bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Causal relationships of localization of secondary tuberculosis in the upper-posterior segments of the lungs
Authors: Khanaliev V. Yu. , Mutalimov M. A. , Pakhiev H. Yu. , Salmakhanov A. R. , Kutiev M. I.
Published: August 2024

Since ancient times, scientists have known about the defeat of tuberculosis in the upper back segments of the lungs. At the same time, the reason for the regular lesion of segments 1, 2, 6 in secondary tuberculosis is still unknown. In the world and Russian literature available to us, we did not find an explanation of the reasons for this regularity. For the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of tuberculosis from other lung diseases, the localization of the tuberculosis process is of no small importance. We believe that the reason for the regular defeat of segments 1, 2 and 6 in secondary tuberculosis is not one, but several.
Readiness of companies to implement effective tax management practices: A case study in Indonesia
Authors: Maulana Nandi , Kurnia Budi , Silalahi Heriantonius
Published: August 2024

This study aims to evaluate and comprehend the gap between the tax management quality of companies in Indonesia and the effective practices of tax management. A systematic literature review was initially conducted to identify the relevant Critical Success Factors (CSFs) essential for measuring tax management quality. A comprehensive survey involving numerous businesses highlights the variability in commitment to tax strategies and the challenges companies face in integrating effective tax management principles. Key findings emphasize the importance of leadership commitment, employee training, and proactive risk management in enhancing tax practices. Despite some alignment with best practices, many companies struggle with critical areas such as employee development and the implementation of a robust tax culture. The study advocates for a holistic approach, urging companies to embed tax strategies into their overall business operations and to foster a culture of continuous improvement. Additionally, it calls on policymakers to provide regulatory support and incentives that encourage compliance and the adoption of innovative technologies. Overall, this research underscores the urgent need for Indonesian companies to elevate their tax management practices to improve compliance and enhance overall business performance.
What’s New about Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy and Why ‘More of the Same’ Matters
Authors: Tiessen Rebecca
Published: August 2024

Assessments of Canada’s 2017 Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) are mixed. There is widespread enthusiasm for the boldness of the policy, the innovation in represents (especially in its use of the language of feminism) and its commitment to increased funding and programmatic commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Critical reviews of the policy also highlight some of its limitations in terms of missed opportunities to consider broader, intersectional feminist realities, lack of clarity in approach or definitions, and insufficient translation into practice and resource allocations. The innovations and limitations of the FIAP are examined here with an additional reflection on the implications of the focus on the novelty of this policy. An empirical study of the references to the policy’s innovation highlight several elements of ‘more of the same’ in terms of renewed gender mainstreaming commitments as well as missed opportunities. The argument advanced in this paper is that ‘more of the same’ is a double-barrelled assessment reflecting the possibilities it presents for broadening and deepening long-standing Canadian commitments to gender equality as well as challenges related to ongoing limitations and weaknesses. In the longer-term trajectory of Canadian commitments to gender equality, the FIAP offers an important next step – a step that reflects, overall, ‘more of the same’ rather than the innovative feminist vision it purports to be.
Regulating Fintech in Canada and the United States: Comparison, Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Clements Ryan
Published: August 2024

This article compares the regulatory frameworks, challenges and opportunities in financial technology (fintech) in Canada and the United States. Fintech is explored as a post 2008 global financial crisis phenomenon by reviewing the diverse interpretations of its definition, identifying its historical underpinnings, and noting industry trends and associated demand factors. The market environment, and regulatory approach, in Canada and the U.S. is not homogenous, and although there are similarities, each jurisdiction faces different challenges and opportunities. In the U.S., fintech has significant disintermediation potential, and supervisory structures exhibit fragmentation under a rules-based framework. Nevertheless, there is growing desire for principle-based regimes in the U.S., and several federal and state regulators have instituted “regulatory sandboxes.” Canada is characterized by principle-based regulation and features a robust sandbox in securities jurisdiction; yet fintech is largely being experienced as a bank-driven phenomenon, and bank-fintech partnerships are visible, as incumbents use fintech to enhance customer service and operations. Regulatory fragmentation does, however, present an entry cost for new consumer-facing firms in Canadian fintech sectors not falling within the ambit of federal financial institution oversight. Similarities and differences between the U.S. and Canada are explored in this article across multiple fintech sectors including fintech banking, cryptocurrency (cryptocurrency as money, cryptocurrency funds and derivatives, and initial coin offerings), fintech credit (peer-to-peer lending), payments, algorithmic wealth management (robo-advisors) and financial account aggregators. The article also discusses regulatory adaptations such as sandboxes; the status of large-scale financial blockchain implementation projects; the emergence of "regtech"; international regulatory coordination efforts; self-regulatory structures; systemic risk considerations; and optimal regulatory design principles, given continuing market and product complexity. Fintech presents opportunities - like lower costs, enhanced product and service scope, greater credit and financial inclusion – and unique new risks (which are explored in detail in the article) as well as challenges for regulators, such as creating laws that accurately capture new technology and keeping pace with constantly evolving innovations. Regulators must also balance encouraging innovation and competition with effective risk management and supervision.
Grown Locally, Harvested Globally: The Role of Temporary Foreign Workers in Canadian Agriculture
Authors: Falconer Robert
Published: August 2024

