MLI Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 1
Jan. 23, 2015

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In this edition...
MLI News: The Macdonald-Laurier Institute is five years old
Defence: New paper on defence procurement makes waves
Events: Celebrate Sir John A. Macdonald's 200th birthday with MLI
Natural resources: Crowley talks social licence in Vancouver
Events: Tackling anti-contraband tobacco in Toronto
Economy: Saskatchewan a dynamic province, says Crowley column
Environment: Cross pens column on carbon taxes for the Post
Budgets: Natural resources aren't a reliable revenue stream
Other MLI news

MLI kicks off fifth anniversary celebrations 

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute is celebrating five years!

Since 2010, MLI has provided thoughtful, practical, independent and non-partisan commentary and recommendations on national issues from many of the country's top minds. This has helped Canada stay at the forefront of nations in a rapidly changing world by keeping governments, opinion leaders and the general public abreast of the very best public policy ideas.

Public opinion leaders are already marking MLI's accomplishments. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin, cabinet minister Jason Kenney and former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna have all left compliments and best wishes for MLI as it celebrates half a decade of contributions to Canada.

"The Macdonald-Laurier Institute is an important source of fact and opinion for so many, including me", said Martin. "Everything they tackle is accomplished in great depth and furthers the public policy debate in Canada".

Join us in 2015 as we celebrate our successes from the past five years and look forward to a future of making Canada even better.

Check out all the quotes on our special fifth anniversary website.


  

MLI framed one of the country's most important public policy debates earlier this month with the release of its paper on defence procurement.

Author David Perry lays bare the reasons for Canada's dysfunctional defence procurement system. He finds that delays and a lack of capacity have both contributed to defence funding sitting unspent in government coffers.

The paper, a joint release of MLI and the Conference of Defence Associations Institute, earned coverage from The Canadian Press. That story appeared in newspapers across the country, including the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and regional outlets such as the Halifax Chronicle-Herald and the Winnipeg Free Press.

The study was also the subject of a column by John Ivison in the National Post and an editorial in the Toronto Star. Perry authored a column in the Ottawa Citizen and discussed the main findings on CTV News Channel and with several radio stations across the country, including 1310 News in Ottawa and CJOB in Winnipeg.

 

 

New date: Celebrate the life of Sir John A. Macdonald at Ottawa event

Get ready to celebrate Sir John A. Macdonald's 200th Birthday at Ottawa's premium networking event with parliamentarians, public servants, policy makers, journalists, entrepreneurs and other members of Ottawa's political circles.

Join us on February 18, 2015 at the Canadian Museum of History for a private tour of their new 1867 exhibit, canapés, and a three-course dinner, followed by cake.

Taking part in the evening's panel are: Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander, National Post editorial pages editor Andrew Coyne, historian Michael Bliss, UK High Commissioner Howard Drake and Ryerson Professor Patrice Dutil.

To purchase a ticket/table, or for sponsorship opportunities, please contact Pamela Louie at pamela.louie@macdonaldlaurier.ca or visit the event's website.

"On his birthday (January 11th) and throughout Macdonald's 200th anniversary year, Canadians might well celebrate their impressive present and brilliant potential by raising a toast to our first prime minister", MLI's Brian Lee Crowley wrote in an Ottawa Citizen column.

"He lives on in us."

 

MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley travelled to Vancouver in January to give several talks and media interviews on the topic of social licence.

Thanks in part to MLI's work on the subject, interest in the concept of social licence is growing. Crowley has discussed extensively how opponents of natural resource development are exploiting the concept to block support for particular projects.

He spoke at events organized by the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia and the non-profit Resource Works.

He also spoke with CBC Vancouver on the subject.

 

Discussion on anti-contraband tobacco comes to Toronto

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute will bring together a panel that will discuss best practices on fighting contraband tobacco and how the Ontario government may learn from these revelations.

This event will take place in Toronto on March 12, 2015, and follows up on the meeting that took place in Ottawa on Nov. 25 of last year.

Writing in the Globe and Mail, Macdonald-Laurier Institute Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley argues that Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is helping to make his province the most dynamic in Canada.

Natural resources like oil and gas, balanced budgets and food production are combining with the province's political leadership to further Saskatchewan's success.

"At a time when global population growth means more food will be eaten in the next 50 years than in the whole rest of human history, Saskatchewan is poised to be a world food superpower and to become rich doing so", Crowley writes. 

Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow Philip Cross spurred a discussion about the economic fallout from introducing a carbon tax with a column in the Financial Post.

Cross argued that people are fooling themselves if they think that introducing a carbon tax won't be harmful to economic growth.

He advises the Ontario government - which is currently mulling introducing the policy - to not read too much into the popularly-held notion that the BC economy has felt no ill effects from introducing the tax.

Cross spoke on the subject to the CBC program The 180. It also generated a response from supporters of a carbon tax in the pages of the Financial Post.



Writing in the Globe and Mail, Macdonald-Laurier Institute Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley says it's time for provincial governments to re-evaluate how they use resource revenue at budget time.

The problem, says Crowley, is that resource revenue is subject to huge and unpredictable swings. That's why he recommends governments start using them as capital, rather than income.
Other MLI news

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The Macdonald-Laurier Institute is the only non-partisan, independent national public policy think tank in Ottawa focusing on the full range of issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government. It initiates and conducts research identifying current and emerging economic and public policy issues facing Canadians.

Visit us online at www.macdonaldlaurier.ca