How Ottawa police treat white protesters compared to others including Black and Indigenous people reveals an entrenched Canadian double standard.

Read the full article here: https://options-po.li/3gx7vMK

By: Anna Drake

French version read by Ricardo Montrose

So-called “Freedom Convoy” is a symptom of a deeply unequal society (EN/FR) - In Their Words 09

Debates around fiscal arrangements are always at the heart of federal-provincial relations in Canada. These days, health care funding and the Canada Health Transfer are even front-page news. Just a few months ago, equalization and Alberta’s demand for a fair deal that were making waves. 

In this episode, we do a deep dive into fiscal federalism: the current state of it, its history and how we got here, as well as the challenges ahead. The conversation is moderated by Antoine Brunelle-Côté, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet at the Privy Council Office. He is in conversation with Trevor Tombe, Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary and a Research Fellow at The School of Public Policy; and Mary Janigan, a journalist and historian, and author of the recent book, The Art of Sharing: The Richer versus the Poorer Provinces since Confederation. 

This episode was recorded during an online event held by the Canada School of Public Service and is the second instalment of a partnership between the school and the IRPP’s Centre for Excellence.

PO Podcast 154 - The Fundamentals of Fiscal Federalism

What does it mean to be a status Indian in Canada? Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii), a professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, answered this seemingly straightforward question in his keynote speech at our 50th anniversary gala. Explaining the processes of losing and gaining status in his family and the policies made to disempower Indigenous people over the last century, Sanderson paints a powerful portrait of how public policy shaped his life and that of Indigenous people across this land.  

Sanderson’s words are followed by a stirring poetry performance from Greg Frankson (aka Ritallin), a leading Black Canadian poet and editor of AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets (2022). Frankson’s work in this selection continue the theme of inequality. 

This episode of the podcast is a recording of Douglas Sanderson’s keynote speech and Greg Frankson’s poetry from November 23, 2022 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

PO Podcast 155 - Public policy in Canada from an Indigenous perspective

How do municipalities fit into Canada’s federal structure? How do cities manage policy aims with limited revenue-raising powers.  On this episode of the podcast, we explore the relationship between municipal and federal, provincial and territorial governments.
 
Moderated by Tomas Hachard, independent researcher, author and former manager programmes and research for the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG), our conversation on municipalities features Enid Slack, Director at IMFG, and Kennedy Stewart, Director at Simon Fraser University's Centre for Public Policy Research and the former mayor of Vancouver.

PO Podcast 159 - The Role of Municipalities in Federalism

In this episode, our series on federalism turns to one of the most contentious issues in Canada these days: healthcare.  

We go back to first principles to understand how federalism influences the way we approach healthcare in Canada. We also ask what makes an effective healthcare system? And how does federalism complicate or help that dynamic? What are the different roles of each level of government and the stakeholders they interact with? And how do they work or don’t?  

Our expert guests are Katherine Fierlbeck, McCullough Research Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University, and Chaim Bell, Physician-in-Chief at Sinai Health and Professor of Medicine and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. 

This episode was recorded during an online event held by the Canada School of Public Service and is the sixth and final installment of a partnership between the school and the IRPP’s Centre for Excellence.

PO Podcast 160 - Health Care and Federalism

Black Canadians are more likely to be targeted by police for stop and search, and more likely to be incarcerated.  

In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto, where he is a leading scholar of race and Canada’s criminal justice system. How does racial data get collected in Canada? What does it reveal about the treatment of Black people by the justice system? How have Canada’s drug laws been used as a tool of racialized social control? Tune in for answers to these questions and deep dives into various intersections of race and criminal justice in Canada.

Inequality and Criminal Justice, with Akwasi Owusu-Bempah - In/Equality 02

Economic inequality in Canada and other developed countries has been rising since the 1980s. Along with this trend, Canada has seen a withering of redistributive policies and major changes in the way we talk about poverty.

In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Keith Banting, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Queen’s University. The conversation explores how inequality and redistribution intersect with racial inequality and immigration, particularly with the rise of a populist backlash. What does this populism look like in Canada? How should we frame discussions of economic inequality? Tune in for an expansive discussion on the rise of inequality and responses to it.

Inequality and Redistribution, with Keith Banting - In/Equality 03

From June 12 to 14, 2023, the Institute on Governance (IOG) and the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation at the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) partenered to convene Resilient Institutions: Learning from Canada’s COVID-19 Pandemic – a conference on making public institutions and governance more agile.