In this paper, we provide a broad overview of the TFWs working in the agricultural sector of each province. This includes those involved in primary labour efforts to harvest crops and tend to animals, as well as those involved in processing foodstuffs and transporting them to their destination. We begin by briefly outlining the TFW program and a short analysis of the reason farmers and other businesses in agriculture hire them, followed by a description of the numbers in each province. Finally, we provide the ratio new permanent residents working in those sectors, and show how only a limited number of TFWs in agriculture have the ability to land permanently in Canada. We conclude with some short suggestions for further research, and ideas to consider for policymakers concerned with securing Canada’s agricultural sector, and further labour conditions and outcomes for immigrant workers.
Mandatory Mask ByLaws: Consideration Beyond Exemption for Persons with Disabilities
Authors: Kohek Jessica , Seth Ash , Edwards Meaghan , Zwicker Jennifer
Published: August 2024

Mandatory mask bylaws are set to be instated in both Calgary and Edmonton, and other regions of Canada in efforts to reduce transmission of COVID-19. While mandatory mask bylaws are rooted in the interest of public safety, accessibility challenges for persons with disabilities need to be considered to ensure full participation in society. This communiqué highlights some key considerations for implementation of inclusive mandatory mask guidelines. 
 
The City of Calgary and other jurisdictions are implementing a bylaw that mandates face coverings be worn in public transit, public vehicles for hire, public indoor space and City public facilities. There are a number of important considerations for persons with disability in regard to acquisition of face masks, public participation, and enforcement of mask-wearing policies. Without inclusive design and clear communication, mandatory mask bylaws may produce numerous barriers to social re-entry for persons with disabilities. Such barriers include unequal access to face masks, social stigma, exclusion from public spaces, and disproportionate questioning or penalization (Williamson and Whaley 2020). As the economy re-opens, it is important to ensure the safety of all Albertans. While mandatory face mask bylaws have evidence to support effectiveness in slowing transmission, safe economic re-launch must be inclusive of persons with disabilities, a demographic that has been inequitably burdened by the effects of COVID-19 and unduly overlooked in pandemic response and recovery planning.
Social Policy Trends: Income Distribution Trends Among Men and Women in Canada
Authors: Wilkins Margarita
Published: August 2024

The distributions of male and female earned incomes evolve in different ways. Can public policy play a role?
IMPLICATIONS OF AN INFRASTRUCTURE CORRIDOR FOR ALBERTA’S ECONOMY
Authors: Tombe Trevor , Munzur Alaz , Fellows G. Kent
Published: August 2024

The benefits of increased pipeline access for Alberta’s economy are well known. The benefits of infrastructure corridors, however, go far beyond pipelines. By reducing interprovincial and international trade costs, multi-modal infrastructure corridors of road, rail, utilities and communications can potentially create large economic benefits. In this paper, we quantify the potential economic gains in Alberta from reductions in trade costs and identify the importance of improved access to lower cost transportation options like rail for select commodities. Combining rich data on interprovincial trade flows with mode-specific shipment data on volumes, values, and shipment costs, we find that rail shipments are a lower cost means of exporting goods for long-distance trade. We estimate increased rail penetration lowers trade costs by roughly 0.3 per cent for each percentage point of rail’s share of shipments. We also estimate economic gains from lower trade costs. We find that lowering trade costs substantially increases Alberta’s real GDP through its effect on international and interprovincial trade flows. Infrastructure capacity is particularly valuable, as we find that increasing the share of exports shipped by rail by ten percentage points may increase Alberta’s GDP by nearly 1.5 per cent in the short-run and over 2.5 per cent in the long-run — equivalent to over $9 billion per year in economic activity.
Fiscal Policy Trends: COVID-19 & Trends in Income Assistance Caseloads
Authors: Petit Gillian , Tedds Lindsay
Published: August 2024

