Conservative MP John Williams handled the CPAC reporter's question about closure of debate on legislating the traditional definition of marriage very well: "This is just one issue among many. We aren't just talking about same-sex marriage." I don't agree with Williams' view on same-sex marriage, but I do think that he is right to situate same-sex marriage as only one issue among many.
Archive for March, 2005
John Williams handles the media well
March 19th, 2005International policy review rumours . . .
March 17th, 2005If this report is correct, then the international policy review will be released in early April as though it were a federal budget. Interesting rumours: an increase in the proportion of foreign service officers stationed abroad, support for third language training in Arabic and Chinese, and a drastic reduction in the number of countries receiving Official Development Assistance from CIDA.
Wolfowitz for World Bank?
March 16th, 2005George Bush has nominated Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank. This is a big deal because the US's nomination is rarely contested and the president of the bank serves for 10 years. I don't know much about Wolfowitz, but what I do know concerns me. Perhaps the rest of the bank's members will push back on this nomination. Otherwise, expect the bank to head in a different direction under Wolfowitz. Ten years is plenty of time to turn a big organization in a particular direction.
usually I am an apologist for American policy . . .
March 11th, 2005But this is undefendable. The US should be the driving force behind international law. Instead it is one of the staunchest opponents.
Canada’s economic future
March 4th, 2005A former high-ranking bureaucrat at Industry Canada delivered an interesting, albeit somewhat depressing, talk today on Canada's economic future. Andrei Sulzenko, who is currently a Fellow at the School of Policy Studies here at Queen's, argued that Canada's recent strong economic growth will not be easy to maintain in the future. His discussion ranged over a number of issues, including Canadian macroeconomic policy, but focused mainly on the challenge of improving productivity through microeconomic policies. The short story is that the problems are significant and that few people in the government are paying attention to them.
Sulzenko's argument is easy to accept. He did a good job of illustrating how the drivers of past economic growth, especially adjustments due to the implementation of free trade agreements, will not be the main drivers of future economic growth. Put bluntly, the North American free trade agreements were a one trick pony. To maintain solid economic growth in the future will require harder to come by improvements in productivity. Industry Minister David Emerson is one person who Sulzenko noted has identified the basic problem.
During the discussion, many references were made to how the US has, in many respects, better microeconomic policies than Canada does. I said that I was concerned with simply trying to play catch up with the larger US market and asked whether Mike Lazaridis's focus on basic research was perhaps an example of how Canada could successfully distinguish itself from the US market.
I'm taking a class with Sulzenko in the Spring term called Canadian Policy in a North American Context. It should be great.
Washington recap
March 4th, 2005Washington is a very cool city. During the three days I spent there on our class trip, I not only had a great time relaxing with my classmates, but also learned some things about America and American politics and public policy.
The bus ride down was fairly painless. It included lots of discussion with friends and watching Stand By Me, The Princess Bride and The American President. We travelled through New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
The organized events were great. The presenters from the World Bank and IMF were very candid. At the embassy, I was pleased to see that the presenters were late and that some had to leave early: it's nice to know that they have more important things to do! The seminars at the Brookings Institution, for the most part, were very informative and interesting. The session on American health policy was especially lively and the Executive Director of OMB Watch was very engaging. Our session with four congressional staffers was perhaps the most interesting and useful organized event, at least for me. I didn't really know who cracks the eggs for a legislative omellette in the United States. Now I better understand why things like the Byrd Amendment are so difficult to change.
The unorganized portion of the trip was also very good. Washington, especially Georgetown, where we stayed, is certainly a tourist town. I visited the Lincoln Memorial (cool), the Vietnam Memorial (awesome), the Capitol Building (protected by guys with serious weapons), Arlington National Cemetary (where JFK is buried), and two Smithsonian museums: American History (cool "Price of Freedom" exhibit) and Air and Space (lots of large, scary missiles). I found the Metro to be a clean, safe, efficient and cheap means of transportation, although we waited at the Arlington stop for an inordinate amount of time.
Two asides: first, I was disturbed by the fact that virtually all of the service workers and homeless people that I saw were black; second, our car service -- that is, an unlicensed taxi -- driver drafted a speeding fire truck through downtown Washington at 60 mph. That was crazy!
All in all, the trip was very good. It was certainly worth the money and time. Interestingly, I think that most of my classmates hold the same opinion.
US loses appeal on cotton
March 3rd, 2005Good to see that the WTO Appellate Body upheld the decision on US support for cotton farmers. The WTO web site has lots of information about the findings and conclusions [PDF], if you are interested in learning more than what's reported in the press accounts. This is an important case partly because cotton is a hot issue in WTO negotiations.
what’s the value of a hyperlink?
March 3rd, 2005Declan McCullagh's weekly column is worth reading if you are interested in politics and technology. This week he looks at determining the value of links to campaign web sites. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few years.
Coming soon
March 2nd, 2005A post with some substance.