As the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has recently demonstrated, countries that want to thrive in this turbulent century must be adaptable. In this keynote address at the Resilient Institutions conference, Alasdair Roberts, professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the Jocelyne Bourgon Visiting Scholar at the Canada School of Public Service and a visiting professor at the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University, examines Canada’s track record on adaptability and considers how the country can respond more effectively to new conditions and ideas.

Despite the many merits of the Canadian approach to governing, adaptability has come under threat in recent years. Short-term politics have increasingly taken the place of forward thinking, technological change has disrupted the public sphere, and the public service has become less nimble. Taking account of these challenges, Roberts proposes a program of reform that is focused on the country’s flexibility for the dangerous decades ahead.

This episode of the podcast is a recording of Alasdair Roberts’ keynote address at the IRPP’s Resilient Institutions: Learning from Canada’s COVID-19 Pandemic conference, which was co-hosted with the Institute on Governance and took place in Ottawa from June 12 to 14, 2023.

PO Podcast 162 - Building an adaptable country

Seventy-four per cent of Canadians live in cities of over 100,000 people, according to the 2021 census. What does that mean for those living in rural and remote areas? How do we ensure rural Canadians have access to high-quality services?

In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Bill Reimer, professor emeritus of sociology and anthropology at Concordia University. Bill has studied rural communities in Canada and around the world for decades. Small-town economies, often built around extraction, present various challenges. What policy tools can we learn from provincial governments and other countries? How do Indigenous people fit into discussions of remote and rural inequality? How does immigration intersect with the needs of rural communities? Tune in for answers to these questions and more.

Inequality and Rural Communities, with William Reimer - In/Equality 11

Social inequalities have shown no sign of receding in Canada or worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the persistence of deep-seated inequalities along racialized and gendered lines. Meanwhile, the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice has called into question the weight that power and privilege continue to hold in our society. 

Although policymakers continue to attempt to address the many dimensions of inequality, economic, racial and gendered disparities remain. Worse yet, public policy decisions have, in many cases, been complicit in the perpetuation of social inequalities.  

This in-person conversation between Debra Thompson, associate professor of political science at McGill University and the host of the IRPP’s In/Equality podcast, and Joe Soss, the Cowles Chair for the Study of Public Service at the University of Minnesota, addressed these concerns head-on, considering the intersection of public policy and social inequality.

Social Inequality, with Joe Soss - In/Equality 15

In this episode of Demystifying Community Housing, co-hosts Hanan Ali and Natasha Mhuriro speak with Rebecca Schiff, dean of the Faculty of Human Health Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia; Ray Sullivan, executive director of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association; and David Hulchanski, a professor in the Faculty of Social Work and the Graduate Program in Planning in the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto. Together they discuss what community housing means, who it serves or should serve, and how to pave the path forward for resilient community housing.

SHOW NOTES
The production of the podcast series is led by Dr. Yushu Zhu and Dr. Meg Holden at Simon Fraser University as part of the Community Housing Canada project and the Housing Inequality in Canada project, in partnership with IRPP. Student researchers include Hanan Ali, Natasha Mhuriro, Pok Man Tong, and Khoa Vo. This podcast has received production support and assistance from Cléa Desjardins, Ricardo Montrose and Luc Moulaison at IRPP, and audio producer Jackie G. If you like what you heard and you want to know more about the Institute for Research on Public Policy, head over to https://irpp.org/.

Additional resources:
Where Are All My Relations? Stories of Indigenous Homelessness in B.C. is an eleven-episode series that explores Indigenous homelessness rooted in Indigenous worldviews and experiences. The documentary can be viewed via Indigenous-led Solutions to Indigenous Homelessness — Lu’ma Group of Companies (lnhs.ca). This film was funded by the Province of BC. The videos were produced by Little Bird Media, an Indigenous-led firm based in Vernon, B.C., including Lu’ma Native Housing Society. The project was stewarded by leaders from various Indigenous organizations. The documentary is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND license.

PUSH (2019), a documentary film investigating housing financialization
Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) at the University of British Columbia

Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative (CHEC) at McMaster University
At Home in the North, partnership project for Northern housing security and homes

Neighbourhood Change Research Partnership based at the University of Toronto

Canadian Housing Renewal Association (CHRA) Economic Study: The Impact of Community Housing on Productivity

Hey Neighbour Collective (HNC) on community-building, social connectedness, and resilience in B.C.’s multi-unit housing communities.

Funding:
This podcast series receives funding from the Canada Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant for The Community Housing project [430-2021-00887] and the Insight Development Grant for the Housing Inequality project [890-2018-1013].

