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92. The Liberal Government and Canadian Defence Policy
- Author:
- Andrew Rickter
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
- Institution:
- Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau has been in office for almost three years, and thus enough time has passed to reach some early observations on its defence record. This paper looks at 3 critical issues – the government’s approach to defence spending, its recent defence White Paper, and its actions regarding the CF-18 replacement project – and concludes that while there have been some positive developments, defence is clearly not a priority of the government. Moreover, its tendency to politicize the defence file and to issue misleading policy pronouncements on matters related to it do not inspire much confidence. Thus, barring an unexpected increase in spending, Canada’s defence prognosis is poor and the Canadian Armed Forces will likely see their capabilities erode further over the near-to-medium term.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Military Strategy, Budget, and Liberalism
- Political Geography:
- Canada and North America
93. Implementing the Ahafo Benefit Agreements: Seeking Meaningful Community Participation at Newmont’s Ahafo Gold Mine in Ghana
- Author:
- Benjamin Boakye, Maggie Cascadden, Jordon Kuschminder, Eric Werker, and Sam Szoke-Burke
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- In 2008, ten communities in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana entered into agreements with Newmont Ghana to govern company-community relations, ensure local job creation, and share the benefits of the company’s mining operations. Ten years later, this report, co-authored by Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI), African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), CCSI, and ISP, looks at the communities’ experience of those agreements and suggests how the agreements might be improved. Though the agreements were celebrated for their attempts to include all stakeholders in decision-making, challenges remain around representation, consultation, and participation. New entities established to facilitate multi-stakeholder decision-making have led to the replication of existing power imbalances. And despite many improvements, the agreements have not fully stabilized company-community relations; tensions and grievances remain concerning employment, compensation, and resettlement, among other issues. The report makes research-informed recommendations for the communities, Newmont Ghana, and other stakeholders in the lead-up to the renegotiation of the agreements. While the negotiation of benefit agreements (sometimes called “Community Development Agreements”) have been the subject of wide-ranging research, academic literature on agreement implementation is still relatively sparse, and tends to focus on cases in Australia and Canada, with little information available from cases in low- or middle-income countries. This report therefore seeks to contribute to filling this gap, alongside other studies mentioned in the report.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Mining, Community, and Job Creation
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Canada, Australia, and Ghana
94. An Ironic Outcome: The United States — Even under Trump — Is Closer to Meeting Its Emission Targets Than Canada
- Author:
- Jeff Rubin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Even though US President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement, the country remains much closer to hitting the 2020 emission targets pledged by the previous administration of Barack Obama than Canada is of meeting the targets originally proposed by the government of Stephen Harper. The significant difference in emission performance is the result of the very different trajectories of energy-related emissions in the two countries. In the United States, such emissions have fallen steadily over the last decade as natural gas has usurped coal’s once dominant role in the US power sector. North of the border, oil sands emissions continue to be the fastest-growing source of emissions in Canada as emission-intensive in situ oil sands production continues to increase despite unfavourable economics.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Oil, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, and North America
95. Protection for Those Who Need It Most: Sustainable Property Insurance in High-risk Areas
- Author:
- Jason Thistlethwaite and Daniel Henstra
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Private property insurance is an efficient, resilient and legitimate approach to disaster recovery, but flood insurance premiums in high-risk areas are too expensive for many property owners to afford. Comparing flood insurance regimes in other states demonstrates the difficult balance between ensuring coverage is available and keeping it affordable for policyholders. Sustaining property insurance in high-risk areas in Canada requires a partnership whereby governments invest strategically in risk reduction and inform Canadians about the location of high-risk areas, while insurers provide coverage and adjust premiums to reward community-level actions that reduce risk.
- Topic:
- Natural Disasters, Maritime, and Insurance
- Political Geography:
- Canada
96. Made in China 2025 as a Challenge in Global Trade Governance: Analysis and Recommendations
- Author:
- Anton Malkin
- Publication Date:
- 08-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- This paper provides a reassessment of Made in China 2025 (MIC 2025) — China’s industrial policy framework aimed at helping the country overcome the much-maligned middle-income trap — in the context of global trade governance. It suggests that China’s industrial policies have been viewed too narrowly — without sufficient attention to longer-term global governance issues — by a large segment of the global business and policy-making community. The paper argues that the general aims of MIC 2025 and the policies that underpin them are not unreasonable, given the increasingly prevalent dilemmas in global trade that China’s leaders are grappling with. These include problems of international development arising from growing global industrial concentration — driven by the growth of the intangible economy — and China’s shrinking access to importing and developing technological components (such as semiconductor chips) that are increasingly characterized as “dual-use” by China’s trading partners. This suggests that resolving the concerns of China’s trading partners regarding China’s industrial policies requires global trade governance reform to ensure an equitable, rules-based global trading order that addresses the legitimate needs of developing and middle-income economies in acquiring foreign-owned technological components and know-how, for the purposes of economic development. The paper concludes by outlining specific recommendations for Canada’s policy makers in improving their economic relationship with China in the context of MIC 2025.
