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July 2015
Federal Childcare Platforms
As political parties joust for the affection of the middle class in our upcoming fall election, the issue of child care is becoming increasingly contentious. The policy challenge is longstanding but also remains the same: how do we provide good quality child care to parents of all economic backgrounds, no matter where one resides in Canada? As campaign issues go, child care is one of the more interesting ones to hit the federal political scene in a long while, precisely because of its broad appeal. …
Find out more »August 2015
Carbon Pricing – Helpful or Harmful?
Is pricing carbon harmful or helpful to the Canadian Economy? Join the discussion August 17, 2015. Toronto.
Find out more »November 2015
Why Should I Care About the Sharing Economy?
The rapid rise of the "sharing economy" (services like Uber, Airbnb) is revolutionizing the way we satisfy our daily needs and completely transforming traditional markets. With customers happily pocketing savings, policy makers are having to respond to these changes. The discussion has slowly shifted from "should we ban Uber?" to "how should we regulate the sharing economy?" Join us WSIC Uptown on November 11th as we welcome four special guests to share their opinions on the implications of the sharing economy and suggest how…
Find out more »March 2016
Diamonds are forever – A look at industry self regulation
Diamonds are forever; sadly, so is the aftermath of diamond mining. Canadian Diamonds are marketed as conflict free diamonds. But how are we doing really? What is the environmental performance like on the ground in Ontario? Ontario depends on the mines to self regulate their environmental impacts. That system is failing Ontarians. Weighted against the jobs and economic growth of Diamond mining are the costs to the environment and those living downstream. Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Wildlands League decided to…
Find out more »April 2016
Toronto: A Tale of Three Cities
How can Toronto mend it's three cities? Find out April 18 at The Madison.
Find out more »July 2016
Pathways to meeting COP21 commitments
There is a lot of general excitement about COP 21 and Canada has pledged to do its part. Ontario is aggressively pursuing emission reduction strategies as part of its commitment. Are we doing it right? How will emission reduction impact the economy? Are there more effective measures than the climate policy proposed? Join us on Monday July 18 at The Madison Pub. Richard Szudy, Climate-Change Project Developer, and Patrick Fancott, Climate-Change Policy Analyst, will talk about the pathways to…
Find out more »September 2016
Economics of Local Food
Ontario is home to some of the lushest farmland in Canada. Yet, even when local produce is in season, imported tomatoes and cucumbers dominate store shelves. Nationally, we import over 50 per cent of our vegetables and 95 percent of our fruit. How can locally grown food become more accessible and affordable? Join us Monday September 19th at the Madison Pub for a talk about the economics of local eating, featuring farmer’s market Manager Cookie Roscoe and Carolyn Young, Program Coordinator at Sustain…
Find out more »January 2017
Bike Lanes – What’s next?
With talk of road tolls, 2017 might be the year that transit really does get friendlier for cyclists. There’s just shy of half a year worth of data from the Bloor street bike lane pilot project and the reception to those bike lanes will have an impact on transit all over the city. Will this lead to more bike lanes along major corridors, fewer, but bigger bike paths, or does ridership justify expansion at all? Albert Koehl, a cycling advocate,…
Find out more »March 2017
Food Waste: A $31 Billion Problem
Every year, Canadians toss out roughly $31billion worth of food. That’s about 40% of all the food grown and imported in Canada, of which roughly half of it is done by households. Part of the problem is that food is too cheap (Northern areas notwithstanding). Food waste is a drain on our resources and is also an environmental disaster. Not only are fertilizers and pesticides wasted on food that never gets eaten, plastic packaging adds to the environmental load. How can we ensure…
Find out more »May 2017
Electricity Pricing in Ontario
Amid soaring electricity bills, the future of the grid we rely on is in crisis. Efforts have been made to reduce electricity costs by stretching out payments, an expensive option that affects our children more than us. What is the future of the electricity grid? Can costs come down and still give us a grid that businesses and residents can rely on? Will new technologies make this important piece of public infrastructure obsolete? Join us on Monday, May 15 as…
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