Policy Options Podcast

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is an important industrial centre best known for its steel industry. But that industry is currently being threatened by the tariffs on steel and aluminium announced by the Trump administration. Our guest today is Matthew Shoemaker, Mayor of Sault Ste. Marie. Mayor Shoemaker is lobbying hard across the border to change a situation he can't make any sense of, but he also has ideas for what Canadian governments can do to help the city weather the storm and come out even stronger. Together we discuss the challenges posed by U.S. tariffs and global trade tensions. He outlines a vision for the city's future that includes transitioning to greener steel production, expanding immigration to address labour needs, investing in infrastructure and greater support from federal and provincial partners.

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.

This week, we're once again brining you the audio from one of our most recent event. This time it's from a webinar on Canada-U.S. relations that we held on March 5, 2025. The second Trump administration is turning into an unsettling roller-coaster ride, and Canadians can't seem to get off. Every day seems to bring a new set of goalposts, demands and threats. In this webinar moderated by IRPP president and CEO Jennifer Ditchburn, IRPP Board members Jean Charest, Janice Charette, Ian Brodie and Christopher Sands unpacked the challenges facing Canadian governments in these tumultuous times and discussed what it will take to build economic and social resilience for the long haul. A video version of the event is also available on our website at irpp.org

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.

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.

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].

In this episode of Demystifying Community Housing, Hanan Ali and Natasha speak with Damian Collins, Professor of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta and Director of the Community Housing Canada Research Partnership, Marika Albert, the Policy Director of B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association and Alex Hemingway a Senior Economist and Public Finance Policy Analyst at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative's B.C. Office. Together, they discuss what roles community housing can play in addressing the housing crisis, particularly in supporting tenant well-being, as Canada's housing crisis wears on. Additional resources: • Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, established under the National Housing Strategy • The Globe and Mail's housing section covers the full spectrum of housing issues from a wide variety of perspectives and communities across Canada • Stories About Here, a CBC Gem and Youtube documentary • The Non-Capitalist Solution to the Housing Crisis, a video from Uytae Lee's popular urbanist Youtube channel: About Here • Opening Doors: Unlocking Housing Supply for Affordability, final report of the Canada-British Columbia Expert Panel on the Future of Housing Supply and Affordability 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].

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.

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].

Welcome to Demystifying Community Housing, a special series from the IRPP's Policy Options Podcast, which explores the different facets of community housing and its role in addressing Canada's housing crisis. In this episode, we speak with Yushu Zhu and Meg Holden, professors of urban studies at Simon Fraser University, who are leading the production of this podcast series. Together we talk about their research on community housing, the reason they worked on this podcast and what listeners can expect. 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, with support from 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 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: Community Housing Canada – Partners in Resilience: A research-practice partnership project aimed at increasing the sustainability and resiliency of the community housing sector. It is part of an independent, Canada-wide collaboration of academics and community partners: The Collaborative Housing Research Network (CHRN). The neighbor spectrum in community housing: Pro-social, anti-social and asocial neighboring in Vancouver (Holden et al., 2024): This journal article presents focus group research with community housing residents in Vancouver, Canada, investigating the role, activities, and importance of neighboring to these individuals living in vulnerable situations. A commentary based on this research is published The Conversation: Higher density living is changing the way neighbouring works in Canada. Housing vulnerability and well-being in the COVID-19 pandemic (Zhu et al., 2022): Drawing on a representative sample survey of B.C. adult residents, this report examines different aspects of housing situations and factors that may increase housing vulnerability or resilience during the pandemic. Housing Vulnerability Reconsidered: Applications and Implications for Housing Research, Policy and Practice (Zhu et al., 2024): A special issue published at Housing, Theory and Society (academic journal). This issue presents research into what housing vulnerability means in different world regions, what structures and systems may be driving it, and the variety of experiences of housing vulnerability. 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].