What is Community Housing? - Demystifying Community Housing 01

In this episode of Demystifying Community Housing we hear from AnaLori Smith, Pam Gill and Rita Wong about what it’s like to live in community housing. We’ll also talk to non-profit housing practitioners Marika Albert and William Azaroff about the challenges of operating community housing and supporting the well-being of their tenants.

Life in Community Housing - Demystifying Community Housing 02

In this episode of Demystifying Community Housing, we hear from Alex Hemingway, Christina Maes Nino and Steve Pomeroy, on the various challenges facing the community housing sector and how to bolster its resilience.

Additional resources:
•	Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative (CHEC), a network of more than 30 academics and more than 50 practice partners representing policymakers, housing providers and equity-seeking groups, to accelerate evidence-based solutions that advance Canada’s National Housing Strategy 
•	Business Transformation: Promising Practices for Social and Affordable Housing in Canada. 2015. Published by Housing Partnership Canada.
•	The Community Housing Transformation Centre, a network of organizations that represent and serve the needs of Canada’s community housing sector. The centre provides access to tools, financial resources and best practices to support the growth, transformation and resilience of community housing.

Funding:
This podcast series receives funding from the Canada Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant for The Community Housing project [430-2021-00887] and the Insight Development Grant for the Housing Inequality project [890-2018-1013].

Resilience and Challenges of the Community Housing Sector - Demystifying Community Housing 04

On this last episode in this series, our co-hosts Hanan Ali and Natasha Mhuriro talked to four guests. Djaka Blais, Executive Director of Hogan’s Alley Society; Robert Byers, President & C-E-O of Namerind Housing Corporation; Joshua Evans, Associate Professor at the University of Alberta. and Franz Bernhardt, Postdoctoral Researcher at Aalborg University, Denmark.  

We spend time thinking about and imagining alternative models of community housing. How could or should Canada’s community housing sector look differently in the future? What are some good examples of innovative housing projects and practices from across the country – and around the world? What lessons can we learn?   

The production of the podcast series is led by Dr. Yushu Zhu and Dr. Meg Holden at Simon Fraser University as part of the Community Housing Canada project and the Housing Inequality in Canada project, in partnership with IRPP. Student researchers include Hanan Ali, Natasha Mhuriro, Pok Man Tong, and Khoa Vo. This podcast has been a dedicated collaboration, with production assistance by Ricardo Montrose, Cléa Desjardins and Luc Moulaison at IRPP, and audio producer Jackie G. Karen Sawatzky contributes to script editing for this episode. If you like what you heard and you want to know more about the Institute for Research on Public Policy, head over to https://irpp.org/. 

Additional resources: 

Hogen’s Alley Society - A Black-led non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, economic, and cultural well-being of people of African descent in Metro Vancouver. 

Namerind Housing Corporation - An Indigenous-led housing provider and social enterprise.  

Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA) - An umbrella organization composed of 41 Members that are each Indigenous Housing providers. The first Indigenous Housing Authority in Canada and only the second in the world. 

Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services - A non-profit housing provider with a focus on the Indigenous community. 

Housing Boom in Gateway Cities – Book written by David Ley, 2023. Utilising a comparative approach in five gateway cities, the author provides an understanding of the politics of booms, lifting the debate beyond narrow housing and real estate studies.  

Policy fact sheet: National Building Fund, Denmark. European Construction Sector Observatory. 2019. 

The resilience of social rental housing in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark: How institutions matter. Timothy Blackwell & Bo Bengtsson. Housing Studies. 2023. 38:2, 269-289.

The Future of Community Housing - Demystifying Community Housing 05

As a new U.S. administration keeps threatening to impose tariffs on Canadian exports, the IRPP hosted a panel discussion on how to address the intersecting affordability and climate crises.

Hosted in partnership with the Affordability Action Council, the panel featured Tyler Meredith, a former economic policy adviser to the Liberal government, Kathleen Monk, former director of communications to NDP leader Jack Layton, Karen Restoule, vice-president of Toronto-based Crestview Strategy and senior fellow at Macdonald-Laurier Institute and was moderated by Jennifer Ditchburn.

The panel focused on how to protect households from the rising cost of living, how to minimize the impacts of extreme weather events and how to keep affordable food on the table. This podcast is the audio from that discussion.

PO Podcast 168 - Affordability and Climate: Addressing Intertwined Challenges in Politics Today

In our first episode, Jennifer is joined by Ranj Pillai, Premier of Yukon, for a conversation about what it means to build economic resilience in the North.

