PPF Insider: Talk about a new era of Canada-U.S. relations
Fall lecture
A new era of Canada-U.S. relations, driven by global rivalry and domestic restlessness, has dawned and so we need all the clever thinking we can get. Join us for PPF’s much-anticipated Fall Lecture as we up our game with five incredible speakers explaining what’s going on — and what we can do about it:
- Kelly Craft and Gordon Giffin, former U.S. Ambassadors to Canada, will discuss what could lie ahead under each possible administration and how Canada should play it;
- Clifford Young, President of IPSOS U.S. Public Affairs, will dig into the hearts and minds of Americans as well as the most up-to-date polling on the eve of the U.S. election; and
- Janice Stein, Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management and the Founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, together with Edward Greenspon, PPF President and CEO, will explain an ambitious ‘Matter More’ strategy to guide Canada’s approach to the U.S.
Join us on Oct. 24 for an evening of challenging conversation and rewarding connection at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Register now.
Frank McKenna Awards
PPF‘s Frank McKenna Awards celebrate leaders whose ingenuity and initiative are driving change in Atlantic Canada. The 2024 winners have much in common — determination, talent and a commitment to building a better world. And for all of them, leadership has been an interesting journey.
For Mi’sel Joe, chief of the Miawpukek First Nation in Newfoundland, leadership might have seemed his destiny. Both his grandfather and his uncle had been chief before him, but Joe struck out first on his own working his way across Canada as a ranch hand, truck driver, fisherman, miner and railway worker before coming home. When his uncle was killed in a car accident in 1982, he put up his hand for the job and when he retired earlier this year, he was the longest serving Mi’kmaw chief in Atlantic Canada.
Over the years, the Miawpukek First Nation has built housing, a community centre, a clinic, a school and many businesses. In his “retirement” Joe will serve as a strategic advisor to World Energy GH2’s Project Nujio’qonik, a major wind/hydrogen facility planned for Bay St. George.
“As a young man, I traveled across the country, and it was rough at times,” he says. “I had to fight my way in. But I learned many, many lessons from that. You don’t get very far by insulting people, by pounding on a desk. You have to earn respect, and you also have to be respectful.”
It was a long journey too that brought Dr. Anya Waite back Dalhousie University and its Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI). Raised in Halifax, she began as a music student at Dalhousie, but the call of the sea was too strong to resist. After a PhD in Oceanography at University of British Columbia, a short stint at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, and more than 17 years at Australia’s Ocean Institute, she eventually found her way back to Dal. And not a minute too soon.
The OFI, a partnership between Dalhousie, Newfoundland’s Memorial University and the University of Prince Edward Island, is taking an ocean-first approach to fighting climate change. The world’s oceans remove more C02 from the atmosphere than all of the rainforests combined — 30 percent of that in the North Atlantic, a massive carbon sink critical to avoiding climate catastrophe. The OFI is leading efforts to collect and analyze data so policy-makers, scientists and industry can better understand how it works and, hopefully, how not to destroy it. “The ocean is out of sight, out of mind,” says Waite. “For many, it’s unknown and in some ways, unknowable. But technological advances have made it possible to observe it to make sure we’re not damaging the life support system that the ocean provides.”
As we reported in our last edition of PPF Insider, Laura Lee Langley spent 27 years in Nova Scotia government, eight of them as clerk of the Executive Council serving three different premiers. She’s now president of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), one of seven federal regional development agencies that provide loans to small and medium-sized businesses. It’s a different job now, she says, than in decades past thanks to the region’s growing economy and population. “For years, we were told we were the have-nots, and we were. But we’ve stopped thinking of ourselves as the kids with the holes in our shoes and we’re leaning into our advantages.”
Langley sees opportunity particularly in new economy sectors — green energy, AI, ecotourism, advanced ports and shipping, and the emerging ocean economy — and a chance for a unified approach to growth in the region: “We can work together across the four Atlantic provinces, thinking about what we can do together rather than fighting one another for small pieces of the pie…. We can create our own futures in ways that we never imagined before.”
Chief Joe, Waite and Langley will be celebrated at PPF’s Frank McKenna Awards on Oct. 10 at Halifax’s Pier 21 during an inspiring night of conversation and connection.
Lead Sponsor: Frank McKenna Fund
Supporting Sponsors: Government of Nova Scotia and National PR
Community Sponsor: Emera Inc.
Reception Sponsor: Global Public Affairs
PPF Team
We’re excited to announce that Trevor Tombe has joined PPF as a Fellow. When he was a guest on PPF’s podcast WONK in May we noted that Tombe, “economic truth-teller, is kind of a big deal right now.” His take on economic matters has made him a sought-after commentator and analyst. His reports and work on everything from international trade to fiscal federalism have grabbed attention and helped fuel the national conversation.
Tombe is a professor and graduate program director at the University of Calgary’s Department of Economics and a research fellow at The School of Public Policy. He is also co-director of Finances of the Nation, a project to research public finance policies in Canada.
Watch for more from Trevor Tombe in this space and other PPF channels. And listen to his episode of WONK to find out why he’s only the second-most famous economist from Maple Ridge, B.C.
PPF Media
Policy with a side of science: Why do some good policies fail? And what can be done to ensure that people actually understand the policies that are presented to them? Behavioural scientists have some good answers to those questions. We spoke with Sasha Tregebov, the Canada director of The Behavioural Insights Team, to look at this growing field of policy work. He explains where it fits in the policy process and why it carries some important ethical considerations.
Soft launch, hard news: Later this summer, we’ll be rolling out our latest weekly newsletter, looking at the Canada-U.S. relationship. It’s going to be a busy few months leading up to the U.S. election, beginning with the Democratic National Convention that starts on Aug. 19. There will be a lot to cover! We’re lining up a roster of smart analysts and commentators to help explain all the goings-on and what it will mean for Canada. And our writer – a widely respected national columnist and reporter – is already gathering string.