PO Podcast 167 - Addressing Ecological Risks (Institutions for Effective Climate Action conference) by IRPP

PO Podcast 166 - Climate Change in the North by IRPP

It is undeniable that poverty and income inequality are two of Canada's most pressing issues. But it is less clear what policy solutions need to be enacted to address these problems. In response to these challenges, some policy practitioners have called for the implementation of an unconditional Basic Income that would be accessible to all Canadians. Bill S-233, An Act to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income, is a clear example of this response. Proponents of a Basic Income present the policy framework as a simple and direct response to poverty, on the grounds that sending people a cheque through the tax system seems efficient. However, a host of researchers have called into question the underlying assumptions about the causes of poverty that proponents of a basic income take for granted. For instance, is basic income the best tool to achieve a just society? Could other social policies be put in place to achieve the desired outcome more holistically and efficiently? The book Basic Income and a Just Society, published last year by the IRPP, takes such an approach. This conversation between IRPP CEO and President Jennifer Ditchburn and Senator Kim Pate – a sponsor of Bill S-233 – tackles these questions, which have been at the centre of the IRPP's and Senator Pate's work for years.

Affordability and climate are compounding, overlapping crises — and people are struggling through them both at the same time. Individuals across Canada are tired of making trade-offs because, when it comes to life's necessities — housing, food, transportation and a sustainable climate — there should be none. Solutions that ignore the full picture are no longer acceptable. What's needed now is a fundamentally different approach to policymaking, one that considers all basic needs because they are all interdependent. The Affordability Action Council (AAC), a collaboration of diverse policy and community leaders, has broken down silos to table a package of “all-in” solutions to help meet Canadians' basic needs in an integrated way. On Thursday, February 1, we held a panel discussion featuring three AAC members who explored the group's main areas of focus — food, transportation and housing — and explained how a holistic approach to policymaking can lead to solutions that lower cost, reduce vulnerability and give people greater control over their lives. The event took place at the Impact Hub in Ottawa and was also live streamed. This podcast is the audio from that discussion.

To move beyond this long legacy, federal and provincial governments need to focus on educating Canadians about Black history.

En se privant d'un milliard cette année pour défendre sa compétence en santé, le Québec se retrouve une fois de plus dans le rôle de gardien du fédéralisme.

Without additional funds, the move could lead to reduced course choice and the replacement of specialists with French teachers, harming the quality of education.

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.

Well over a decade after the Occupy Wall Street protests, costs of living are still dramatically outpacing wages. The gap between the 99% and the 1% is wider than ever. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, but why? In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with John Peters, Associate Professor and Research Fellow at the Inter-University Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT) at the Université de Montréal. Peters is also the author of Jobs with Inequality: Financialization, Post-Democracy, and Labour Market Deregulation in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2022). This wide-ranging conversation explores the root causes of rising income inequality in Canada and considers what policy measures can be enacted to change this situation for the better.

Following the 2020 uprisings after the murder of George Floyd, many institutions committed to major changes to address systemic racism. In response to this mass movement for racial justice, a suite of policies and initiatives were announced to address the historical legacy and ongoing impact of anti-Black racism. In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Craig Wellington, Executive Director of the Black Opportunity Fund and an experienced non-profit leader. This discussion takes stock of what has, and what has not, changed since 2020. What are the limitations of equity, diversity and inclusion programs? How can policies and institutions create avenues for eradicating the wealth gap that keeps Black Canadians from achieving prosperity? Tune in for answers to these questions and more.

Housing affordability has become one of the most talked-about problems of Canadian life. Housing prices have been rapidly rising ,and rent – per many renters – is too damn high. In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Yushu Zhu, assistant professor at Simon Fraser University, who studies housing stratification. What does housing inequality look like across Canada, and particularly in Vancouver, one of the hottest housing markets? How did the pandemic affect housing inequality? How much does lack of supply play into affordability? Tune in for discussions of these questions and more.

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.

In Canada, 1.4 million children live in food-insecure households. Despite being an affluent country, Canada has chronic food insecurity, and the problem is worsening. In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Valerie Tarasuk professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto and an expert on food insecurity. The conversation explores how entrenched this problem is and what Canada can do about it. How have neoliberal reforms in Canada affected food insecurity? Can food charities like foodbanks deal with a systemic problem like food insecurity? What about modelling food security policies from the U.S.? Tune in as we delve into these questions.

Addressing bias in health-care provision is difficult because the professionals are extremely defensive when confronted with the reality of bias. In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with psychiatrist and researcher Javeed Sukhera of the Institute of Living in Hartford, CT, and the Hartford Hospital about his research and teaching on implicit bias. Health-care providers, like all people, have implicit biases that affect the treatment they provide. This conversation explores what these biases are and how they can be dealt with. How does changing implicit bias at the individual level connect to structural changes? Can one inform the other? How much can mandatory training do to root out bias? And how do these issues fit into our already overworked and understaffed health-care system?

