MLI Newsletter
Vol. V, No. 1
Feb. 14, 2014
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EVENTS
MLI's next Great Canadian Debate
- Mark your calenders -
Feb. 27,
2014
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Stay in the know
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MLI launches new app and mobile site
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On Feb. 12 the Macdonald-Laurier Institute announced the release of its new iPhone application and mobile optimized website, which will provide quick, easy, mobile access to MLI's high-quality, independent policy work, and the latest news and media coverage. The new app and mobile site will greatly expand the amount of MLI content made easily available to mobile readers. To visit the new mobile site, go to macdonaldlaurier.ca with your mobile device of choice; for the app go to http://getmyapp.me/MLI/ on your iPhone.
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Next Great Canadian Debate: Doug Saunders and Salim Mansur on Muslim Immigration
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The next edition of MLI's Great Canadian Debates series takes place on Feb. 27 at 7 pm at the Canadian War Museum. Globe and Mail columnist Doug Saunders, author of The Myth of the Muslim Tide, will debate Western University professor Salim Mansur on the resolution: "Muslim immigration is no threat to Canada or the West." Saunders will argue for the resolution, Mansur against.
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next Great Canadian Debate
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Macdonald, Pearson celebrated by Moore and Cotler at MLI Soirée
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The Macdonald-Laurier Institute held its 4th annual Soirée on the evening of Feb. 12 with a full house of parliamentarians, public servants, policy makers, journalists, entrepreneurs and other members of Ottawa's political circles. The evening was highlighted by inspiring speeches about Canada's great Prime Ministers by Industry Minister James Moore and former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler. Cotler received accolades himself for a remarkable career in public service, as he had announced his impending retirement from politics only the week before. Moore, known for his eloquence in the House, made a stirring case for Sir John A. Macdonald. Cotler, a renowned scholar, made a compelling argument for Lester Pearson. To see a photo gallery of highlights of an evening devoted to celebrating Canada's political traditions, click here.
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Irwin Cotler
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Crowley in the Globe: More than education
at stake in First Nations pact
| | In the Globe and Mail, MLI managing director Brian Lee Crowley writes about a new agreement between the government of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations on education. He writes that "important as this agreement may turn out to be for aboriginal education, far more important is what it signals for relations between Ottawa and Canada's indigenous peoples." Success on the education file for AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo will be a major boost to his leadership, and for those Aboriginal peoples who are willing to use their newfound legal power to benefit from resource development. |
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MLI paper shows tax expenditures dramatically increase size of government
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In a new MLI paper, titled Estimating the True Size of Government: Adjusted for Tax Expenditures, author Munir Sheikh attempts to improve on the traditional measure of government, which is direct expenditure as a portion of gross domestic product. Sheikh, former Chief Statistician of Canada, finds that the size of government adjusted for tax expenditures is around 50 percent higher for Canada's federal government, and around a quarter higher for all government, at about 54 percent of GDP rather than 44 percent of GDP, a very conservative estimate. Sheikh calls for greater accountability and transparency for the use of tax expenditures. The paper was covered by Don Cayo in the Vancouver Sun, and Sheikh was interviewed on 1310 News Radio and cited by Maclean's magazine's editorialists. Sheikh also published an op-ed in the Globe and Mail on the subject.
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Crowley in Postmedia papers: Under Obama the world's villains take heart
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Writing in the Ottawa Citizen and Calgary Herald, MLI managing director Brian Lee Crowley laments the decline of American influence under president Barack Obama. While many saw Obama as the inheritor of John F. Kennedy's political legacy, he has not shown Kennedy's willingness or ability to stand for American values abroad. Crowley writes: "Today, America seeks no burden and accepts little responsibility, its status as global superpower dwindling daily from disuse. Its president is largely unwilling to exercise that power to hold the world's villains in check and far too willing to dismiss the work and sacrifice of allies if he can ingratiate himself with those who are hostile to America's interests."