Provincial income assistance caseloads declined from April 2020 to October 2020, with some provinces seeing larger declines in caseloads than others. One reason for this was that provinces treated income from the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) differently not only for the purposes of eligibility for income assistance but also for determining income assistance benefits. The result was many provinces were able to dramatically reduce their income assistance expenditures by temporarily shifting the cost to the federal government.
Trade Policy Trends: COVID-19, the Great Trade Collapse, and Canadian Trade Policy
Authors: Beaulieu Eugene , Klemen Dylan
Published: August 2024

COVID-19 led to a marked decline in global trade.  Canadian trade also dropped significantly.  This led commentators to compare the COVID-19 pandemic to the Great Trade Collapse of 2008.  This paper compares both crises and finds that Canada’s total trade (imports + exports) has almost entirely recovered since COVID-19 began.  In contrast, Canada took much longer to recover from the collapse caused by the Great Trade Collapse.
Shaping agricultural policies in the Anthropocene era: what can we learn from the DPSIR framework?
Authors: Lhermie Guillaume
Published: August 2024

The global agricultural sector often doesn’t get the attention it deserves, usually because of its secondary economic importance and because no major structural shifts in demand for agricultural commodities are expected. However, there is considerable variation between high-income and developing countries.
If the world is to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, seven of whichare closely related to agriculture, then the effects of agricultural production on local cultures, societies and environments need careful consideration. Applying the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework helps in understanding interactions between actors and sectors, and overall in better designing agricultural policies.
The DPSIR framework is a holistic approach to policy created by the European Environment Agency that facilitates the identification and description of processes and interactions in human-environmental systems. DPSIR recognizes agriculture as being multi-functional. The agricultural sector not only produces food, it also provides ecosystem services like pollination, pest control, soil conservation and biodiversity.
Drivers such as food production, recreation and tourism, fulfil human needs but put pressure on the environment. Pressures are physical changes in the environment in response to drivers. These can range from land-use shifts to disease outbreaks to climate change.
States are the sum of societal, economic and environmental functions measured with indicators. Measurements include a vast range of factors, including air and water quality, as well as job security, human well-being and agricultural production. Impacts are a direct result of changes in state for both the economy (e.g., employment, income, prices) and the environment (e.g., environmental damage, emissions, land improvement).
Responses are intended to modify outcomes by changing human actions and mitigating undesirable results. Responses could be anything from reforming agricultural policies to designating protected areas to restricting emissions.

DPSIR’s main tenet is that human societies and nature are interdependent. Since agriculture involves externalities associated with production and consumption, it’s important for policy-makers to adopt a systemic approach.
DPSIR doesn’t directly consider ethics and equity. Some agricultural externalities are not constrained by borders and others affect future generations, so these factors must also be taken into account. Reliable, shared metrics must be carefully chosen and publicly available data are necessary to evaluate program outcomes.
A Primer on Carbon Tax Relief for Farmers
Authors: Dobson Sarah
Published: August 2024

Canada’s federal carbon tax is currently inconsistently applied to agricultural fuels. Depending on the type of fuel and its use, farmers may be eligible for a full exemption from the carbon tax, a partial exemption or they may face the full amount of the tax. As an industry, agriculture has comparable sector-level emissions and trade flows as industrial sectors that are eligible to receive carbon pricing support through participation in the federal output-based pricing system (OBPS) and comparable provincial programs Agriculture is currently excluded from these programs, however, as it is characterized by thousands of small producers, the vast majority of which do not exceed the required minimum emissions thresholds. Looking ahead, agriculture should be evaluated to determine whether it meets the emissions intensity and trade exposure thresholds for voluntary participation in federal and provincial OBPS programs. If these thresholds are met then this provides a strong argument for extending carbon pricing support to all sources of combustion emissions in agriculture. Any future support should be offered through a mechanism that maintains the full incentive of the carbon tax. The preferred options are either a lump-sum rebate that is independent of fuel use and emissions, or an output-based rebate system specific to agriculture.
Infrastructure Policy Trends: Critical Mineral Mining in Canada
Authors: Munzur Alaz
Published: August 2024