Discussions around climate change sometimes portray the climate crisis as a phenomenon that impacts all people equally. But this framing neglects the fact that accelerating climate change disproportionately affects marginalized and vulnerable communities, in particular Black and Indigenous communities, in Canada and on a global scale. In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Ingrid Waldron, HOPE Chair in Peace and Health in the Global Peace and Social Justice Program in the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University. The conversation delves into a variety of topics related to the intersection between systemic racism and the climate crisis. What consequences does the concentration of toxic industries and environmentally hazardous projects in racialized communities have for the inhabitants of these communities? What obstacles do these communities face in trying to fight back against environmental racism? How are public policy decisions complicit in the perpetuation of environmental racism? Tune in for answers to these questions and more.

Calls for a guaranteed basic income have strengthened during the pandemic, as proponents of the policy have argued that a basic income is a simple and effective way to reduce poverty. A new IRPP book, Basic Income and a Just Society: Policy Choices for Canada's Social Safety Net, analyzes the arguments advanced by proponents of a basic income. The authors, in turn, take a hard look at Canada's social safety net and propose an alternative path forward, which begins by asking: “How do we create a more just society together?” In this conversation, authors David Green, professor of economics at the University of British Columbia, and Gillian Pettit, research associate at University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, discuss the book's findings with Garima Talwar Kapoor, who was director of policy and research at Maytree at the time and is now director of policy research and insights at the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. Listen now for an engaging discussion on the book and on the future of Canadian social policy. This episode of the podcast is a recording of a panel discussion held at the book launch of Basic Income and a Just Society: Policy Choices for Canada's Social Safety Net. The event was moderated by IRPP vice president of research Rachel Samson and took place at the Toronto Reference Library on April 26, 2023.

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.

What do the results of the 2023 Alberta election mean for the future of the province? What consequences will the election have for the province's relations with Ottawa, with other provinces, and with First Nations? Tune into this panel discussion, moderated by the IRPP's Charles Breton, executive director of the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation, for a forward-looking exploration of these questions and many more. The panel features Jed Johns, manager of government and Indigenous relations at Epcor Utilities Inc; Sara Hastings-Simon, assistant professor in the Department of Geoscience and School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary; Sonya Savage, former minister of the environment, minister of energy and MLA for Calgary-Northwest; and Trevor Tombe, professor in the Department of Economics and research fellow in the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary. This episode of the podcast is a recording of a panel discussion held at an IRPP private gathering on June 5, 2023, in Calgary, Alberta.

It is impossible to think about inequality in Canada without an understanding of Canada's settler colonial reality. Public conversations about settler colonialism and the inequalities it imposes on Indigenous Peoples have changed over the last decade thanks to the work of Indigenous activists and leaders. In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with one of the public scholars who helped bring about this change: Pamela Palmater, a Mi'kmaw lawyer, author, and Associate Professor of Indigenous Governance at Toronto Metropolitan University. What does critical and impactful public scholarship on settler colonialism look like? Can courts in Canada still provide a valid avenue for Indigenous people seeking redress? We delve into these questions and more.

Various orders of government and institutions like universities develop policies for disabled people. How often are disabled people brought into the process of policymaking? In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Michael Orsini, a Professor of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa and a critical disability scholar. The conversation begins with an an understanding of what policies impact disabled people? How are disabled people made invisible in the making of these policies? How does autism force us to rethink assumptions about disability and diversity? And how can we reconceptualize policy to move toward disability justice? Tune in for answers to these questions and more.

Childcare has been entering and exiting the Canadian political agenda since the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1970. Now, Canada is entering a new period on child-care policy. In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Adrienne Davidson, Assistant Professor of Political Science at McMaster University. Beginning with subsidies and nonprofit daycares, this conversation covers various policies that impact Canadian families, including parental leave and the importance of early education. How do these policies differ between Quebec and the rest of Canada? How are they framed? What effects do they have on racial inequality across the country? And how are they changing?

Canada has seen major changes in social housing policy since the 1990s. How has this shift impacted homelessness? In this episode of In/Equality, host Debra Thompson speaks with Alison Smith, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto and the author of Multiple Barriers: The Multilevel Governance of Homelessness in Canada. Homelessness is a constant discussion in major cities across Canada, yet Quebec is currently the only province that has a policy on homelessness. What can other provinces learn from its approach? How do we understand homelessness for the dispossessed Indigenous Peoples of this land? What are the roles of cities, provinces, and the federal government in preventing extreme housing insecurity? We delve into these questions and more.

