World

The Public Policy Forum convened a roundtable discussion on June 16, 2021, to look at the development of a national adaptation strategy in Canada that spans disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation domains. The participants represented a range of public- and private-sector perspectives on the key challenges that need to be addressed to push towards greater resilience and adaptation and confront the challenges of climate change. The conversation also looked at the need to set clear time-bound targets and performance measures and ensure these are grounded in Canada’s Emergency Management Strategy. 

Today's bi-lateral Canada-U.S. relationship finds itself being tested like never before. There have been clear signals of a return to normal, but is that a realistic expectation in the wake of the Trump presidency and the deep divisions evident in U.S. society? The Public Policy Forum in partnership with Global Affairs Canada, assembled a roundtable of Canadian and American foreign-policy experts and several points of consensus emerged.

Relations with the United States have been challenging for Canada in recent years. It’s become clear that Canada needs to move beyond its traditional trade-of-goods narrative with the U.S. and focus on factors that will be most important for its diplomatic assets in the coming years, namely culture and technology.

Canada’s relationship has deteriorated since Canada arrested Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou and China retaliated by arresting Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. The Trudeau government has weighed the costs of human rights advocacy from an increasingly repressive China against commercial interest with the world’s second-biggest economy. It’s led to a stalemate of sorts, but there are some actions Canada could take.