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February Inside Policy: Budget Making
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In the February issue of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's flagship magazine, Inside Policy, MLI makes a stand for editorial independence, with an article by Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley that relates a regrettable episode with one of the magazine's now former corporate supporters, Air Canada. In the cover story, with the federal budget about to be revealed, Stanley Hartt demonstrates why the feds and provinces need to have a good understanding of each other's goals and intentions when crafting future budgets. And former StasCan chief Munir Sheikh writes about his recent MLI paper which factors in tax expenditures in a new measurement of the size of government. Also in this issue, U of T professor Audrey Laporte, MLI fellows Alex Wilner and Benjamin Perrin, Senator Stephen Greene and more from MLI staff, fellows and authors. The article by Greene was republished in the Chronicle-Herald and he was quoted in a front-page editorial that called for a "Senate Spring". Wilner's article on counterterrorism was the basis for an op-ed he published in the Ottawa Citizen.
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MLI paper shows how to reform Canada's prostitution laws
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In the paper, titled Oldest Profession or Oldest Oppression?: Addressing Prostitution after the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in Canada v. Bedford, author Benjamin Perrin, an MLI senior fellow, writes that "Prostitution in Canada is devastating in its impacts on the most vulnerable". But simply striking down Canada's prostitution laws is not the answer. Perrin surveys the evidence in jurisdictions such as the Netherlands and Germany and finds that street-prostitution continues to thrive and conditions in brothels have not improved. Perrin concludes that "exiting prostitution is the only way to truly protect prostitutes". With that outcome in mind, the starting point for overhauling Canada's prostitution laws should be inspired by an abolitionist model developed successfully by Sweden and since adopted by other countries, Perrin argues. National Post columnist Barbara Kay called the paper "refreshingly politically incorrect common sense".
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Other MLI opinion articles and columns
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Cross in the Post: Public servants shouldn't act as the official opposition
Writing in the Financial Post, MLI senior fellow Philip Cross says that it's hard to find the Conservative government's mistrust of the federal public service unjustified when so many working and former public servants have become vocal critics. Cross writes, "What is most disturbing is the monoline of anti-government views among former senior civil servants. Critics of the government see this unanimity as an indictment of the government's unfitness to govern. Others see substance to the Conservatives' suspicions of the public service given the ideological partisanship revealed by former public servants and union leaders". Cross says that public servants' duty is to implement the government's agenda, and "If a public servant really believes the policies being implemented are against the public interest, that person should resign in protest".
Cross and Mrozek in the Globe: Marriage is better for everyone
Writing in the Globe and Mail, MLI senior fellow Philip Cross and Institute of Marriage and Family Canada executive director Andrea Mrozek remark on the ending of the common-law relationship of French President François Hollande. "The speed with which the split happened shows one of the pitfalls of a common law union compared with marriage", they write. The ease of separation in such relationships is not to be welcomed, they argue. "Separation deprives each spouse of social, emotional and financial support, and has negative implications for personal health, societal stability and even economic growth", they write.
Alex Wilner in the Citizen: The unending challenge of counterterrorism
Writing in the Ottawa Citizen, MLI senior fellow Alex Wilner assesses the state of counterterrorism following the release of CSIS's Public Report on Jan. 27. Wilner writes that, contrary to the words of US President Barack Obama, there can never be a real "end" to the war on terror, unlike previous conflicts in history. Wilner writes: "The upshot is that this conflict will go on. Instead of settlement or victory, comprehensive counterterrorism that diminishes the capability and motivation of militants is the only viable strategy. And yet even our best counterterrorism approach will face certain dilemmas." One challenge is that even failed attacks can benefit terrorists in the fear and publicity created by them. This op-ed is extracted from a longer piece on counterterrorism in the upcoming edition of Inside Policy magazine.
Cross in the Globe: When the dollar falls, everyone in Canada loses
Writing in the Globe and Mail, MLI senior fellow Philip Cross argues that while many observers welcomed the Canadian dollar's recent slide based on the perception that it would be good for manufacturing and exports, there are better reasons to be concerned about a low dollar. In fact, Cross doesn't see much of a benefit for manufacturers, and a lower loonie will bring higher prices, particularly gas prices. "A falling exchange rate almost always lowers living standards. No country has ever devalued its way to prosperity. It didn't work for Canada in the 1990s, and it won't work now. However, the myth that devaluation raises incomes is powerful in countries that fall under its sway", Cross writes.
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