Critical minerals are commodities with few effective substitutes like nickel, uranium, copper and cobalt. Their “criticality” depends on factors like market volatility, supply risk, environmental impact and priorities regarding economic development and national security. It is an evolving term and a mineral commodity considered critical now may be less so in the future. These minerals are essential for a functioning economy since they are vital inputs in almost all industries from defence to telecommunications, manufacturing and healthcare, and in clean technologies like electric vehicle batteries and motors, solar panels and nuclear reactors. Historically, China has dominated the marketplace as the major supplier, distributor and processor of critical minerals. This over-reliance on a single supplier has placed countries importing critical minerals at a distinct disadvantage in terms of establishing secure access to a vital group of inputs. However, with the ever-rising global demand for reliable suppliers with high environmental, transparency and anti-corruption standards, Canada is well positioned to become a preferred source of critical minerals for its key trading partners.
Disinformation and Russia-Ukrainian War on Canadian Social Media
Authors: Boucher Jean-Christophe
Published: August 2024

The Russia-Ukrainian war has led to a large disinformation campaign, largely spread through social media. Canada has been a target of these influence campaigns to affect Canadian public opinions. In this policy brief, we venture to examine the prevalence of pro-Russian narratives on Canadian social media as well as identify major influencers creating and spreading such narratives. Additionally, using artificial intelligence, we seek to examine the reach and nature of pro-Russian disinformation narratives.
Our research team has been collecting more than 6.2 million Tweets globally since January 2022 to monitor and measure Russian influence operations on social media. We find that pro-Russian narratives promoted in the Canadian social media ecosystem on twitter are divided into two large communities:1) accounts influenced by sources from the United States and 2) those largely influenced by sources from international sources from Russia, Europe, and China.
First, pro-Russian discourse on Canadian Twitter blames NATO for the conflict suggesting that Russia’s invasion was a result of NATO’s expansionism or aggressive intentions toward Russia. In this context, pro-Russian propaganda argues that the West has no moral high ground to condemn the invasion and nations such as Canada, the US, and the UK are trying to force Europe into this conflict to benefit materially. Second, it is suggested that Western nations are propping up fascists in Ukraine, thus justifying Russia’s actions. Thirdly, pro-Russian narrative attempts to amplify mistrust of democratic institutions, be it the media, international institutions, or the Liberal government. Faced with the challenges associated with foreign interference, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of the spread of disinformation in Canada.
To Coerce, or Not To Coerce? Assessing Policy Strategies To Regulate Small-Scale And Artisanal Mining In the Andes
Authors: Toledo Orozco Zaraí , McKiernan Katherine
Published: August 2024

Facing the rapid proliferation of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in the 2000s, states with commodity-dependent economies pursued different strategies to regulate the activity. While some states have chosen to co-operate — that is, they have included informal miners in policy enforcement processes — others have chosen to coerce; that is, they have used heavy-handed policies against informal miners. This article assesses the effectiveness of these strategies in increasing compliance. We leverage a view of policy effectiveness that considers the type of state-society relations a policy fosters. We look at how different state-society relations impact the relevance a policy has to the subject it attempts to regulate. We argue that although imperfect, co-operation helps the state overcome
its limitations on the knowledge of ASM and its limited institutional powers to enforce regulations alone. By learning about the activity in question and developing ties with the informal miners, the state can produce feasible regulation that is more likely to be followed. We build our theory using a parsimonious sequential game that highlights the relationship between the state and the informal miners. We illustrate the equilibrium by comparing the outcomes of the regulatory strategies pursued in Bolivia and Peru during the commodity boom of the 2000s.
Mission Impossible: The Influence of Incumbent Industries on Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy Targeting Carbon Lock-In
Authors: Hastings-Simon Sara , Tretter Eliot
Published: August 2024