You can sign up now to start receiving the first editions of the newsletter later this month – before we launch the newsletter to a wider audience. To the early subscribers who get these sneak peaks, we’d love to hear what you like or don’t like about the newsletter. Drop us a message at media@ppforum.ca.
Other newsletter news: In the latest edition of our PPF: Health Security newsletter we’re looking at the recent U.S. push to try and defend against the onslaught of cyberattacks on health-care systems. And in PPF: Atlantic Momentum we bring you up-to-speed on the deadly parasite causing havoc on P.E.I.’s oyster beds.
Subscribe now to both newsletters and be policy ready.
PPF Academy
AI Policy Compass: offert en français, ce mois-ci!
Equip yourself to lead in the AI era with our intensive two-day program designed for policy professionals. Learn from Mila’s top experts as you explore AI fundamentals, applications, and governance challenges. Dive into critical issues like bias and public sector innovation and gain practical tools for decision-making in an AI-enabled world. Connect with peers across sectors and emerge ready to champion responsible AI policies. No coding experience required – this program focuses on leadership and strategic understanding. Register now for this edition offered in French, August 27-28, at the Mila AI hub in Montreal.
Or sign up for our November edition in English in Ottawa.
Life’s a Beech
We’re excited to announce that Terry Beech, Member of Parliament for Burnaby-North Seymour and Minister of Citizens’ Services, has been awarded the 2024 Belzberg Blaney Award for Exceptional Service. Established to recognize outstanding leadership and dedication to Canada, this award celebrates Action Canada alumni who embody the values of service, collaboration, and impactful action.
Terry’s journey from city councilor to tech CEO to parliamentarian to Parliamentary Secretary to Cabinet Minister showcases his entrepreneurial spirit, unwavering commitment to public service and effective policymaking. Learn more about Beech’s exceptional work.
PPF in the news
- PPF Fellow Sean Speer and PPF President and CEO Edward Greenspon travelled to the Mount Washington Hotel in New Hampshire on the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods Conference to consider the historic gathering’s “grand gift to humankind.”“Although the direct output of the Bretton Woods conference would be the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, its raison d’être rested in creating an open, rules-based global trading system,” Speer and Greenpson write in an essay published in The Globe and Mail. “Precisely the kind of system seemingly blowing up all around us today with the unapologetic imposition of unilateral tariffs and anti-competitive subsidies and the laying of blame for everything from deindustrialization to distrust on the rise of China as a competitor to the United States.”In this moment of rising geopolitical division, the authors examine whether reports of globalization’s death are exaggerated, what it will take to save it from its worst excesses — and the special role Canada can play.“Canada is best positioned to help shape a new global trading model because other countries carry too much baggage,” says PPF Fellow Steve Verheul, who led the Canadian negotiating teams on the Canada-Europe Free Trade Agreement and new NAFTA. The U.S. has abandoned leadership, China would not be acceptable and Europe is distracted by internal challenges, “leaving only a handful of free-trading mid-sized countries that could play this role.”
- Atlantic Canada’s biggest newspaper chain is being bought by Postmedia Network Inc. Saltwire, which owns titles like The Chronicle Herald in Halifax and The Telegram St. John’s, was pushed into bankruptcy proceedings earlier this year. In its coverage of the acquisition, Saltwire talked to Edward Greenspon about what it means for the future of local news. “Postmedia is very adept at squeezing down assets and spreading the cost structure among more and more assets in communities across Canada,” Greenspon told Saltwire. “The choice here is a very tough one because there’s no other bidders, but it’s really a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea.”
- PPF Fellow Ed Whittingham’s conversation with Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson, for his podcast Energy vs Climate, is now online. Listen here.
- Writing in The Hub, PPF Fellow Trevor Tombe (see above!) looks at one of the contributing factors to worsening housing affordability in Canada: hidden taxes. These taxes go largely unnoticed and are a significant burden. “This is especially perverse where the affordability challenge is greatest: British Columbia, where a new single-family home today now averages more than $1.3 million (and nearly $2.1 million in Vancouver). I estimate hidden taxes in that province add roughly $20,000 to the cost of a new home, on average, though buyers never know it. For a single-family home in Vancouver, this might rise to nearly $70,000,” writes Tombe. He breaks down what’s going on, and how to fix it.
Members
Some highlights from PPF Members that have been breaking ground and making news:
MDA Space is flying high, or as The Toronto Star says, “the sky’s no limit” for the company that famously built the Canadarm. It recently won a $1-billion contract to build the next gen Canadarm3 for the Canadian Space Agency. MDA also builds satellites, robotics and software. “The company’s been on a great run,” Mike Greenley, the company’s CEO told BNN. “We’re going to cross the $1-billion sales line for the first time.” As The Star reports: “MDA keeps a lower profile than (Elon) Musk and (Jess) Bezos but will be in the spotlight when its Canadarm3 is deployed on the Gateway space station. Gateway will support the Artemis II flight to the moon scheduled for late 2025.” That mission will include Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Are you glued to your TV this summer cheering on the Olympics? University Affairs has a round-up of athletes who are also students at Canadian universities – many of them PPF Members.
Parting words
“There aren’t many things left in the world that bring people together in peace.”
The Paris Olympics are in full swing, and if you’re one of those people who can’t get enough of the Games we have some good listening for you. Earlier this year, David Shoemaker, the CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, joined us on WONK. He spoke with host Edward Greenspon about the importance of international competition in a time of war, his hopes for the Games and the challenge of making sport safer in Canada. Listen to the full episode.