MLI Newsletter
Vol. IV, No. 1
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VIDEO
Check out MLI's short video on what led Canada to the huge fiscal reforms of the 1990s, the payoff they had, and what needs to be done so that we continue to reap the rewards of reform for years to come! | |
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Manufacturing shrugs off high dollar, Dutch Disease a false diagnosis, says MLI's Cross | |
 After 10 years of a muscular dollar, Canadian manufacturers have adapted well to a strong currency - demonstrating that Dutch Disease is economic myth rather than reality. These are key findings in a newly released MLI study that has generated a great deal of interest in the media in recent days. In Dutch Disease, Canadian Cure: How Manufacturers Adapted to the High Dollar, MLI Research Coordinator Philip Cross found that reports of the Canadian manufacturing sector's impending death are greatly exaggerated.
"They (manufacturers) have resumed their leadership role in growth during the recovery, and are poised to lead Canada in the years to come as key markets in the U.S. auto and housing sectors return to more normal levels of demand," says Cross.
The Financial Post published an op-ed by Cross on the study, which was featured on the front page. Columns highlighting the report were published in newspapers across the country, including The Globe and Mail, Postmedia newspapers, Wall Street Journal, CBC News, Global News, La Presse, Huffington Post Canada, and iPolitics to name a few. In addition, Cross appeared on CBC's Lang and O'Leary Exchange and CBC Radio to discuss his findings. Click here for more details. Finally, Cross delivered a talk on the fallacy of Dutch Disease to a full house of economic and policy development professionals at an Ottawa Economics Association event. |
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MLI weighs in on aboriginal issues, welcomes Ken Coates as Senior Fellow |  MLI is pleased to welcome Ken Coates as new Senior Fellow in Aboriginal and Northern Canadian Issues. Dr. Coates, a Canada Research Chair at the University of Saskatchewan, is a well-known historian specializing in northern history, Indigenous-newcomer relations, global Indigenous affairs, and resource development. He will co-lead the institute's work in Aboriginal affairs and support our new multi-year project, Aboriginal Canada and the Natural Resource Economy, with co-leader and Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley. The project will lay out a strategy for the full participation of Aboriginal Canadians in the natural resource economy and the opportunities that it offers. Coates and Crowley have already begun their preliminary work on the project by providing commentary on a number of aboriginal issues in the media. In an op-ed for The Globe and Mail, they write that the way to break the Northern Gateway logjam is through aboriginal equity and full participation by indigenous groups. In op-eds published in iPolitics, they discuss the way forward for governments and First Nations and the collaborative models that already exist. In Huffington Post Canada, they write about how aboriginals can and should bargain hard as they increasingly consider real development, including pipelines. Finally, Coates writes about Chief Atleo's new model of aboriginal politics in a Globe and Mail op-ed and says Canada needs more non-Aboriginal engagement with First Nations people in an MLI blog post. In addition to this coverage, Crowley and Coates interviewed on a number of radio and television stations to discuss the Idle No More movement, aboriginal equity, and aboriginal status such as CTV's Afternoon Express, CTV News, CBC's Lang and O'Leary Exchange, CBC's The National, Sun TV's Newswire, BNN, CBC Radio, and CKOM radio's John Gormley Live and the Afternoon News program. |
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Expect slow economic growth in early 2013, MLI index says |
MLI's Leading Economic Indicator rose 0.1% in November, continuing its slow growth after a stall in July. This marginal gain in the leading indicator augurs slow economic growth into early 2013, although the manufacturing sector turned down as uncertainty grew about the global economy. However, the financial market indicators continued to expand, implying whatever disruption occurred from US fiscal policy early in the New Year was anticipated by markets as likely to be short-lived.
 In Canada, housing remained the major blemish on the economy. The housing index declined 3.3% in November - its largest of five straight monthly losses. The other negative component for Canada was employment insurance claims, which rose for the first time in eight months, despite a pick-up in employment in the autumn.
Reuters Canada covered MLI's Leading Indicator here and MLI's Philip Cross appeared on Sun News Network's Canada Live to discuss the index. |
MLI leaves its mark on CNOOC-Nexen takeover and foreign SOE investment in natural resources | |
 MLI was at the forefront of the debate around the public policy issues raised by the CNOOC-Nexen deal. Not only did the institute provide timely and relevant recommendations to Ottawa's decision-makers while the issue was front and centre in policy debate, but many of those recommendations were included in the policy Ottawa announced in December. Click here for more details.