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.

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.

Welcome to In/Equality! In this new series from the Policy Options Podcast, we explore various aspects of inequality with experts from political science, criminology, history, and other disciplines. We will hear from researchers about the latest research on economic inequality, racial inequality, disability justice, rural-urban divides, and more. In this first episode, IRPP President and CEO Jennifer Ditchburn helps us get to know the host of In/Equality, Professor Debra Thompson of McGill University. What brought her to research racial inequality? What motivated her to create this series? And what can we expect from the coming conversations.

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.

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.

This episode of the podcast explores how federalism interacts with Indigenous governance. Moderated by Danielle White, Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Policy and Partnerships and ISC Evaluation, the conversation features Darcy Gray, Former Chief of Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation, Catherine MacQuarrie, Fellow at Carleton University's School of Public Policy & Administration, and Martin Papillon, Professor of the University of Montreal. It starts with a brief history of how Indigenous people and their governance structures have fit within Canadian federalism and how this relationship has evolved. We discuss the role of public servants in policy impacting Indigenous Peoples and the lived experiences of Indigenous leaders having to navigate relationships with other orders of government. This episode was recorded during an online event held by the Canada School of Public Service and is the fourth instalment of a partnership between the school and the IRPP's Centre for Excellence.

The federal government is expected to announce major changes to the Employment Insurance system – the first major update since the 1990s. The IRPP released a report and a set of policy recommendations on how Canada should reform the EI system. In this episode of the podcast, IRPP Digital Engagement Officer Nesi Altaras speaks to our lead researchers on the topic Rachel Samson (Vice President of Research) and Ricardo Chejfec (Research Associate). The conversation covers why EI exists, what it can do for the Canadian economy, and how to pay for the various necessary changes to the program.

Building and maintaining infrastructure requires lots of funds, and often, it's not clear who will be responsible. It's a classic problem in federalism: who will fund what? This episode of the podcast explores how the structural characteristics of federalism impact Canada's economic development and infrastructure. We'll look at topics like the funding of infrastructure, how to manage regional competitiveness, and the legal and social frameworks that facilitate coordination between the federal and provincial governments. Moderated by Hugo Cyr, Director General at Ecole Nationale D'administration Publique (ENAP), the conversation features Herb Emery, Vaughan Chair of Regional Economics at the University of New Brunswick, and Alison O'Leary, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Communities and Infrastructure. This episode was recorded during an online event held by the Canada School of Public Service and is the third installment of a partnership between the school and the IRPP's Centre for Excellence. This episode of the podcast is bilingual, with speakers shifting between English and French.

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.

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.

Countries around the world are increasing their ambition on climate policy, and low-carbon technologies across a range of sectors are reaching maturity. This is creating the conditions for rapid change in the energy system and, as a major producer and exporter, Canada will be particularly impacted. Policy-makers must prepare for a period of volatility, as systems make the necessary transformation to a low-carbon future. While the end-state is becoming clearer, the transition will be marked by volatility in energy markets. It will require policies that can manage the legacy systems that dominate today as well as support the development of new energy systems.

Tensions within a federation are a frequent, normal occurrence. In Canada, one only has to think about recurrent debates over health care funding to equalization payments. But recently, Canadian federalism has been experiencing more tension than usual. Alberta's new premier is proposing a Sovereignty Act, Saskatchewan's premier expressed a desire for his province to be ‘a nation within a nation', while Quebec's government was handily reelected on a platform of strengthening provincial autonomy even further. How can a federation manage these tensions and adapt when faced with such challenges? What are the features of a robust federation? This episode of the podcast is a panel that returns to the fundamentals of federalism to answer these questions. Moderated by Charles Breton, the director of the Centre for Excellence in the Canadian Federation, the discussion features two experts. Jenna Bednar is a professor of political science at the University of Michigan and a leading scholar of federalism. Our second guest, Benoit Pelletier is a professor of law at the University of Ottawa and a former cabinet minister of Quebec. This episode was recorded during an online event held by the Canada School of Public Service and is the first installment of a partnership between the school and the IRPP's Centre for Excellence. This episode of the podcast is bilingual, with speakers shifting between English and French.

