JSGS Policy Briefs

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10294/11700

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 80

Open Access
5G Raises Tough Policy Choices for Canada
(2019-08) Longo, Justin
Fifth generation wireless telecommunications technology, commonly referred to as 5G, could provide an important foundation for the future of Saskatchewan's rural areas and the application of advanced technology to industries like agriculture, and long-promised advances in telemedicine. But central to the development of Canada's 5G system is the role that the equipment from the Chinese firm Huawei will play. With the United States lobbying Canada to follow it in banning Huawei from its 5G infrastructure, tensions between Canada and China on this and other fronts require the Canadian government to tread carefully. Where domestic policy and international politics collide, hard choices emerge. The risk assessment currently underway in Canada should guide Canada's decision making on what to do about Huawei and 5G, though the inherent uncertainties in this case ultimately require what could be a costly decision.
Open Access
A Crisis Response for Wilderness Tourism
(2020-04-24) Coates, Ken
Few, if any, areas of the Canadian economy have been hit as hard as tourism, particularly the kind of adventure recreation for which this country is justifiably famous. From wildlife excursions in the High Arctic to white water rafting expeditions in the Rocky Mountains, fishing trips to Northern Quebec and Northern Ontario, canoeing trips along the Churchill River, and kayaking cultural journeys in Haida Gwaii, Canada has emerged one of the world's most diverse and exciting destinations for wilderness adventurers. Until 2020, that is.
Open Access
A Tectonic Shift in the Digital Divide: It's now deeper than a technological gap
(2020-09-08) Camillo, Cheryl; Longo, Justin
This issue of JSGS Policy Brief is part of a series dedicated to exploring and providing evidence-based analysis, policy ideas, recommendations and research conclusions on the various dimensions of the pandemic, as it relates here in Canada and internationally.
Open Access
A world in distress: The first stage of the battle against the pandemic
(2020-03-26) Coates, Ken; Holroyd, Carin
Politicians and public servants are immersed in one of the most challenging non-war situations in a century. The novel coronavirus has tied the world in a series of policy knots that start with public health and national safety, and sweep across global transportation and employment, to deficit financing and fundamental questions about the role of government in society.
Open Access
An Effective Retail and Distribution Model for Recreational Cannabis
(2017-12) Childs, Jason; Hartner, George
The Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS) has issued an in-depth policy paper on the legalization of cannabis in Canada. By July 2018, the production, distribution, and sale of cannabis will be legal across the country. The Government of Canada's decision to legalize and regulate was driven by three core objectives: 1. Dismantle the illicit market. 2. Restrict youth access. 3. Minimize harm. In very short order, provincial governments have to develop policy regimes and in some instances without the necessary evidence typically required to ensure effectiveness. One of the biggest problems is that a fully legalized cannabis sector is so new that we lack any system of best practices and must instead rely on piecing together evidence from across a number of poicy lenses, including public health, public safety, economics, and innovation. While some provinces and professional associations have understandably requested more time to prepare for the Act coming into force, the Federal Government has had little appetite for putting off legalizaiton. The underlying logic is that any delay would mean another year of doing nothing to keep cannabis out of the hands of youth and to keep profits out of the illicit market. Faced with the scope of the policy issues and the time pressure to put an effective regulatory system in place, the JSGS has released a report examining the policy challenges.
Open Access
Anxiety and Anger on the Prairies: The Challenge to Federalism
(2019-11) Eisler, Dale
In all the post-election hand-wringing, angst and analysis about western alienation these days, the most surprising thing is some people are genuinely surprised it has come to this. At least they seem that way in Ontario and Quebec. It kind of tells you all you need to know about how we find ourselves in this situation.
Open Access
Are Small Modular Nuclear Reactors in Saskatchewan's Future?
(2020-11-02) Hurlbert, Margot; Eisler, Dale
Often, the best way to approach a policy challenge, especially one as fraught as climate change, is to start with a question. Or, in this case, three questions. It tends to focu the mind.
Open Access
Are superclusters sensible policy?
(2018-03) Phillips, Peter W.B
After two years of anticipation and competition, the federal government announced Feb 15 the five winning "superclusters" designed to spur economic development and innovation in Canada. Since then there has been a heated debate in the media, in boardrooms, within and among governments and in the academic community about the value and potential impact of such a large investment program.
Open Access
Assessing Social Impact Bonds in Canada
(2018-01) Khovrenkov, Iryna; Kobayashi, Cindy
