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"Harper vs. the Press Gallery: the frog and the scorpion" by Robin V. Sears Contributing writer Robin Sears sees Stephen Harper’s “jihad against the Ottawa media” as an opportunity to set new ground rules in what has become an unhealthy relationship between politicians and the media. After the far too cozy days, half a century ago, when pundits moonlighted as political speech writers, the Watergate era of the 1970s transformed the press from poodles to attack dogs who saw their role as purely adversarial. In the jostling for control of the agenda in the first 100 days of the Harper government, Harper and the Press Gallery have taken turns walking out on one another. “How,” asks Sears, “have politicians and journalists fallen so far from any form of mutual respect or even public courtesy?” "From ink-stained wretches to talking heads: a short history of the Press Gallery"by Blake Andrew and Stuart Soroka In a McGill University study of Parliamentary Press Gallery membership from 1950 to 2004, the authors found a gradual decline in the number of print reporters as broadcasting became the dominant medium. Since the proceedings of Parliament were first broadcast in 1977, and increasingly since their availablility on cable and the Internet, some news organizations have reduced their presence in Ottawa. Their reporters can cover breaking news, though they cannot provide background and analysis, off television. A quarter century ago, the Kent Commission on Newspapers predicted an acceleration of concentration of ownership and fewer individual papers, resulting in a downsizing of print gallery members. Events have borne out that grim prediction, and then some. Prime Minister Harper’s skirmish with the Press Gallery is a story as old as Confederation, a struggle for who controls the agenda. "Labour market ghost stories" by Todd Hirsch [summary not available] "The mounting costs of securing the 'undefended' border" by Pierre Martin The Canada-US border was once known as the “longest undefended border in the world.” With the events of September 11, 2001, as Pierre Martin writes, “this perception came to an abrupt end.” From the US side, security trumps trade, while Canada has worked with Washington on a number of initiatives to ensure a “smart” border. Still, longer wait times at the border have imposed extra shipping costs and created problems for just-in-time deliveries. In 2005, a Transport Canada survey found that “security induced delays increased the time spent at border crossings by an average of 32 minutes per shipment, costing Canadian exporters an estimated $290 million.” Now the looming US deadline for secure I.D. cards may reduce tourism as well as slowing trade. “A 2005 Conference Board survey indicates that only 34 percent of adult US residents and 41 percent of adult Canadian residents hold a passport.” According to the same reports, there will be “an estimated net loss of $905 million in travel-related receipts to the Canadian economy.” "Identity in a dangerous time: why Canadians need a national identity card" by Donald G. Lenihan In the face of the end-of-2007 US deadline for secure I.D. for all persons entering the US from Canada, the Harper government appears to have opted for the passport option over smart identity cards. Don Lenihan, who as president of Crossing Boundaries in Ottawa works with all levels of government on streamlining delivery of services, “challenges the wisdom of that decision.” Far from being an Orwellian concept, he argues that a single smart I.D. card could eliminate layers of bureaucracy from municipal, provincial and federal government services. The British government, as he points out, will require national I.D. cards by 2013, not just to avert terror threats, but because this is part of Tony Blair’s vision of government in the new century. “Denial will not change the course of history,” Lenihan concludes. “Just as the Luddiites failed to slow — let alone stop — industrialization, burying our heads in the sand will not stop new technologies from changing how we do things.” "National identity and continental interoperability: does Canada need a new identity card?" by Jeffrey Roy Without question, as the United States will require a security identity document for crossing the border by the end of 2007, “it is going to be more difficult,” Jeffrey Roy writes, “to cross into the US without a passport.” This will create a two-tiered border, one for those with passports and one for those without. Are Canadians prepared to accept a secure national I.D. card, one with all the latest biometric features, where “the erosion of privacy is a particular concern?” Then there are jurisdictional issues between Ottawa and the provinces. I.D cards such as driver’s licences and health cards are issued by the provinces, while the social insurance number (SIN), issued by Ottawa, is used across 20 federal statutes. The same issues are in play between Washington and the states. Welcome to an extremely complex debate, and a clock that is ticking to the end of 2007. "Sécurité et droits de la personne au Canada et en Europe : un déséquilibre à corriger" by François Crépeau, Delphine Nakache and Idil Atak With the globalization of migration and the growth in the numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers, the laws and regulations governing the admission and stay of aliens were considerably strengthened everywhere during the 1980s. But since September 2001, the erosion of aliens’ basic rights has increased at an alarming rate, say François Crépeau, Delphine Nakache and Idil Atak of the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal. The authors note that government agendas in the area of asylum and immigration tend to favour the national security paradigm over the protection of fundamental rights. The article surveys dissuasion and prevention policies adopted in recent years in Canada and in the European Union, focusing on border management, international information sharing arrangements, offshore interception, detention and expulsion. "Le rapport final du Groupe de planification binational: enjeux et perspectives d'avenir" by Richard Bergeron Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, Canada and the United States established a binational planning group through an agreement on improving defence cooperation, signed in December 2002 by the Canadian minister of foreign affairs and the US secretary of state. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, this group was given the task of developing comprehensive binational emergency plans for maritime, land and civilian support, as well as decision-making arrangements in the event of threats, attacks, incidents or emergency situations requiring binational military or civilian/military responses to preserve the security of Canada or the United States. Captain Richard Bergeron, the group’s co-director, outlines the achievements of this body as well as the key recommendations of its final report, tabled in March 2006. "Facing up to the NAFTA paradox" by Geoffrey Hale As the 15th anniversary of NAFTA arrives in 2007, continental free trade has been an economic success story, but the prospects for deeper North American integration have been complicated by concerns over border security since the events of September 11, 2001, as well as the immigration fault line running along the Mexican border, among other political considerations that trump trade. Canada is the most trade-reliant of the three North American economies. Geoffrey Hale, a Fulbright Visiting Chair at Duke University, appraises the results of and considers the prospects for further liberalization down the road. "Six trade corridors to the US: the lifeblood of Canada's economy" by Russ Kuykendall The Canada-US border is the crossing point for the largest merchandise trade relationship in world history. Driven by the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and the NAFTA, Canada’s merchandise exports to the US reached US$255 billion in 2004, while imports from the US were US$163 billion, for total two-way merchandise trade of US$418 billion, leaving Canada with a merchandise trade surplus of US$92 billion. In this article, adapted from the publication, Greenlighting Trade: A Trade Corridors Atlas, from the Work Research Foundation, the author drills down on the numbers and finds that Canada-US trade can be broken into six corridors, largely along regional and sectoral lines, such as the Ontario-Michigan automotive corridor, and the Alberta energy corridor. "Renewing NORAD - now if not forever" by Joseph T. Jockel and Joel J. Sokolsky The NORAD agreement was renewed and initialled without fanfare last month. As the North American Aerospace Defense Command nears its 50th anniversary, it has now been extended indefinitely, and has taken on some responsibility for “maritime warning” in the waters around North America. Joseph Jockel and Joel Sokolsky, leading authorities on Canada-US defence issues, describe this “new but limited role.” They also look back on previous NORAD renewals, which, like this one, leave some outstanding bilateral issues unresolved. As in everything else between Canada and the US, the relationship is an asymmetric one. "La politique internationale du Québec et les questions de sécurité" by Nelson Michaud Last May, the Quebec government released its policy regarding the objectives and priorities guiding its actions in the international sphere. For the first time, an entire chapter was devoted to security — that of Quebec and the North American continent. Nelson Michaud, a professor at the École nationale d’administration publique, looks at why Quebec deemed it necessary to get involved in this sector, which is traditionally the preserve of the federal government, and how it intends to do it. "Are Canadians anti-American?" by Norman Hillmer Are Canadians anti-American? Historian Norman Hillmer wonders whether “anti- Americanism has been used so indiscriminately and so often, particularly in the recent past, that it has lost all meaning.” While there are always rhetorical outbursts of anti-Americanism, as occurred over the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the fact remains that Canada and the United States are close partners in trade, security and the defence of North America, and have been since the Second World War and the Cold War brought the two countries together. “The United States,” he concludes, “is the inevitable standard against which Canadians have always measured themselves — nothing less, but nothing more…The great national challenge pits a clumsy groping for identity and independence against an intense integration with a great neighbour’s culture, military and commerce.” "The only two options for funding the wait-time guarantee" by Michael Kirby In an SES poll for Policy Options last month, the health care guarantee on waiting times was ranked by a margin of three to one by Canadians as the most important of the Harper government’s top five priorities. The wait-time guarantee was first proposed in 2002 by the Senate Committee, chaired by Liberal Senator Michael Kirby. In this article adapted from a lecture at the University of Alberta, Kirby lays out the reasons “why the wait-time issue has moved to the top of the health policy agenda.” Public impatience is one factor, the Chaoulli decision of the Supreme Court, requiring provinces to provide timely service, is another. Meanwhile, health care costs are mounting “at a rate that the system as it is currently structured cannot