Following Ottawa's approval of the sale in December, MLI has been providing analysis and commentary on the CNOOC-Nexen takeover in the media. MLI's Brian Lee Crowley was invited to offer analysis on CBC Radio's As It Happens as well as the English and French CBC television evening news on the day of the decision. In the days that followed he discussed the impact of the decision on CTV's Question Period, the Rutherford radio show on the Corus Radio Network, and BNN's Business Day program. Click here for these interviews. |
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Head off undesirables before they arrive at the border, security expert says | |
 According to MLI's latest Straight Talk on immigration and national security, Canada must improve its intelligence gathering and sharing so that individuals who pose a security risk to Canada are identified before they arrive at our borders. In a hard-hitting interview, security expert Scott Newark examines Canada's immigration needs and the security concerns involved in maintaining high levels of immigration. This Straight Talk is the first in a series of interviews on different themes related to immigration and national security to be released in the coming months.
The interview was featured in the latest issue of Vanguard Magazine and it was highlighted in a Sun News article and television interview. Newark also appeared on Toronto's NewsTalk 1010 with John Tory. Click here for more information. |
3rd Annual Macdonald-Laurier Soirée | |
 MLI's 3rd Annual Macdonald-Laurier Soirée will be held on February 13, 2013 from 6 pm to 8 pm in the Main Dining Room of the historic Rideau Club in Ottawa. This annual event brings together parliamentarians, political watchers, public servants and other Ottawa luminaries to celebrate great Canadian Prime Ministers in the tradition of Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
The Honourable Peter Milliken, former Speaker of the House of Commons, will be our honourary chair and among our platform guests for the evening will be the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. Watch our website to see more official guests as they are confirmed.
Please join us as we celebrate the very best of Canada's political history and traditions, while supporting the work of MLI! For more information and to purchase your tickets for only $25 each, click here. |
Big farming offers key to tackling hunger | |
 MLI has been leading the debate on how to solve world hunger issues. In a recent talk at the 2012 GrowCanada Conference, MLI's Brian Lee Crowley says that the answer to hunger issues is not the local food movement, but changes that will boost the traditional food system. According to Crowley, Canada has the potential to be an economic powerhouse in the agriculture and food sector. However, many obstacles stand in our way, including a policy preoccupation with small farms, sacrificing our international trade bargaining power to protect supply management, poorly designed income support programmes for farmers and an unwillingness by political and other leaders to defend the use of science and reason to increase our ability to feed our burgeoning population.
The Western Producer published an analysis of Crowley's talk at the conference. Click here to read it. |
| More news from MLI | |
MLI has been all over the news. Here are a few highlights
In his latest columns for Postmedia, MLI's Brian Lee Crowley writes about the Maritime Union, sustainability and our relationship with nature, Canada's pension system, how the U.S mustn't wait for the perfect time to tackle spending, and how public sector workers should not have a right to strike.
MLI's Philip Cross says tough financial choices lie ahead for Canadian cities in an op-ed for the Financial Post. His arguments were echoed in a Financial Post column by Terence Corcoran and a Financial Post op-ed by Jack Mintz on city spending.
Cross then weighs in on the debate over Canada's productivity in the Globe and Mail, writes an op-ed in the Financial Post on the incongruity of policymaking in France today, and participates in a panel discussion on Ontario's manufacturing sector on TVO's The Agenda.
In her latest blog entries for The Globe and Mail, MLI Senior Fellow Linda Nazareth writes about where the jobs were in 2012 and Canada's housing future.
MLI Senior Fellow Paul Romer touts special economic zones known as charter cities in the National Post. The op-ed follows his MLI paper, Success and the City: How charter cities could transform the developing world.
MLI Senior Fellow Laura Dawson discusses sustaining the crude economy on CTV's Power Play. The interview highlights her MLI report, Sustaining the Crude Economy: Future Prospects for Canada's Global Energy Competitiveness.
MLI author Larry Martin says fundamentals, not speculation, drive higher commodity prices in Postmedia papers across the country. The op-ed is based on his MLI Commentary, Are Higher Commodity Prices driven by Speculation or Fundamentals?.
iPolitics features several articles from the latest issue of MLI's magazine Inside Policy.
In Huffington Post Canada, MLI's Brian Lee Crowley and Robert P. Murphy say that compared to Canada, the U.S. fiscal cliff is more of a fiscal dip. |
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