Premier Pillai speaks about Yukon’s response to global tensions and economic uncertainty, emphasizing infrastructure investment to support major investments in critical mineral projects. He underscores the importance of long-term planning, strong partnerships with Indigenous peoples and maintaining Arctic sovereignty. And, with Yukon’s economy performing well, he also highlights the creation of the Canadian Institute for Arctic Security to counter foreign interference and strengthen defence in the North.

Ranj Pillai on Sovereignty and Strategy in the Arctic - Futureproofing Canada 01

Canada’s Cities Are Doing Too Much With Too Little — Here’s Why That Matters

In this episode, Jennifer is joined by Natan Obed, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, for a wide-ranging conversation on Inuit self-determination, infrastructure, and Canada’s future in the Arctic.

Originally from Nunatsiavut, Obed has become one of the leading voices advocating for Inuit rights and equity within Canadian society. He shares his journey from studying at Tufts University to leading national efforts for policy change, and highlights the urgent need for infrastructure investments, from deep-water ports to clean energy projects.

With a focus on practical solutions and long-term collaboration, he calls for Canada to move beyond symbolic gestures and into an era of respectful, results-driven partnership with Inuit communities.

Why Inuit Self-Determination Is Key to Canada's Future

Indigenous businesses are now being launched at up to nine times the rate of non-Indigenous businesses.

In this episode of Futureproofing Canada, Jennifer is joined by Tabatha Bull, President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business, for a conversation about the growing momentum of Indigenous-led businesses in Canada. Together they talk about the unique challenges these businesses face, including barriers to capital, the impact of federal policies like the Indian Act, and the disproportionate effects of tariffs.

Bull outlines how Canada can better support Indigenous business growth and economic reconciliation by removing systemic obstacles and making space for Indigenous leadership at every level of decision-making.

Leveling the Playing Field: What Holds Back Indigenous Businesses

In this episode, Jennifer is joined by Zita Cobb, the CEO of Shorefast, an organisation that promotes economic self-determination and strategies for strengthening local economies in sustainable ways.

Drawing on her experience revitalizing Fogo Island, Cobb shares her vision for asset-based community development, an approach that puts local knowledge, culture, and infrastructure at the heart of sustainable growth. She argues that Canada needs a more balanced model of development, one that aligns government, market forces, and community action to serve the long-term public good.

Together they explore the role of banking, tourism, and regional connectivity in building economic resilience. Cobb calls for a national strategy rooted in place, purpose, and long-term thinking to ensure no community is left behind in the country’s economic future.

Why Community-Led Growth Is Key to Canada’s Economic Future

What is “mission-driven” government, and can it work in Canada

Why Canada Needs a Rural Lens in Decision-Making

In this episode, Jennifer is joined by David Chaundy, President and CEO of the Atlantic Economic Council, for a conversation about the economic transformation of Atlantic Canada and what lies ahead for the region.
 
Chaundy reflects on more than two decades of industrial change, from the decline of traditional sectors to the rise of bioscience, aerospace, and offshore energy. He highlights the challenges posed by tariffs and labour shortages, as well as the opportunities presented by immigration, interprovincial trade, and strategic investments in energy, transportation, and defence.
 
Chaundy outlines a vision for Atlantic Canada that links economic resilience to national priorities, showing how the region can play a critical role in Canada’s long-term prosperity.

Tariffs, Trade, and Transformation: The Future of Atlantic Canada’s Economy

In this episode, RJ Simpson, Premier of the Northwest Territories, joins us for a conversation about how the North can help shape Canada’s economic and security future.
 
Simpson highlights the region’s wealth of critical minerals and the importance of projects like the proposed Arctic Security Corridor to unlock new opportunities. He underscores the need for climate-resilient infrastructure, local workforce training, and strong partnerships with Indigenous governments to ensure development is both sustainable and inclusive.
 
Tune in to hear his vision for the North and what it means for the future of the country.

The Future of Canada’s North: Critical Minerals and the Arctic Security Corridor

This week’s episode is a recording of a panel Jennifer moderated at the IRPP’s recent conference on industrial policy.

The panel featured Patricia Goff, professor in the Department of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University and at the Balsillie School of International Affairs; Matthew Holmes, executive vice-president (international) and chief of public policy for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce; and Steve Verheul, a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Canada-U.S. relations and Canada’s former chief trade negotiator.

Their conversation touched on topics including the state of Canada-U.S. trade negotiations, opportunities for enhancing trade in Europe, Latin America and other regions, and how to help Canadian businesses expand their horizons outside the hemisphere.

Tune in to hear how strategic industrial policy can help Canada diversify both its trading partners and its exports.

Strengthening Canada’s Trading Relationships: Is Diversifying Away From the U.S. Realistic?