In 2015, as part of his mandate letters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau identified the development of a Social Finance and Social Innovation Strategy as a priority. With Canada facing persistent challenges in vulnerable social areas, the federal government committed to exploring innovative financial approaches to address complex social problems. In June of 2017, it struck a steering group of 16 experts from community, philanthropic, financial and research sectors, to assist in the development of this strategy. The steering group's first consultation document, which was released in September, 2017, outlines the strategy's proposed vision and six areas for action to advance social innovation and finance.
Open Access
Assessing the Privatization of Retail Alcohol Sales
(2015-10) Childs, Jason; Siebert, Alexander
Control and regulation of alcohol by governments has a long and varied history in Western Canada. In fact, it traces back to even before there were provinces, to the time when the Northwest Territories were controlled by Canada's Parliament. With liquor laws eventually coming under provincial jurisdiction, it's not surprising policies have evolved to the point where the provinces of Western Canada take different approaches to balancing the benefits of liberal alcohol policy and the social harm alcohol abuse causes. Finding the right policy prescription is an on-going challenge.
Open Access
Bending the healthcare cost curve in Canada
(2015-03-20) Marchildon, Gregory P.; Matteo, Livio Di
Canadian governments received a pleasant surprise this year: expenditure growth on public health care in Canada finally appears to be slowing. What's unclear is if this slowdown is the result of provincial success in sustainably bending the cost-curve, or more short-term cost-cutting in response to slower economic growth or future federal health transfers.
Open Access
Beware of Moral Hazard in COVID-19 Policy Responses
(2020-08-06) Dupont, Serge; Lynch, Kevin
This issue of JSGS Policy Brief is part of a series dedicated to exploring and providing evidence-based analysis, policy ideas, recommendations and research conclusions on the various dimensions of the pandemic, as it relates here in Canada and internationally.
Open Access
Beyond Huawei: The Urgency of Digital Security
(2020-06-15) Sparling, David
Over the past decade, cyber security has emerged as a crucial dimension of Canada's national security policymaking. Its importance will only increase as Canada completes the transition to fifth generation (5G) telecommunications infrastructure.
Open Access
Beyond the Economy: Prioritizing Saskatchewan's Wellbeing
(2020-10-01) Cazakoff, Ingrid; Khovrenkov, Iryna; Mann, Tracey
This issue of JSGS Policy Brief is part of a series dedicated to exploring and providing evidence-based analysis, policy ideas, recommendations and research conclusions on the various dimensions of the pandemic, as it relates here in Canada and internationally.
Open Access
Big Banks and Competition: The Promise and Peril of Open Banking
(2020-02) Pigeon, Marc-Andre
Open Banking promises to empower consumers by giving them easy control over their financial data.
Open Access
Building the New "Found" Generation: The Indigenous Recovery Corps
(2020-04-16) Coates, Ken
Over the last century, Indigenous communities have had generation after generation of young leaders stolen from them. It started with waves of epidemic diseases that killed tens of thousands of people and undermined First Nations for decades, leaving them seriously weakened. Residential schools subsequently removed thousands of Indigenous youth and later returned the young people to their communities, hurt and alienated from their cultures.
Open Access
Can the Web help restore public faith in democracy?
(2015-06-04) McNutt, Kathleen
Representative democracy faces many challenges. Declining voter turnout reflects citizen discontent expressed in voter apathy and the replacement of traditional partisan politics with issue-based activism. The vexing question is what to do about it.
Open Access
Canada Grain Act Review and Industry Goods: Lessions from Australia
(2021-04-08) Cule, Monika; Gray, Richard
This Policy Brief examines whether there are lessions to be learned from how Australia ensured industry-related public goods in its domestic grains sector as it transitioned to a more de-regulated market from the single-desk marketing regime of the Australian Wheat Board.
Open Access
Canada's Public Schools: Are we paying more but getting less?
(2019-04) Marshall, Jim; Mou, Haizhen; Atkinson, Michael
The question of value for money is central to any public policy consideration. Given its scale, coupled with its critical social and economic impact, education ranks as one of the most important and challenging policies for analysis.
Open Access
Climate Change and the Policies of Deception
(2019-07) Eisler, Dale
One thing is certain. The climate is going to change in Canada in the coming weeks and months when it comes to the climate change issue. It will get hotter. You can count on the debate, such as it is, intensifying as the nation heads towards an October election. And so it should, especially when the world faces an existential threat that is now officially deemed an "urgent climate crisis" by a motion of the House of Commons. For the purposes of the electorate passing judgment on the preferred policy to address climate change, the partisan battle lines are now well drawn.