Writing in  the Globe and Mail, MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley questions the frequently cited requirement for companies to have a "social licence" to operate. He says that the term is either "meaningless or a polite term for mob rule". There is no formal process for acquiring a social licence, Crowley says. Instead he believes that activities such as mining and pipeline building should be based on clear rules that treat all parties fairly. Crowley writes: "The proponents of 'social licence', however, sneeringly dismiss this as mere legalism. According to them, some abstract entity called 'society' must be satisfied or else it is illegitimate to build the mine or the pipeline or the plant". Crowley argues that social licence, which he believes should be called "opponents' permission", must never be the basis "on which civilized societies make decisions". Crowley also spoke to 680 CJOB in Winnipeg about the issue.

Writing in the Globe and Mail, MLI Senior Fellow Ken Coates calls on young people to sharpen their job search strategies in the face of high unemployment numbers. Coates points out that factors contributing to the difficulties young adults face - weakness of the American economy, global competition, decline of Canadian manufacturing, the recession - are eroding confidence the situation will improve any time soon. That's why he believes youth need to be more strategic in selecting career paths. For Coates and coauthor Bill Morrison, this means being wary of fields that seem to guarantee a pathway to middle class prosperity, maintaining a good work ethic, planning for the future and moving quickly to jump on new opportunities. "Will today's young adults be poorer than your parents? The choices they make and their personal qualities will decide", writes Coates.

In an interview in the Law Times, the author of a recently released MLI report on mandatory minimum sentences calls on judges who circumvent their application to "resign and run for Parliament".

Lincoln Caylor made the comments while speaking about his recent report, co-authored with his Bennett Jones LLP colleague Gannon Beaulne, titled "Parliamentary Restrictions on Judicial Discretion in Sentencing: A defence of mandatory minimum sentences".

The MLI report responds to a chorus of criticism from the legal community about Parliament's decision to expand the minimum sentences for a variety of crimes. Caylor and Beaulne say that, as long as they remain constitutional, mandatory minimums and victim fine surcharges can play an important role in upholding the rule of law.

Speaking to the Globe and Mail and CBC, MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley responded to a recently announced decision from Europe's top court that limits how long personal data can be discovered through search engines.

The European Court of Justice ruled that Internet giant Google has to comply with people's requests that it remove web sites, such as news stories, from web search results about them.

Crowley told the Globe that the decision "fundamentally changes our ability to use the Internet and its accumulated resources as a historical record".

CBC Ottawa's All In A Day also spoke to Crowley about the decision. To listen to the interview, click here.

Crowley also raised a warning flag in the International Business Times on the issue, known as "the right to be forgotten".

"The past is an objective fact," Crowley told the publication. "If we allow the objective fact to be suppressed, I think we're not too far from... Joe Stalin saying, 'hey Trotsky, you're on the outs now, and I'm cutting you out of the history books.'"

Appearing on CBC's Saskatoon Morning program, MLI Senior Fellow Ken Coates called the resignation of Assembly of First Nations Naytional Chief Shawn Atleo a missed opportunity. Coates warns that Atleo's resignation could lead to some of the more pragmatic chiefs disengaging from the AFN. "What we may end up seeing is the marginalization of the Assembly of First Nations", he says.

To listen to the complete interview, click here.

Writing in Postmedia papers, MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley points out how different approaches to the peace process have forged distinct results in two areas of the world emerging from troubled histories South Africa and Northern Ireland, where former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was recently arrested in connection with the murder of a mother of 10 children more than 40 years ago.

"Achieving stable long-term peace and the conditions for future justice through telling the truth about the past and accepting responsibility for wrong-doing was Nelson Mandela's inspired solution for South Africa", writes Crowley. "Without something like it, peace in Northern Ireland and places like it will always hang in the balance."

Writing in the National Post, MLI Senior Fellow Ken Coates laments the lack of opportunities available to well-educated, bright young people in the 21st century Canadian economy. Coates points to data Statistics Canada recently released showing the declining gap in incomes between those with university degrees and those who have high-school degrees. He argues that entry-level jobs previously available to graduates in factories, government and middle management for large companies have disappeared. "Many young people know that the trajectory highly favoured by their parents does not work well in the present circumstances," he writes. Coates calls on young people to try new tactics such as earning a degree in a field with fewer graduates, attending a college or being willing to relocate in an effort to find a decent career.

Writing in the National Post, MLI Senior Fellow Philip Cross describes how growth in public sector spending has outpaced investment from the private sector in Ontario during the past few years - and why that's a sign of stagnant economic growth.

Appearing on CBC's Maritime Noon, MLI Senior Fellow Ken Coates made the case that everyone - parents, students and governments - should cover the cost of university tuition. However Coates said the tax system is way too generous to wealthier families. Many parents with high incomes can take advantage of the fact that they have a son or daughter in school, while for those in low income situations it's a worse deal.

"Unless we change things, we're going to find that universities are becoming more and more the preserve of the wealthier people within Canadian society", he told the program. He called on governments to provide more financial assistance for those from poorer backgrounds.

Christian Leuprecht, the author of a recently released MLI report on the rising cost of policing in Canada, spoke to the Toronto Star for a story on Toronto police officers being hired for off-duty assignments. The Star reported that TPS officers received $26.1 million for jobs that range from traffic control on construction sites to security for community events. The story quotes Toronto city councillors who wonder why some of those services couldn't be contracted out to private security firms. Leuprecht's study, titled the "The Blue Line or the Bottom Line of Police Services in Canada?: Arresting Runaway Costs", examines how civilians or contractors could help rein in costs by taking over responsibility for tasks such as background checks and court security.