MLI Impact Report, Q2, 2018
Press Release
In the second quarter of 2018, MLI’s impact was felt particularly on national security, Indigenous relations, natural resources, and economic and tax policy.
Aecon deal
MLI has been at the forefront of arguing that CCCI’s takeover bid for Canadian construction giant Aecon posed a national security risk and needed to be rejected. In April 2018, MLI held a panel event that brought together leading thinkers on the economic and security implications of closer ties with China. Speakers included Munk Senior Fellow Duanjie Chen, former head of CSIS Ward Elcock, and professor Charles Burton, who were all unanimous in their concern over the CCCI-Aecon deal.
The event generated significant media attention. Dr. Chen also wrote a well-received commentary based on her talk, which provided important details on the Chinese state-owned enterprise that was attempting to purchase Aecon. In addition, the day before this event, Burton provided testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs about Canada’s engagement in the Asia-Pacific.
Notably, on May 23, 2018, the federal government announced it would block the Chinese state-owned enterprise CCCI from acquiring Canada’s Aecon Group, citing national security concerns for its decision. This was fully in accordance with MLI’s recommendations. Throughout, MLI experts were also asked to comment in Maclean’s, Globe and Mail, Financial Post, Toronto Sun, and Hindustan Times as well as on Radio Canada International.
Indigenous issues
Our project leader Ken Coates spoke at the Nunavut Mining Symposium on April 10 in Iqaluit, where he offered advice on mining developments and warned the hundreds of industry delegates not to underestimate the Inuit people. Shortly afterwards, on April 17, Coates appeared along with Munk Senior Fellow Dwight Newman to offer testimony on UNDRIP (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) at the House Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
In a report released later that month, Coates also brought some much-needed attention to the possibility of First Nations participation in BC’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry – at a time when much of the media focus was directed at the Trans Mountain Pipeline fiasco.
Our recommendations on how to achieve greater Indigenous participation in the natural resource economy has also been frequently adopted as policy. For example, Ken Coates has been among the most vocal proponents of government resource revenue sharing with Indigenous peoples, something that has been embraced by the Ontario government (old and new) and resulted in a major deal this spring with Northern Ontario First Nations. Dr. Coates is now working with New Brunswick First Nations to ensure a similar deal for them.
Trans Mountain
Earlier in the year, the proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline was initially put on hold owing to the continuing uncertainty on the project’s future as well as the political and legal squabble between the Alberta and BC governments. Shortly afterwards, the federal government announced that it was purchasing the pipeline.
This is an issue where MLI’s experts have had plenty to say. Dwight Newman, one of the most widely quoted experts on energy infrastructure, has had a great influence on government efforts to deal with the constitutional issues surrounding Trans Mountain. On May 8, he appeared before the Senate Committee on Transport and Communication to discuss Bill S-245 – legislation that asserted that authority superseded regulatory delay tactics by British Columbia. This followed the release of his MLI commentary that delved into how interprovincial transportation has long been an important federal power, meaning primary federal jurisdiction over interprovincial pipelines.
In addition, our experts such as Brian Lee Crowley, Sean Speer, Philip Cross, and Ken Coates have all been sought after by dozens of media outlets to weigh in on the Trans Mountain debate, including the Globe and Mail and National Post, CBC and CTV, the Wall Street Journal and the Economist, just to name a few. We have begun to chart a way out of the pipeline impasse that threatens Canada’s economy.
National security and defence
Munk Senior Fellow Christian Leuprecht appeared April 18 before the statutory review of the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act to discuss terrorism and money laundering.
In addition, to celebrate NORAD’s 60th anniversary, Leuprecht and his colleague Joel Sokolsky were asked by key stakeholders to prepare a volume looking at the future of North American defence. The resultant edited book featured some of the foremost defence and security experts in Canada and abroad as contributors, among them MLI Senior Fellow Richard Shimooka.
Tax policy
On May 7, Munk Senior Fellow Philip Cross provided testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, which was studying Bill C-74 on implementing provisions of the budget. Cross’s comments covered such issues as Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and Fuel Charge Regulations.
Cross also authored an MLI report on “The Truth About the Unemployment Rate.” As his report showed, the unemployment rate had become an incomplete and misleading reflection of how the labour market and the economy are faring. This report kicked off a regular series of MLI analysis that will go beyond the superficial unemployment numbers to see what the trends are really telling us about the nature of work, job precariousness, disruption in the labour economy, and Canadians’ prosperity in the future.
Post-secondary education
MLI’s Ken Coates, alongside contributor Douglas Auld, wrote an MLI report on post-secondary education, detailing how greater effort needs to be made to ensure it meets the future needs of students, parents and employers. This report was particularly well-received in the broader education community. Maxime Jean-Louis, President and CEO of Contact North, a leading distance learning provider, called it a “timely and an inspiring read.” As she added, Dr. Coates’ co-authored report is “a must read for everyone one us working in the post-secondary area.”
Justice reform
The federal government will undertake an independent review of Ottawa professor Hassan Diab’s extradition to France, where he spent three years in jail only to be released in 2018. This is in line with an Inside Policy article by MLI contributor Scott Newark, who recommended a review of the existing extradition process to prevent a re-occurrence of what happened to Diab.
Public Safety
Since 2011, MLI made headlines by criticizing Statistics Canada’s Juristat report on crime across Canada. As author Scott Network detailed, these reports were limited to police-reporting of crimes and only reported the most serious crime – rather than all of them – in any criminal incident. In response, multiple local police forces have started reporting it themselves as a result of MLI’s recommendations, which has resulted in more frequent media attention to shootings in Ottawa and Toronto, for example. It has also resulted in greater attention to crime in the platforms of both the new Progressive Conservative government in Ontario and in the platform of Alberta’s United Conservative Party.
Intellectual property protection
In May, Munk Senior Fellow Richard Owens discussed the weaknesses in the Canadian IP regime at the Global Trade and Intellectual Property Association and Geneva Network conferences in Milan and Geneva, respectively. This was followed in June with a presentation to the Copyright Society of the USA Annual Conference in Toronto on the subject of “Copyright in the NAFTA Neighbourhood.” Alongside this public engagement, Owens was also consulted by the US Trade Representative on issues to do with IP protection and innovation in Canada.
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