy Briefings

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

Labour and employment

It’s time we treat campus infrastructure as a nation-building project

OpinionBY GABRIEL MILLER

• Investments in universities are practical and high-impact investments that will create new jobs, deliver value for taxpayers and strengthen Canada’s competitiveness.

It’s time we treat campus infrastructure as a nation-building project

OpinionBY GABRIEL MILLER

• Investments in universities are practical and high-impact investments that will create new jobs, deliver value for taxpayers and strengthen Canada’s competitiveness.

Employment and Social Development Canada forecasts thousands of job losses ahead of Carney’s spending review

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

What good is a social safety net that doesn’t catch you?

OpinionBY AMANDA THERRIEN

Homebuilding is ready for its tech makeover

OpinionBY JAYSON MYERS

What to do about youth unemployment?

OpinionBY ABDUL ABBASI, MATTHEW GERRITS, HANNAH HUNTER

If Carney wants to transform the economy, he needs to fix the housing crisis

OpinionBY TIM RICHTER, PEDRO BARATA, JANICE MYERS, RAY SULLIVAN

Investing in Indigenous education is an investment in Canada’s future

OpinionBY MIKE DEGAGNé

Bill removing internal trade barriers risks undermining policy innovation 

OpinionBY MARK WINFIELD

What we choose to build

OpinionBY VALERIE WALKER, MATT MCKEAN

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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Treasury Board reports gains on diversity and equity in public service, but will cuts hamper progress?

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

• As of March 2024, just over 70 per cent of the core public administration belonged to one or more employment equity groups. But as the bureaucracy now begins to shrink for the first time in over 10 years, these groups could be disproportionately impacted.

Treasury Board reports gains on diversity and equity in public service, but will cuts hamper progress?

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

• As of March 2024, just over 70 per cent of the core public administration belonged to one or more employment equity groups. But as the bureaucracy now begins to shrink for the first time in over 10 years, these groups could be disproportionately impacted.

More trade, not less protection for workers

OpinionBY LANA PAYNE

The future of Canada depends on Indigenous leadership

OpinionBY CANDACE LARSEN

PM Carney’s failure to appoint disabilities minister is an error in judgement

OpinionBY LEN BAKER

Time to build—together

OpinionBY REBECCA BLIGH

Turning the tables on ‘Positive Nutrition’

OpinionBY JACQUES J.M. SHORE, SUZANNE SABOURIN

Backing down on DST is understandable, but doing so on supply management would be another story

OpinionBY SHEILA COPPS

‘They were emphatic in their foolishness’: Senate defers to House on Bloc supply management bill despite concerns

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

Rural Canada is finally getting its moment

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

AGRICULTURE

Canada can be an agriculture powerhouse if we meet the moment

OpinionBY SENATOR MARY ROBINSON

Supply management consensus emerges but Grits, Tories accuse each other of past capitulation

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

No more scraps: making the election about ending hunger in Canada

OpinionBY NICK SAUL, JASMINE RAMZE REZAEE

Is Canada keeping pace with agricultural innovation?

OpinionBY ASIM BISWAS

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Biotechnology

Canada’s next top doctor must be a ‘focal point’ for public health amid changes in the U.S., concerns about next pandemic

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

From momentum to leadership: securing Canada’s biotech future

OpinionBY WENDY ZATYLNY

The prescription for Canada’s health care future

OpinionBY BETTINA HAMELIN

Biotechnology momentum in Canada needs infusion of talent and anchor firms, say industry reps

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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DEFENCE & SECURITY

Buying time for Ukraine

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

Trade tribunal calls for freeze on multimillion-dollar defence contract after complaints it favours U.S. supplier

NewsBY IREM KOCA

Raising hackles: why can’t the CAF help stepping on their own dicks?

OpinionBY SCOTT TAYLOR

BC Ferries story reveals Canada’s confused policy on China

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

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Environment

Uncertainty over ‘sunsetting’ programs as Environment Canada’s spending slashed in half by 2028, pending fall budget update

NewsBY RIDDHI KACHHELA

‘Drill, baby, drill’ is outdated

OpinionBY JORY COHEN

Global progress on renewables but climate tipping points still on the horizon

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

Bill C-5: RIP reconciliation?

OpinionBY DOREEN BARRIE

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FINANCE

Proposed budget cuts echo Trump’s priorities, not our own

OpinionBY DAVID MACDONALD

The PBO’s take on public service bloat and staffing cuts

NewsBY RIDDHI KACHHELA

‘It’s a massive task’: Carney’s ethics screen won’t prevent conflicts of interest, warn critics

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

‘Nobody is spared’: Treasury Board plans to cut staff by 10 per cent, with most from ‘employer’ oversight roles

NewsBY MARLO GLASS, PETER MAZEREEUW

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Fisheries and oceans

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

Oceans must take centre stage in nation-building projects

OpinionBY DEREK ARMITAGE, TREVOR SWERDFAGER

Rebuilding Canada’s fisheries for climate and economic security

OpinionBY JOSH LAUGHREN

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FOREIGN POLICY

Feds’ new ‘reciprocal procurement’ policy to limit foreign access to contracts amid U.S. trade tensions

NewsBY IREM KOCA

While Carney negotiates with a lawless president, opposition armchair critics should give the prime minister more room to manoeuvre

OpinionBY ERROL MENDES

Bob Rae is feeling the UN’s pain

OpinionBY DOUGLAS ROCHE

Canada has an opportunity to shape Hong Kong’s techno-legal narrative

OpinionBY MARCELO THOMPSON

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health

Population planning must look beyond snapshot of fertility levels

OpinionBY CéLINE DELACROIX

G7 may have missed the mark on health, but Canada has a second chance to lead

OpinionBY CHARMAINE CROCKETT

Carney’s plan should emphasize public health rather than fossil fuels

OpinionBY RICHARD VAN DER JAGT, MARIA MEDELEANU, GEOFF STRONG

Winning the legislation lottery: MPs eye causes that hit close to home for fall bills

NewsBY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

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Industry and Manufacturing

We need a fix for bureaucratic delays—but is it a pipe dream?