In this paper, we explore how the power wielded by regional incumbents has impacted subnational innovation agendas. Our findings suggest that the design of mission-oriented innovation policies should be more attentive to regional innovation policies and their relationship to how innovation may serve to bolster incumbents and not undermine them. We use a case-study of innovation in fossil fuels.
Recently, innovation policy literature has explored innovation policy and global climate as a major topic. On the one hand, carbon lock-in has been used to explain why there has been such difficulty in reducing carbon emissions, in many cases, despite an increasing emphasis of mission-innovation policies. On the other hand, mission-innovation policies are believed to be a key to the development of disruptive innovations that could break this carbon intensive path dependency. Although the two literatures explore the same problem,
there could be more integration. While carbon lock-in is being considered in the mission- innovation literature, it nevertheless has been largely overlooked at the mission-setting stage. On the other hand, the lock-in literature has tended to overlook the findings of mission-oriented innovation literature in offering solutions, which suggests that there is
a more productive role for mission-oriented innovations in breaking free of previous constraints to serve in the low-carbon energy transition.
To make our case, we argue it is important to distinguish among the various impacts disruptive innovations have on the market shares of incumbents’. We propose the following three schema: new market, market rewarding and market destroying. By variegating the potential impact of innovations, we suggest that mission-oriented innovation polices may be designed to only support certain types of innovations that do not directly undermine the market share of incumbents.
Using a detailed case study of the Province of Alberta, Canada, we then explore the roleof the province’s mission-oriented policy in the development of technology to produce the Canadian oil sands. The case study illustrates how incumbents influenced the establishment and direction of the mission’s goal. Shifts in incumbency opposition toward the province’s mission-oriented innovation policy coincided with the changing impact of the innovation from being market destroying to market rewarding. We suggest that future researchshould be more attentive to the role of incumbents in influencing mission-oriented innovation policy and the importance of their influence at the mission-setting stage. Furthermore, we suggest that to meet the grand challenge of addressing climate change through mission-oriented innovation policies, these policies must be designed to break free of these institutional constraints.
The Usage of Indigenous Languages as a Tool for Meaningful Engagement With Northern Indigenous Governments and Communities
Authors: Ferguson Jenanne , Sidorova Evgeniia (Jen)
Published: August 2024

The Canadian Northern Corridor (CNC) program integrates formal academic research and a strategy of engagement with potentially impacted communities (Fellows et al. 2020). Finding common ground among Indigenous peoples, governments and industry on engagement and consultation practices is imperative to the future of resource development and the Canadian economy, and ultimately to the reconciliation of the relationships between Indigenous Peoples and Canada (Boyd and Lorefice 2018). In this paper, we focus on language, stressing that languages are more than just tools. Rather, all communicative systems also hold both individual and cultural identities, histories and memory, and encode knowledge in specific ways.
This article investigates how Indigenous languages can contribute to meaningful engagement particularly within the context of the CNC concept; our recommendations also work toward strengthening existing Indigenous policy initiatives in Canada, uplifting Indigenous worldviews, and potentially supporting the reconciliation process. We draw upon primarily Indigenous scholars in explaining the reasons why using Indigenous languages matters for fostering meaningful engagement during research, consultation, and community engagement activities and address methods by which they can be implemented. After examining some past/ongoing attempts at this incorporation, we identify in our policy recommendations five different ways that the entire process of community engagement can align with the usage of Indigenous languages.
Fixing the Fiscal Imbalance: Turning GST Revenues Over to the Provinces in Exchange for Lower Transfers
Authors: Boessenkool Ken
Published: August 2024

The central argument of this paper is that Canada should better align provincial own-source revenues with provincial expenditures by turning over the GST to the provinces while simultaneously reducing federal transfers. The paper begins by broadly outlining of Canada's present fiscal arrangements and explains why a reduction of cash transfers and realignment of federal and provincial tax rates – in short, a transfer of tax points – would benefit the federation. It reviews past tax point transfers and then addresses the question of why transferring GST revenues is superior to other alternatives using the principles of tax assignment as the guide. It lays out two comprehensive proposals for transferring GST revenues, with the key difference being the way in which the GST transfer is equalized across provinces. It shows the impact on Ottawa and the provinces of these two proposals for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. It highlights the benefits of these changes from a federal, provincial and taxpayer perspective with a special focus on one of Canada's major expenditure challenges what to do about public health spending.
Support for Business R&D in Budget 2012: Two Steps Forward and One Back
Authors: Lester John
Published: August 2024