sustain.” "The perverse subsidy: Canada and the brain drain of health professionals from sub-Saharan Africa" by Ronald Labonté, Corinne Packer and Nathan Klassen The Canadian health care system is one of the places where push comes to pull in terms of attracting health care professionals from sub-Saharan Africa. The authors call this “the perverse subsidy”: the costs of training these professionals are paid for by “poorer people in poorer countries.” The pull to Canada is equally a push from Africa. Reflections on a pilot study on a labour mobility issue that is equally a question of conscience. "China's electronics exports: just a standard trade theory case" by Ari Van Assche In this article, HEC’s Ari Van Assche reviews the evidence from China’s electronics industry to see whether the rise in the sophistication of Chinese exports really indicates that Chinese firms are upgrading technologically and becoming high-tech competitors. He argues that this is not the case, citing three reasons. First, the rise in the sophistication of China’s electronics exports has not been mirrored by China’s domestic electronics production becoming more sophisticated. Second, the bulk of China’s electronics trade and production is in the hands of foreign-invested enterprises. Third, increased market share by Chinese and Taiwanese “champion” firms has rarely led to an increase in competition with the leading Western and Japanese electronics firms. "Le défi chinois : une question de positionnement stratégique" by Zhan Su China’s growing power is radically transforming the environment in which Quebec and Canadian companies operate. Made in China products are competing with Canadian goods, both in the Canadian and the international markets, not only in labour- and capital-intensive sectors but also in some knowledge-based industries. These developments raise a number of questions and concerns. What is the reality of Chinese competitiveness? What is the true impact on the Quebec and Canadian economies of China’s emergence? How can we best cope with these new challenges? The author, a professor in international management at Laval University, examines these issues and concludes that in the face of this new competition, Quebec and Canadian firms will have to rethink their business strategies. "L'émergence économique de la Chine en perspective" by Patrick Leblond In recent months, there have been many reports in the media about the threat that China’s economy represents for Western economies, especially in terms of jobs. They note that many manufacturing firms in Quebec and Canada are unable to compete effectively against cheap Chinese products. HEC Montreal professor Patrick Leblond examines in greater detail trade statistics and the situation of the labour market in the sectors most affected, and finds that the situation is much less alarming than media reports suggest. He also observes that China’s growth could be hampered if it does not successfully face its social, environmental and demographic challenges. "Letter from Normandy: revisiting D-day in both languages" by Desmond Morton More than 60 years have passed since Canadians stormed three Normandy beaches on D-Day as part of the Allied force that would liberate France and Europe. The eminent historian Desmond Morton recently toured the beaches of Normandy in the company of university students from Ontario and Quebec. He sends this letter from Normandy, which is evocative of his own father’s landing there on the morning of June 6, 1944. Students saw a different place in 2006, yet it also evoked the sacrifices and courage of Canadians. "Bringing the Forces up to strength: a question of motivating youth to serve" by Adam Chapnick With the Afghanistan mission, and with major political parties promising to reverse the decline of Canada’s military capacity, the Canadian Forces have claimed a prominent place in the country’s public policy debates. But even if the Conservative government meets its target of 15,000 new regular and reserve personnel, the Forces will still be 15,000 short of their strength at the time of the first Gulf War in 1991. And signing up those 15,000 new recruits will not be easy, as Adam Chapnik explains. The Department of National Defence, he writes, has its work cut out for it in reaching Canada’s youth and motivating them to sign up. "Politics, political platforms and child poverty in Canada" by Dennis Raphael In 1989, the House of Commons pledged to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. But, writes Dennis Raphael, associate professor of health policy and management at York University, there has been little progress since then. Can we expect better from the recently elected parliament? The author explores first the reasons why Canadians should care at all about poverty and then prospects for improvements. "Public sector bargaining in Saskatchewan: time to revisit the process" by Dan Cameron Negotiations with public sector employees are an exercise that every government has to go through on a recurrent basis. Dan Cameron, former director of employee relations with the Saskatchewan Public Service Commission, examines the ongoing negotiations in Saskatchewan and observes that the financial mandate for negotiations, announced publicly in March 2004, and “the revised mandate, the reapplied mandate, the escalating mandate and now the attempt to revert to the hidden mandate” that followed, suggest that current institutional practices in this regard need to be revisited. To ensure the clarity, transparency and neutrality of the collective bargaining process, he proposes several new mechanisms and institutional reforms “that are publicly defensible and innovative, while also being fiscally responsible.” "Au bas de l'échelle" by Alain Noël [summary not available] |
