Secession and the Virtues of Clarity

At a recent lecture and reception held by the Institute of Economic Affairs in London England, MLI's Brian Lee Crowley was invited to speak about the Canadian experience, its relevance to the UK and whether the UK government is truly pursuing "Canadian-style" reform.  This topic resonated with the events attendees and was mentioned by Russell Lynch in the May 31^st edition of the London Evening Standard, calling it "Canada's deficit miracle" and referring to Brian Lee Crowley as "the man who wrote the book on the nation's deficit-busting miracle of the 1990's".

Brian was also invited to speak at the 2^nd German-Canadian Professionals Conference in Berlin on May 27^th.  His keynote address was titled Economic Crisis Continued: Downfall or Turning Point.  In it, Brian addressed the impact of globalisation in the age of economic crisis.

While in Berlin, Brian attended a lunch with Ambassador Boehm at the Canadian Embassy and spoke to embassy staff regarding The Canadian Century and its themes.

According to MLI's Managing Director, Brian Lee Crowley, the answer is a resounding "No." His reasoning is outlined in the Commentary released on May 19^th, entitled Are We Running out of Natural Resources?

This subject also piqued media attention in a big way.  This Commentary was picked up by the Montreal Gazette, the Vancouver Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press.  The Financial Post printed a summary.  Brian was interviewed on the Rob Breakenridge Radio Show on May 30^th which airs in Calgary and Edmonton.  Last but not least, the Business Day daily newspaper out of South Africa picked up on the Commentary, quoting Brian, "Human beings will cease using fossil fuels long before we have exhausted the available resource and ... this is completely independent of any policy designed to speed up the invention and distribution of alternative green sources of energy."

In our last newsletter we reported on the Commentary written by Stephen Blank, Driving Continental Integration.  Since then, Stephen Blank and Brian Lee Crowley wrote an op ed that appeared in the Moncton Times and the Montreal Gazette,  Better institutions are needed for a full auto sector recovery, in which they state that there are a "number of public policy challenges, one of which is that the three NAFTA  countries all continue to treat the auto industry ... as discrete national businesses rather  than integrated continental enterprises."  

In his Hill Times column of May 30^th, Brian Lee Crowley took this topic a step farther and discussed Canada-U.S. Border security and how "American administration officials can go too far and use highly-exaggerated claims of danger from Canada to justify enforcement actions out of all proportion to the problem."

As the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's reputation grows, our Managing Director is often asked to share his knowledge about important public policy matters that are on the minds of Canadians.  At the 10^th Annual Port/Government Interface  event held in Ottawa, Brian Lee Crowley was the keynote speaker on Ottawa after the Election.  Brian was also the luncheon keynote speaker at the Annual Seminar of the Canadian chapter of the International Fiscal Association in Toronto.  His topic was Canada's Fiscal Future: What's at Stake?