Adult education provides skills development opportunities to help Canadians find better jobs and improve well-being. Yet it remains a “poor cousin” of compulsory and higher education, disconnected from social policy and the education system at large, with its learners and teachers stigmatized. In this episode of the PO Podcast, UBC Education Professor Jude Walker speaks with the IRPP's Cléa Desjardins about Canada's past efforts to address these issues by creating a national adult education strategy. She offers insights from Aotearoa New Zealand, which went a long way to making adult education mainstream by integrating it into the country's education system, professionalizing its teachers and standardizing assessments.

In June 2022, we organized a special lecture at the McCord Museum in Montreal. This is a recording of the lecture Queen's University Professor Emeritus Keith Banting and McGill University Professor Debra Thompson delivered. They explore why Canada's robust welfare state – which includes universal health care and myriad employment and training programs – as well as a race-neutral immigration selection system, official multiculturalism and the Charter have not been able to mitigate racial economic inequality.

In this special crossover episode with the Humans, on Rights podcast, Policy Options copyeditor and contributor Shannon Sampert, a political analyst and media specialist, speaks to host Stuart Murray about her career in journalism and the intersections of media, politics, and gender. From covering high school sports as a teenager to critiquing reporting on sexual assault cases, she shares her experiences in different positions across Canadian journalism, highlighting the role of media in raising public awareness for the right of free expression.

For the 50th anniversary of the IRPP, we are exploring the biggest public policy challenges facing Canada through a series of panel discussions held at some of Canada's major policy schools. This episode is a recording of our discussion on political polarization held March 30, 2022, in collaboration with the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. We ask if polarization even exists in Canada. And if it is, what forms does it take, and does it pose a threat to our democracy? The conversation is moderated by IRPP President Jennifer Ditchburn and features Anita Lee, the editor-in-chief of The Green Line; Eric Merkley, an Assistant Professor at the Munk School; Sean Speer, a Senior Fellow at the Munk School; and Darrell Bricker, the CEO of Ipsos and a Senior Fellow at the Munk School.

As Russia's attack on Ukraine carries on, nearly two-thirds of Ukrainian children have fled their homes. 2 million have gone to other countries while 2.8 million are internally displaced, and dozens have been killed or injured. The war also disrupted crop production and shipment from Ukraine and Russia, the largest exporters of wheat, putting millions more children around the world at risk of hunger. Policy Options Editor-in-Chief Les Perreaux talks to David Morley, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada, about the threats to children arising from this war and what Canada can do to help Ukraine's vulnerable children and children around the globe dealing with the ripple effects of drought, COVID-19 and war.

L'IRPP célèbre son 50e anniversaire en s'associant aux principales écoles de politiques publiques du pays pour une série de tables rondes, intitulée « Sur le radar des priorités politiques », qui nous aideront à identifier les prochains défis qui occuperont nos décideurs. Cet épisode du balado d'Options politiques porte sur l'impact de la pandémie de COVID-19 sur les clivages existants au sein de la société canadienne. Quels rôles jouent les médias sociaux dans l'élaboration et la diffusion de théories complotistes ? La pandémie a-t-elle eu un effet sur l'évolution du système partisan au Canada ? Après deux ans de pandémie, comment se porte la confiance envers nos institutions politiques ? Cette discussion a eu lieu 24 mars 2022 en partenariat avec le département de science politique de l'Université Laval. Le panel a été modéré par Sule Tomkinson, la directrice du Centre d'analyse des politiques publiques à l'Université Laval. Elle était accompagnée de la professeure titulaire de science politique à l'Université Laval Aurélie Campana, du professeur agrégé de science politique à l'Université Laval Eric Montigny et de Jackie Smith, conseillère municipale et cheffe du parti Transition Québec.

For the 50th anniversary of the IRPP, we are exploring the biggest public policy challenges facing Canada through a series of panel discussions held at some of Canada's major policy schools. This episode is a recording of our discussion on shifts in regulatory governance held on March 22, 2022 in collaboration with Carleton University's School of Public Policy and Administration. What is the role of regulation in government policy and how is it changing? How will the COVID-19 pandemic effect how we craft policy? How can regulation be better coordinated at different levels? Moderated by Robert Shepherd of Carleton University, our panel features Darcy Gray, the Chief of Listuguj First Nation, Catherine MacQuarrie, a School fellow of Carleton's School of Public Policy and Administration, Professor Alexandra Mallett of Carleton, and Kevin Stringer of Carleton University. Each panellist delivers a presentation on an aspect of regulatory governance, followed by a Q&A.