In this episode of Futureproofing Canada, Jennifer Ditchburn speaks with Pari Johnston, President and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada, about why the country’s workforce strategy must include its colleges.

Johnston shares how colleges are powering applied research and training across the country, from AI labs to smart farms, while advancing Indigenous economic reconciliation and helping communities navigate economic transition. She also discusses the ripple effects of recent international-student policy changes and what they reveal about Canada’s broader labour and demographic challenges.

Tune in to hear Johnston’s insights on how colleges can power Canada’s future prosperity.

Why Canada’s Workforce Strategy Must Include Colleges

Black Canadians and the justice system, a Policy Options podcast. Black people are dramatically over-represented in Canada’s prison system, making up 8.6 of the federal prison population, despite the fact they make up only 3 percent of the population. What is more, between 2003 and 2013, the incarceration rate among Black people increased by nearly 90 percent. 

Anthony Morgan says the targeted policing of Black people in Canada isn’t only happening through the justice system. It’s also taking place in our education, child welfare and health care systems.

Morgan is a lawyer at Falconers LLP. His practice focuses on state accountability litigation. He is also an advocate and commentator on Canadian multiculturalism, racism and critical race theory. 

Read Anthony Morgan’s Policy Options articles Doing justice by Black Canadians  (part of our ongoing feature series Widening the Lens on Criminal Justice Reform) and Where are Black Canadians in the cannabis debate? 

Download for free. New episodes every second Tuesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP.

PO Podcast 57 - Black Canadians and the justice system

A universal pharmacare plan for Canadians, a Policy Options podcast. As the federally appointed Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare prepares the blueprint for a national pharmacare plan, what can Canadians expect it to look like?

Colleen M. Flood joins the podcast to talk about the need for universal pharmacare and how it could work within our federal system. Colleen is professor, Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, and director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa. 

Read the study she co-authored for the Institute: Universal Pharmacare and Federalism: Two Policy Options for Canada. 

Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @madihaslam.

PO Podcast 65 – A universal pharmacare plan for Canadians

In Canada, thousands of migrants are detained at any time, with up to one third of detainees in maximum and medium-security prisons despite most never having been charged with a crime. The recent Canada v. Chhina Supreme Court ruling allows detained migrants to access the remedy of habeas corpus so that, in appropriate cases, they can challenge the legality and conditions of their detention before a judge. However, critics like migration expert Sharry Aiken say it fails to address the underlying issues of how Canada sets the grounds for detention and the basis for release.

Migrant detention is actually a relatively new phenomenon in North America and, for the participants of the recent De-Carceral Futures conference at the Queen’s School of Law, it’s something we can and must do away with. We attended the conference to interview some of the scholars and activists who are working toward a world in which neither migrants nor citizens are incarcerated.

Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

PO Podcast 81 – Can we end migrant detention?

The 43rd federal election has come to a close. At his first press conference after election night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed that he and the Liberals have a lot of reflecting to do. He said it so often, in fact, that Carleton Journalism Professor Josh Greenberg called this the “reflection re-election.”

What does reflection entail? For starters, it means Prime Minister Trudeau and his team will be hard at work deciding on who has a voice in the new cabinet and how the parts of Canada without Liberal MPs will be represented. But there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes, from crafting mandate letters to choosing policy priorities.

And it’s not just Mr. Trudeau who will want to hit the ground running. In a minority Parliament, even a fairly stable one, each party is going to have to think strategically. When will they play ball and when will they take a stand? Do they stick with their leader or is it time for a change? What is their endgame?

This week we bring you the final conversation from Policy Options’ election 2019 breakfast series, as Yolande James (Les ex, Radio-Canada), Brian Topp (KTG Public Affairs), Elizabeth Roscoe (Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada) and Jennifer Ditchburn (Policy Options) discuss what awaits Canada’s 43rd Parliament. This event series is held in partnership with the Max Bell School of Public Policy, sponsored by the CBC, and broadcast by CPAC.

Download for free. New episodes every second Wednesday. Tweet your questions and comments to @IRPP or @jbugiel.

PO Podcast 92 – Looking ahead to the 43rd Parliament

Canadians are living through uncertain times. Our country faces interconnected challenges including a new geopolitical world order, economic headwinds, climate change, technological disruptions, shifting demographics and deepening inequality.

Futureproofing Canada brings you conversations with the people who are thinking boldly about how to solve these challenges. Each biweekly episode features a frank, in-depth discussion between IRPP president and CEO Jennifer Ditchburn and the leaders who envision a Canada that’s confident and ready to seize opportunities.

Futureproofing Canada

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