The federal budget contains some sensible changes to the SR&ED investment tax credit, but the decision to reduce support for large firms to provide additional support for small firms is a step in the wrong direction. The Jenkins Panel* expressed concern about excessive subsidization of small and medium-sized firms and recommended cutting back on the enhanced SR&ED credit in order to finance more targeted support for these firms. Following that advice would have improved the social return on support for R&D; in contrast, the budget measures marginally reduce the benefits to society from subsidizing R&D. The budget also announced $400 million in additional funding for risk capital. Returns in the venture capital industry are very low and the additional funding is unlikely to be successfully deployed until returns improve. There is abundant evidence that the tax credit for investment in Labour-Sponsored Venture Capital Corporations is crowding out private investment and contributing to low rates of return; eliminating the credit is therefore an essential first step in restoring the financial health of the venture capital industry.
The Comprehensive Trade Agreement with India: What’s in It for Canada (Or India for That Matter)?
Authors: Beaulieu Eugene
Published: August 2024

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is leading a mission to India from November 3 to 9, 2012. On this, his second official visit to India, Harper will meet with the prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, with the stated goal of strengthening trade and investment links between the two countries. In fact, the two countries have been negotiating a trade agreement known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) since November 2010. The case for Canada to pursue a comprehensive trade agreement with India appears to be ironclad. India is a rapidly growing, very large economy with the second largest population and tenth largest GDP in the world. India is open for business and began economic reforms to liberalize trade and investment, deregulate industry and privatize state-owned enterprises in the early 1990s. India has been growing at an average rate of more than seven per cent per year since 1997. Moreover, India is a democracy and shares a colonial past with Canada. However, bilateral economic relations between the two countries have historically been very weak, but with the potential to grow substantially. It seems like India has all the right ingredients for Canada to make the CEPA a priority. So, what can Canada really expect from these negotiations? The answer: Unfortunately, not much.
Progressive Incrementalism: U.S Foreign Economic Policy Over the Next Four Years
Authors: Curtis John M.
Published: August 2024

As we look ahead following last year’s U.S. presidential and congressional elections, Canadians — and Canadian business in particular — will want to have a better sense of the economic prospects, as well as the context, of U.S. foreign economic policy over the coming half-decade or so. For, notwithstanding all the talk, debates, op-ed articles, thinktank-pieces and even books in recent years suggesting or asserting the decline of American economic power, Canada’s ever-present integration and interdependence with our southern neighbour is both a reality and now, again, an important, medium-term asset. Over the coming four years and likely beyond, and once it has completed sorting out its “fiscal cliff” matter, the U.S. is positioned to be the source of increasing economic growth. The American economy has strengths: its high productivity and innovation compared to most other countries, massive piles of private sector cash leading to all sorts of investment potential, a devalued currency, and a relatively young workforce compared to the European Union, Japan, and even Canada. Therefore, although the U.S. economy continues to face large challenges related to fiscal imbalances, there are reasons to expect increasing economic growth over the medium term. Volume
Fixing Saskatchewan’s Potash Royalty Mess: A New Approach for Economic Efficiency and Simplicity
Authors: Chen Duanjie , Mintz Jack M.
Published: August 2024

For a government’s fiscal program to best serve the public interest, while also ensuring sufficient public revenue collection, it has to meet three criteria: efficiency, simplicity and fairness. Unfortunately, the royalty and tax system currently in place for Saskatchewan’s robust potash-mining industry is none of these three things; it has actually reached the point of incoherence and absurdity, or a mess. Under the current royalty and tax regime for potash producers, the tangled thicket of royalties, taxes and credits can differ between commencement dates for production, projects of different sizes, or even projects of similar size but with different profitability; it also has potash producers generally enjoying a much lighter tax burden on marginal investments than that borne by the oil and gas industry and most other non-resource industries. The result is distortions and inefficiencies, resulting in subpar investment activity, which can only stand in the way of Saskatchewan reaching its full economic potential.That needs to change. The Saskatchewan government can implement a simpler and properly structured rent-based tax and a revenue-based royalty as minimum payment (where the royalty can be credited against the rent tax), each with a single rate and an identical tax base for all tax and royalty payers. Such a properly structured royalty and tax system can deliver improved productivity, without reducing investment incentives, resulting in a better partnership for both Saskatchewan’s industry and government in the long run.
The Importance of Policy Neutrality for Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Authors: Tombe Trevor , Winter Jennifer
Published: August 2024

