Canadians are "extraordinarily naïve" about the dangers of organized crime in this country, according to Jeanne Flemming, former director of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, or FINTRAC, in the latest instalment of MLI's Straight Talk series of Q&As.

"I believe Canadians would be shocked to know just how much criminality exists in this country", she told MLI in an exclusive interview. "We only have to look at the recent revelations of corruption in Quebec to get a glimpse of the extent to which this element has already undermined our institutions. Does anyone believe that these events are unique to Quebec?" Flemming says that "I can tell you that what I saw in the cases developed by FINTRAC and passed on to law enforcement scared me".

According to Flemming, Canadians need to put a higher priority on protecting our institutions from corruption and organized crime, and police and security agencies need the resources to better use the information provided by FINTRAC.

   Jeanne Flemming

In a new MLI commentary paper, senior fellow Linda Nazareth alerts Canadians to the impending end of favourable demographic conditions for economic growth. The demographic "window" that has benefitted much of the developed world for 50 years or so, is about to "slam shut".

In the paper, titled How to Open Economic Doors When Canada's Demographic Window Closes, Nazareth, an economist and author of the new book Economorphics (economorphics.com), writes that "When the labour force is expanding more quickly than the youth-dependency rate, more money is being paid in taxes and less is going into education, relatively speaking, and strong conditions are created for economic expansion", but many nations are moving out of this "sweet spot", with potentially dire consequences. And so Canada will have to deal with its own demographic challenges while dealing with a global economy that is buffeted by demographic change. Nazareth also published an op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen on the subject and was interviewed on Ottawa's 1310News.

On the evening of Feb. 27 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, MLI hosted the latest in its series of Great Canadian Debates. Before a large crowd, Globe and Mail columnist Doug Saunders and Western University professor Salim Mansur had a lively and respectful debate on the resolution "Muslim Immigration is no threat to Canada or the West". Saunders argued for the resolution. Mansur argued against. Following the debate, MLI sent out a survey of participants and a large majority supported Mansur's side. Ottawa Citizen reporter and blogger Robert Sibley wrote about the impact the debate on this contentious topic has had in Canada and internationally. And op-eds based on the debaters' arguments appeared in the Globe and Mail's online debate forum. The debate was set up with an op-ed by moderator Peter Milliken in iPolitics.

Salim Mansur and Doug Saunders

The next Great Canadian Debate takes place on March 27 at 7 p.m. at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. National Post columnist Barbara Kay will debate York University professor Daniel Drache on the resolution "Free speech at Canadian Universities is an endangered species".

In the interview with MLI, Littorin spoke of Swedes' "no-nonsense approach" to things, which has helped lead to gradual, practical reforms of what had been a "socialist planned economy" structure. "[I]t doesn't really matter to people whether the doctor you have in front of you is privately employed or publicly employed as long as you get the care that you are paying for through taxes", says Littorin.

He says that increased private operation of care facilities has led to greater choice for both patients and health care professionals, greater efficiency, and improved outcomes. He also notes that even left-wing parties in Sweden have accepted user fees for those who can afford them as necessary to reduce frivolous use of the system and provide some funding.

Crowley in the Citizen: Toward greater clarity on Quebec

Writing in the Ottawa Citizen, MLI managing director Brian Lee Crowley encourages Canadians to learn from dealing with Russia and other of the world's "bullies". Crowley writes that Canada's leaders in the past acquiesced to the terms of Quebec nationalists in referendums, nearly resulting in the division of the country. The federal government took action with the Clarity Act, but Crowley notes that the Act fails to "inform Quebecers what Ottawa's negotiating mandate will be in the case of a yes vote". According to Crowley, "When Ottawa maintains ambiguity on these other issues, it makes preserving Canada harder, not easier, because it lets nationalist bullies maintain the fiction that independence is a costless panacea and that Canada will willingly lie down and be dismembered". He was also quoted in Sun Media in an article about how to combat the uncertainty about sovereignty intentionally created by separatists.

Crowley in Postmedia: Saving the elephant

Writing in the Ottawa Citizen, MLI managing director Brian Lee Crowley discusses the issue of the illegal ivory trade and how we could prevent the slaughtering of elephants. "Consider that there is not a single domesticated species in the world that is endangered. That is because there are people whose livelihood depends on the health and well-being of those animals," writes Crowley. He explains that while tough enforcement measures against poaching haven't worked, "a more promising approach would come at the problem by strengthening the incentives for locals to husband and humanely develop the resource that elephants and their ivory, for example, represent".

Crowley in the Globe: Auto subsidy debate ignores the real problem: Ontario's economy

Writing in the Globe and Mail, MLI's managing director Brian Lee Crowley describes the problems with subsidising an automotive company. "Governments that want to attract major manufacturing investment must therefore expend money and effort, but they can do so wisely or foolishly", writes Crowley. There are many reasons for an auto maker to move production to an area, and government cash is only one. He writes: "A subsidy paid directly to the company leaves behind no traces if the plant closes. On the other hand, well-trained, productive and willing workers, competitive taxes and quality infrastructure benefit every business and are eagerly sought out by most business investors".

Cross in the Post: The weak dollar myth.

Writing in the Financial Post, MLI senior fellow Philip Cross explains that while many Canadians celebrated the loonie's recent plunge to around 90 cents (US), the benefits of a weak dollar tend to be exaggerated, and the costs, which are in fact greater, ignored. "Not only consumers will pay higher prices. Businesses import most of their machinery and equipment. Faced with higher prices, firms will trim their outlays for machinery and equipment, which ultimately will depress productivity and wages in the future", Cross writes. He was also quoted on the issue by Financial Post columnist Terence Corcoran, and he was interviewed on BNN.