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"Funding Canada's universities: research thrives in a culture of excellence" by Heather Munroe-Blum While student enrolment and faculty at Canada’s universities will grow by leaps and bounds over the next decade, the system is significantly underfunded to meet the challenge of nurturing a culture of excellence, particularly in university-based research, said the principal of McGill University in a major address. Governments must increase funding, larger endowments are needed, and students themselves should be included in a dialogue on financing our universities in a new century. "Addressing the accountability deficit: why the Martin minority government must pay more attention to the three A's" by Thomas S. Axworthy In addressing the accountability deficit, the Martin government should focus on the three A’s — authority, accountability and answerability. Authority is the formal power to act in the democratic chain of command. Accountability is the requirement for delegated authority in a hierarchy of responsibility. Answerability requires that an account be tendered by those to whom an account is due. “Reporting to other people,” writes Thomas S. Axworthy, “either voluntarily or by threat of sanction, is an essential component of democracy.” Since the mid-19th century, he observes, “the scope of government has expanded exponentially, and with it executive power. Yet the theory of ministerial responsibility remains as it was first defined in 1850.” Here are some suggestions for improving the accountability of the federal government from the former head of a Prime Minister’s Office, now chair of the Centre for the Study of Democracy. "Le Parti québécois : au-delà du conflit des ambitions" by Jean-Herman Guay The Parti Québécois has a history of internal disputes, but this time, notes Jean- Herman Guay, tensions are running deeper. There are four reasons for this: a quickly installed leadership in 2001, a stinging electoral defeat in 2003, the redefinition of the party’s radical wing, and a reasonable hope of winning the next election. But, above all, says Guay, the current discord reflects the party’s difficulty in juggling the two faces of sovereignty. Not only is sovereignty a goal to be achieved, it is also a tool and a symbol. So even before being achieved, sovereignty has generated tangible changes, and it continues to do so, which may explain the apparent paradox in public opinion, where people support the goal of sovereignty but are against holding another referendum. The PQ must now try to reconcile the two faces of sovereignty, and in dealing with this challenge all the protagonists face several dilemmas, for which there are no easy solutions. The outcome of the next convention, and the very future of the Parti Québécois, hinges on how these dilemmas are resolved. "Whither the PQ?" by Graham Fraser From the time it first took office in 1976, the Parti Québécois has always been divided between its gradualist wing personified by René Lévesque, and the hard liners led by Jacques Parizeau, who proposed sovereignty with or without association with Canada. In the mid-1980s, the moderates were in the ascendancy under the “affirmationist” leadership of Pierre Marc Johnson, and in the late 1990s they favoured Lucien Bouchard’s “winning conditions” before calling a third referendum. In 2004-05, Bernard Landry finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place on the fundamental issues of leadership and sovereignty. As the PQ prepares for its policy convention in June 2005, Landry’s leadership, and the party’s position on sovereignty, hang in the balance. Graham Fraser, author of the critically acclaimed René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois in Power, takes a look back, and ahead, at a party struggling for renewal. "Une épine dorsale institutionnelle pour l'État autonome du Québec" by Guy Laforest At its September 2004 convention, the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) adopted autonomy as the comerstone of its political project. Ex-president of the party and well-known political scientist Guy Laforest explains that by making Quebec the sole collector of all taxes levied on its territory and by giving the province an internal constitution, an idea rejected by the Parti Québécois but supported by many public figures over the years, the ADQ wants to place the fight for autonomy at the very heart of Quebec’s political identity. While the sovereignty option and the Parti Québécois have led to a reduction in Quebec’s powers and freedom, the adoption of an “institutional backbone and a new political identity that is clear and strong” will help Quebec meet the double challenge of expanding its political freedom and promoting its distinct identity, he says. "Partenariat, référendum et socialdémocratie : les conditions necessaries" by Réjean Pelletier Since its electoral defeat in April 2003, the Parti Québécois is once again pondering its future, particularly as regards three issues: partnership with the rest of Canada, the advisability of holding a referendum before setting in motion the process of achieving sovereignty, and the impact of globalization on the very pertinence of the sovereignty option, of which two at least were thought to have been resolved years ago. While undoubtedly healthy, these existential debates should not, however, lead to a radicalization of the sovereignty option, observes Réjean Pelletier, as this could result in the party’s failure, both at the ballot box and in terms of legitimacy. The defeat of 2003, he says, should not be interpreted as a rejection of the sovereignty option, but simply as a desire for change. To succeed, he concludes, the Parti Québécois must demonstrate that in the contemporary world, sovereignty combined with a partnership and a social democratic program are not outdated concepts, and that the PQ, more than any other party embodies this double orientation. "Oh, no, not separatism again" by William Watson [summary not available] "The presidential election, US social policy and whether Canadians should care" by Ted Marmor The 2004 US election was more an echo of the 2000 stalemate than a significant mandate for a right wing agenda in domestic policy. While George W. Bush might want to interpret it that way, and while he won a clear majority of the popular vote as well as the electoral college, the election would have gone the other way with a swing of only 65,000 votes in Ohio. While domestic economic and social policy issues did not