OpinionBY MATT GURNEY

What will kill the electric car this time: Trump or Canada’s haplessness?

OpinionBY SUSAN RILEY

Canada’s economic future runs on brain power

OpinionBY JENNIE Z. YOUNG, JULIAN KARAGUESIAN

Canada’s government and banks are stuck on oil—and this is a problem

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

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infrastructure and transport

Competition Bureau recommends bureaucratic power grab over airline industry

OpinionBY MATTHEW LAU

An Indigenous-led second port on Hudson Bay will help unite Canada

OpinionBY DOROTHY DOBBIE

Remembering the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster

OpinionBY BRUCE CAMPBELL

All three levels of government must play their part in building up Canada’s supply chains

OpinionBY LINDSAY KISLOCK

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innovation

Digital sovereignty must drive Canada’s U.S. trade strategy

OpinionBY BARRY APPLETON

Canada’s wildfire response infrastructure is failing when lives depend on it

OpinionBY KEVIN FERNANDES

It’s Trump’s world. Other world leaders are just living in it.

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

Digital services tax retreat risks showing ‘Canada will fold’ in Trump trade talks, warn experts

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

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intergovernmental

Feds have to fight comms with comms to tackle Alberta alienation problem

OpinionBY SHEILA COPPS

Is Plamondon a wolf in expensive clothing?

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Saskatchewan Senator pushes for a national emergency response agency to fight wildfires

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

A new Arctic archipelagic defence concept will project Canada’s power in the North

OpinionBY ANDREW ERSKINE

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justice

Military police chief is ignoring the law, shutting down probes into complaints: watchdog report

NewsBY PETER MAZEREEUW, SAMANTHA WRIGHT ALLEN

Senate throws a lifeline to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

OpinionBY ERROL MENDES

Kelly looks at how governments react to judicial invalidation in Constraining the Court

FeatureBY JAMES B. KELLY

‘This is a book about gender-based violence, with a focus on intimate partner abuse,’ says Donner-nominated author of And Sometimes They Kill You

FeatureBY PAMELA CROSS

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Labour & employment

A new Canadian economy must include everyone

OpinionBY BONNIE BRAYTON

In the face of insolvency and strike action, what does Canada Post’s future look like?

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Federal public service cut by nearly 10,000 jobs, new data shows

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

New housing minister’s ‘first-week jitters’ on home values needs clarification, says policy expert Mike Moffatt

NewsBY STUART BENSON

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Lobbying

Hurly-burly nonsense around Carney’s assets is standard politicking—and a shame

OpinionBY TIM POWERS

Energy Minister Hodgson top-lobbied in Carney cabinet since May shuffle

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

The value of strategic praise

OpinionBY GERRY NICHOLLS

Senate ethics office ‘not keeping up with demand,’ calls for more resources in annual report

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

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natural resources and energy

Q&A | Ontario First Nations launch court challenge against law fast-tracking major projects

NewsBY RIDDHI KACHHELA

Coal mine expansion a dangerous step backward for public health and our environment

OpinionBY STEPHEN WILTON

Can Canada be a clean energy superpower? Not without tax credits

OpinionBY SHAWN MCCARTHY

Carney is walking a political tightrope on our energy future

OpinionBY ANDY HIRA

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Women, Gender and Diversity

Before the cuts: a bureaucracy baseline from an employment equity lens 

OpinionBY ANDREW GRIFFITH

There’s no better time for Canada to embrace its diversity

OpinionBY JENNIFER ST. GERMAIN

‘They’re never going to silence me’: Red Chamber marks Pride month with historic number of openly queer Senators 

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

‘Survivors are waiting for it’: Sen. Boyer reintroduces bill to criminalize forced, coerced sterilizations

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

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Indigenous Relations

Disorganization mars Bill C-5 summit, but progress possible if Liberals commit to consultation, chiefs say

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Canada Post being used to traffic drugs to First Nations in crisis

OpinionBY MICHAEL YELLOWBACK, ANGELA LEVASSEUR

This time, ‘nation building’ must include Indigenous Peoples

OpinionBY DON KELLY

Why government’s aversion to risk impacts Indigenous Peoples the most

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

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Upcoming Policy briefings

Exclusive lists

House and Senate steering committee members named

House and Senate steering committee members named

All eyes on Trump: meet the top 50 foreign policy influencers navigating Canada’s role in a rocky world

All eyes on Trump: meet the top 50 foreign policy influencers navigating Canada’s role in a rocky world

Meet Carney’s parliamentary secretaries, half of whom are rookie MPs

Meet Carney’s parliamentary secretaries, half of whom are rookie MPs

The 19 entities asking for the biggest spending boosts in the 2025-26 main estimates

The 19 entities asking for the biggest spending boosts in the 2025-26 main estimates

Meet Mark Carney’s 38-member senior team

Meet Mark Carney’s 38-member senior team

The salaries of Carney’s cabinet and secretaries of state

The salaries of Carney’s cabinet and secretaries of state

Who’s in and who’s out of Carney’s post-election cabinet?

Who’s in and who’s out of Carney’s post-election cabinet?

MPs, Senators get a salary boost, Carney will now earn $419,600, Scheer $308,800, and Blanchet $280,600

MPs, Senators get a salary boost, Carney will now earn $419,600, Scheer $308,800, and Blanchet $280,600