- Topic:
- Development, Industrial Policy, Science and Technology, Governance, and Free Trade
- Political Geography:
- China, Canada, Asia, and North America
97. Reconciliation beyond the Box: The UN Declaration and Plurinational Federalism in Canada
- Author:
- Sarah Morales and Joshua Nicholas
- Publication Date:
- 09-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has publicly shared a vision of a plurinational state brought about through truth and reconciliation. He has expressed hope that Canadians are ready to rectify past wrongs and undo the legacy of colonialism by using the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) as “a way forward” to achieve self-determination, dignity and respect for Indigenous peoples. Many have questioned the government’s commitment to reconciliation built upon nation-to-nation and government-to-government relationships. Governmental support of major development projects such as the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, against strong opposition from some Indigenous voices, has created skepticism. Many Indigenous leaders have expressed concerns about how changes to a number of laws currently making their way through Parliament will impact Indigenous people, and whether their concerns are being fully heard by government. With respect to the government’s rights recognition and implementation framework, some Indigenous communities argue that the focus should be on the affirmation rather than the mere recognition of rights that are already enshrined in the UN Declaration. This paper looks at the history of Indigenous treaty making in Canada, the history of the courts’ statements regarding Crown sovereignty, underlying title and legislative power, and how the UN Declaration might lead Canada and Indigenous peoples toward genuine nation-to-nation relationships.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, United Nations, Colonialism, and Indigenous
- Political Geography:
- Canada and North America
98. Rethinking Industrial Policy for the Data-driven Economy
- Author:
- Dan Ciuriak
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- This paper reviews industrial policy in theory and historical practice. It makes the case for a fundamental reframing based on the centrality of data to the data-driven digital economy, the various roles that data plays in this economy (as a medium of digital transactions, as intangible capital and as infrastructure of a digitized economy), and the heightened scope for market failure in the data-driven economy. A number of points to guide the formation of industrial and innovation policy in the knowledge-based and data-driven digital economy are suggested. As part of their data strategies, countries should assess the market value of data generated in the exercise of public sector governance and data generated in Canadian public space; put in place procedures to capture data and regulate its capture; and use procurement to develop new capabilities in the private sector.
- Topic:
- Industrial Policy, Infrastructure, Governance, and Digital Economy
- Political Geography:
- Canada and North America
99. The Rise of Mega-Regionalism: Revealing Canada’s Blind Spots
- Author:
- Jeremy de Beer
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- The era of global multilateralism in international trade is coming to an end. The World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) Doha Round, which sought to reduce multilateral trade barriers, has been declared “dead and buried” according to certain scholars. New WTO reform efforts may be rekindled; however, the world has shifted toward international economic regionalism. The WTO defines regional trade agreements as reciprocal preferential trade agreements between two or more partners (whether or not from the same region), of which almost 300 are in force. While these agreements can be called bilateral, free, regional or preferential trade agreements, there is a more important issue than naming.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance, Regional Cooperation, World Trade Organization, and Multilateralism
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, and North America
100. Flood Risk Mapping in Canada: Moving Forward on a National Priority
- Author:
- Daniel Henstra and Jason Thistlethwaite
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- To improve public awareness of flood risk and meet its commitment to the United Nations Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, Canada must develop up-to-date flood risk maps and make them publicly available. Effective flood maps improve risk perception, ensure information is accessible and stimulate risk reduction. Good flood maps provide: information to personalize the experience of flooding; local and historical context; a legend; legible flood extents; definitions of scientific and technical terminology; transparency on uncertainty and limitations; data on all forms of flooding; and risk reduction advice. Until a more coordinated map development process can occur, the Government of Canada should create a national online repository where existing maps are collected and made publicly accessible.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, United Nations, Natural Disasters, Maritime, Flood, and Maping
- Political Geography:
- Canada and North America