play an important role in the campaign, the so-called moral issues, including referenda in 11 states on same-sex unions, drove Republican voters to the polls in sufficient numbers to provide Bush with a three-point cushion of victory. Ted Marmor of Yale University looks ahead to Bush’s push to move America toward “an ownership society” and the impact of this policy perspective on entitlements such as Social Security, and asks whether Canadians should be paying close attention. "La victoire de Bush n'annonce pas une mainmise républicaine sur la Maison-Blanche" by Pierre Martin and Richard Nadeau George W. Bush’s re-election to a second term, after a campaign that captured the attention of the entire world, was not really surprising, say Pierre Martin and Richard Nadeau. Considering US electoral history, with voters tending to opt for stability in presidential administrations, and considering the overriding concern about security issues, which favoured the incumbent, it would have been more surprising had George W. Bush lost the election. What is striking, they say, is the almost unwavering support for each side, confirming the ideological polarization of the American electorate. Their analysis contradicts the idea that the election results reflect a conservative trend or that they are attributable to the increasing role played by religion and traditional values. So we will have to get used to suspenseful presidential elections, with the US divided into two increasingly stable electoral blocs of almost equal strength. "La réélection de Bush et l'impact sur les relations canadoaméricaines : une perspective québécoise" by Guy Lachapelle and Claude Côté Since the outbreak of hostilities in Iraq, Canadians have become distrustful of the White House. Drawing upon the findings of various survey firms, Guy Lachapelle and Claude Côté paint a picture of Canadian public opinion towards the United States. While there is still strong anti-Bush sentiment, and while US foreign policy continues to be a major cause for concern, the United States remains Canada’s best ally in the eyes of a vast majority of Quebecers and Canadians. At the end of the day, they note, the state of Canada-US relations still largely depends on the trade aspect of our relationship. "Determining refugee status: find out whether a claimant is really a refugee" by Julius H. Grey The refugee determination process has been riven with controversy in Canada, abused by many claimants making false claims on the one hand, while politcially correct criteria have excluded applicants who may have been associated with totalitarian regimes on the other. “We can see how someone connected with the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan could be excluded,” writes prominent civil liberties activist Julius Grey, “even though his or her work did not involve violence or abuse.” Citing communists fleeing the Nazis, he adds that “opponents of democracy can, in certain circumstances, be refugees and can merit protection.” What’s the best policy? The most simple one: “Let us determine in a judicial way whether a claimant is or is not a refugee regardless of any negative features in his background.” "La vraie menace du dragon chinois pour l'économie canadienne passe par l'oncle Sam" by Patrick Leblond It seems that China has been on every Canadian (and foreign) business magazine’s front cover in recent months. We are told that the Chinese market represents an astonishing business opportunity for Canadian companies and that Chinese enterprises are ferociously competing against them. Unfortunately, too few of these reports mention the significant probability of a Chinese financial crisis. Yet, says Patrick Leblond, there lies the real threat that China poses for the Canadian economy. Such a crisis would bring an end to the Chinese and Asian financing of the massive US current account deficit. This would provoke a recession south of the border and a fall in the US dollar’s relative value. As a result, Canadian companies exporting to the United States in particular and the Canadian economy in general would be badly hurt. Powerless to prevent the occurrence of such a nightmarish scenario, businesses should however be ready to face the music if the Chinese dragon has a financial crisis that forces Uncle Sam to give up its Atkins diet for a low calorie one. "The price of knowledge" by Sean Junor and Alex Usher In this snapshot of Canadian university enrolment, tuition and student loan costs, two higher education researchers present some startling and, in some instances, unsettling data. University enrolment has surpassed one million students, an all-time high, with a jump of 20 percent in the last five years alone. Despite increases in tuition and minimum entering grades, participation patterns by family income quartile have not changed; children from the highest income quartile are still twice as likely to attend university as those from the lowest income quartile. Though there have been major increases in government transfers to individuals in respect of postsecondary education over the past ten years, these increases have nearly all come in the form of universal transfers. Because these funds do not specifically target lowincome students who have the most difficulties making end meet, they are of questionable value in terms of improving access. "De la formule à l'enveloppe" by Alain Noël [summary not available] Book Excerpt: Here Be Dragons by Peter C. Newman With the publication of Renegade in Power in 1963, Peter C. Newman became Canada’s first best-selling political author, opening a road for two generations of writers who would follow the trail he blazed. But the vivid subject of Renegade, John Diefenbaker, was not done even after losing the 1963 election. He had one more campaign left in him, the famous whistle-stop tour of the country in the fall of 1965. A passenger on the Chief’s train, Newman recounts that epic political journey nearly 40 years later in his memoirs, Here Be Dragons. "Privatization and demutualization" by Joseph Heath [summary not available] John J. Noble reviews Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics by Joseph S. Nye [summary not available] Richard W. Pound reviews Brian Dickson: A Judge's Journey by Robert J. Sharpe and Kent Roach [summary not available] Hugh Segal reviews At Home in the World: Canada's Global Vision for the 21st Century by Jennifer Welsh and Operation Apollo: The Golden Age of the Canadian Navy in the War Against Terrorism by Richard Gimblett [summary not available] |
