How can Canada’s senate be reformed within the existing constitutional framework? Join Peter Russell for a discussion on May 26, 2014.
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How will the Canada/EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement impact everyday Canadians? Catherine Swift and Stewart Trew debate the pros and cons.
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On Monday, 18 November, WSIC discussed the challenges of infrastructure resiliency in Canada in light of our changing climate. Heavy flooding in Toronto this past July and the recent devastating effects of Hurricane Haiyan in the Philippines have shown Canadians that serious consequences could occur us if we don’t start planning now for the future extreme weather events. Leading our discussion on this matter was Chris Fonseca, city councillor of Mississauga and representing Ward 3, and Abe Khademi, a water resources engineer and …
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As major weather events become more common, Canada will have to evaluate how resilient its infrastructure is for the near future. Chris Fonseca and Abe Khademi looks at needs and strategies to get ready.
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This past Monday, September 23, WSIC hosted a vibrant discussion on youth underemployment in Canada. Leading the discussion was Michael Hlinka, a University of Toronto instructor and regular business commentator for CBC, and Julia Deans, CEO of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. Michael and Julia were joined in the Q&A part of the evening by Leanne Abdulla, a young woman willing to speak openly about her ongoing challenges of finding permanent employment in Toronto.
Leanne is a registered social service worker with two diplomas yet is …
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“Patient engagement is the blockbuster drug of this century” said Dr. Zayna Khayat; a great way to sum up her vision for the future of health care. A senior leader with the International Centre for Health Innovation, she and Dr. Ernie Lightman, an economics and social policy professor at UofT, led the Why Should I Care discussion on August 10 2013 at the Duke of York on health care sustainability. Both agree that major changes are needed and coming.
A great deal of health dollars are …
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Sustainability or going green is economically beneficial. It is not just about saving whales and polar bears. There exists huge business opportunities. Jim Harris, former leader of the federal Green party, thinks going green can be economically beneficial. For him it’s not just about saving the planet it can save businesses. Energy efficiency creates many times more jobs than the existing ways of doing business. Typically, those companies that realize and implement sustainability programs first are those that survive and thrive. When the price of …
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At WSIC’s last event, two speakers persuasively made the point that preventing government scientists from sharing their advice with the public is foolish policy. Professor Jeffrey Hutchings, Professor of Biology at Dalhousie, criticized the Conservatives, but also offered a first-hand account of how such policy affected the Eastern fishery under the Liberals. Around 1992, the Cod fishery was collapsing, and Liberal government permission for fishing was at odds with scientific evidence. Now, it may be fair to have policy that is contrary to science, but …
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On Monday February 25 2013, WSIC ecstatically hosted three distinguished speakers on the topic of democratic reform. Peter Russell (a constitutional scholar), Wayne Smith (executive director of Fair Vote Canada), and Borys Wrzesnewkyi (former MP) touched on different aspects of the realities of our democratic system.
Peter Russell began by extolling the virtues of our parliamentary democracy. Older than our country, the government has been run in this style since 1848. It purports that the state be run by elected officials. He points out, however, that …
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