The Policy Brief is a digital publication, written by JSGS scholars and leading policy experts, to provide context and perspective on important public issues and to further discussion and debate within the public sector. It provides policy makers and those interested in policy formation with timely and expert analysis, observations and potential policy approaches to relevant issues concerning the public.
If you have a subject idea that is current, topical and relevant to the public policy debate, and are interested in authoring a brief, please contact the Policy Brief editor, Dale Eisler.
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The election of Donald Trump in 2015 was viewed by many as an aberration in American politics. Not so with his second coming, and the sweeping extent of his victory – the popular vote, the Electoral College, the Senate, the House and the support of Silicon Valley tech titans.
The Government of Canada recently identified a site in Ontario for the storage of spent nuclear fuel. The decision opens the door to Canada becoming fully engaged in the nuclear fuel cycle. To date, Canada’s role in nuclear power has been limited to the mining, manufacturing natural-uranium fuel bundles for CANDU reactors, and export of uranium as well as the commercial development and sale of nuclear reactors. There have been no legal impediments for Canada to engage in the full nuclear fuel cycle. Rather, the absence of clear policies on enrichment and reprocessing has impeded the domestic development of important related technologies.
There is a chasm of disagreement separating climate-concerned policy makers in Ottawa and supporters of the oil and gas sector on the prairies. Each side behaves like they’re playing a zero-sum game.
One of the most challenging and divisive public policy issues in Canada is the federal government's Equalization program. It seeks to ensure provinces have the fiscal capacity to deliver programs to their citizens on a roughly comparable basis. The formula to determine what provinces qualify to receive federal Equalization payments is by its nature a source of controversy. Recently Newfoundland and Labrador launched the latest court challenge to Equalization. In this Policy Paper for the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS), Louis Levesque, considered one of Canada's leading experts on Equalization, does a deep dive into the economic and regional considerations that lie at the heart of the issue.
Our policies both foreign and domestic are indeed taking place in turbulent times. If there ever really was, there is certainly no real divide now possible between the policies that happen at home, and those that take place beyond our borders.
In August 2023, the Saskatchewan government enacted a policy pursuant to the Education Act. Titled "Use of Preferred First Name and Pronouns by Students," the policy requires schools to obtain parental consent for students under 16 before using their chosen name, gender identity, or gender expression.
