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January 2015
Canada on the World Stage
Canada's role on the world stage is ever changing. From its early independence in WWI to becoming an economic powerhouse as part of the G7 we are now experiencing a different country. We nurtured a global image as peace keepers and socially conscious capitalists. Recently we were presented with the fossil award as the least productive country in world climate talks. Is this change real and fair? Is it what we want to become? What are the impacts of our…
Find out more »February 2015
Media Responsibility in a Democracy
Freedom of the press is one of the foundations of our democracy. However, in the last decade our business model of journalism has increasingly caused stress on the industry. Newspapers are searching for ways to provide news and make money while the general population is now used to getting their news for free and in real time through internet sites. So much of today's news comes in the form of recycled stories across cities, provinces, and countries, as well as in bite sized tweet form. The rise of the blogger has meant…
Find out more »March 2015
Should we invest in Basic Income?
The past few years have been dominated by economic woes. The Great Depression lead to world wide pain, and in certain countries temporary chaos and low income people were some of the hardest hit. Governments have tried any and all measures to reestablish conditions necessary for jobs, and most appear to be failing. Here in Canada, due to the recently high price of oil, we have been relatively insulated, yet young people still experience high rates of unemployment. Now…
Find out more »May 2015
Ontario’s Booze Business
Martin Regg Cohn discusses Ontario Beer Store's monopoly largely controlled by foreign interests.
Find out more »Privatizing Hydro One
Hydro one, once considered a strategic asset is now up on the auctioning block. During this time of financial stress our government is considering this sale as a source of revenue. While it may provide a large one time payment and potentially save us from a tax hike, we should consider the full implications of the sale. Will we get a fair price? Will taxes nevertheless have to be raised to support our social programs? How do we expect service to change under the new arrangement? Why does…
Find out more »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 »September 2015
Public Broadcasting: Is it still critical?
Steve Paikin and Carmel Smyth tackle the issue of public broadcasting at our next WSIC event September 21.
Find out more »October 2015
Election Night Party
Our next downtown WSIC falls on election night! After you cast your ballots, please come join us to see the election results over drinks and good company. We will watch the results roll in and figure out what it means for our country from there. A reminder that WSIC is non-partisan. We look forward to a friendly discussion! Please also come with your ideas for future topics you’d like to see us cover. There will be no formal discussion topic so feel free to…
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…
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