The drive by Canadian governments, at the provincial and federal level, to lower greenhouse gas emissions has resulted in a hodgepodge of different policy approaches. Some governments have opted for energy taxes, others for regulated limits on total emissions or emission intensity. Unfortunately, not all policy solutions are created equal; some are more effective than others in lowering total emissions and, worse still, may exact a heavy price on the economy. Policy-makers require a better understanding of how various policies affect the health of an economy and of how to mitigate the most pernicious costs. Key to gaining this improved understanding is to recognize one simple fact: some firms are more productive than others. As a consequence, it matters how workers, machines, energy, and other inputs are distributed between these firms. More productive firms should be larger — it is that simple. Some policies, however, increase input costs differently across firms and create costly distortions. Energy intensity targets are a clear example of a policy that disproportionately burdens lower productivity firms, changing firm sizes for the worse and even leading some to shut down altogether. Using a detailed model of production and energy use that matches the Canadian economy, we explore the consequences of the several forms that energy intensity regulations can take. We find the best approach to lowering greenhouse gas emissions is one that is neutral across firms — one that affects the cost of energy for smaller firms no more, or less, than larger ones. The only policy that fulfils this criterion is a flat energy tax. However, a flat tax on energy could well be politically unsellable in Canada, leaving governments to resort to politically palatable but economically risky intensity targets instead. Recognizing this, we explore a number of ways to improve the performance of intensity targets. First, governments should allow firms the option to pay a fine if an intensity standard is violated. Second, we propose a compensation scheme to firms covered by the regulation to prevent bankruptcy. These modifications can bring the cost of intensity standards closer to flat energy taxes. In short, policy-makers seeking an approach to lower greenhouse gas emissions, with minimal impact on economic efficiency and productivity, should look no further than the flat tax on energy. If this is off-limits politically, a combination of intensity standards, fines and compensation comes very close to having the same effect and may well be the policy approach they can persuade the public, and industry, to accept.
Canadian Defence Commitments: Overview and Status of Selected Acquisitions and Initiatives
Authors: Sloan Elinor
Published: August 2024

For years, successive Canadian governments have been overpromising and under-delivering on defence procurement. Timetables have slipped even as repair and maintenance costs for aging equipment have soared, while elaborate rules have obscured the acquisition process in a bureaucratic fog. This paper assembles information from a wide range of official sources and cuts through the confusion. It surveys 15 Canadian defence acquisitions and initiatives, each anticipated to cost more than $100 million, to account for the delays. Final replacements for the ancient Sea King helicopters are no closer to arriving — after almost 30 years — because the DND failed to recognize that it asked for technology that is still in development. The Joint Support Ship project is years behind schedule because, as originally conceived, it sought to integrate so many capabilities that it was unbuildable. The Integrated Soldier System Project is almost as far behind because Ottawa’s procurement rules are so complex and niggling that no bidder could fulfill every single one. Canada faces evolving threats, but efforts to equip the Canadian Forces to meet them have been marked by a long litany of failures — failures of communication, of organization and of vision. This paper sets out the military procurement process, and concisely explains the most egregious flaws, making it essential reading for anyone interested in the future of Canada’s military.
Four Studies on the Canadian Equalization System
Authors: Dahlby Bev , Feehan Jim , Ferede Ergete , Joanis Marcelin
Published: August 2024

On January 28 and 29, 2014, the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy (SPP) sponsored a conference on equalization reform. The event provided a forum for current and former federal and provincial officials, academics from Canadian, Spanish and German universities, as well as students from the Master of Public Policy program at the SPP, to explore the issues surrounding this often-contentious program. Four leading Canadian academics in the field, Bev Dahlby, Jim Feehan, Ergete Ferede and Marcelin Joanis, delivered papers at the conference, each advocating a particular path forward for Canada’s equalization system. This commentary provides a summary of their proposals and arguments for reform.
Shelter from the Storm: Weather-Induced Patterns in the Use of Emergency Shelters
Authors: Jadidzadeh Ali , Kneebone Ronald D.
Published: August 2024

In Calgary, where winters are almost always long and temperatures can plummet below -30 C, it seems logical to assume that the highest rate of emergency-shelter use would occur on the coldest of days. On very cold days one might expect rough sleepers – those who for a variety of reasons sleep outdoors – to sleep in shelters. And yet, if social agencies were to operate on that assumption, and were to focus on significantly augmenting capacity on only bitterly cold days, the result could well be that not enough beds are made available when they are in fact needed. The number of people using emergency shelters follows a more or less regular pattern over the course of a week, a month and a year. Weekends, for example, find fewer people using emergency shelters. Seasonal influences are also important as are major holidays and the timing of income support cheques. An analysis of weather effects on emergency-shelter stays in the city of Calgary finds that the conditions that are most likely to move rough sleepers into shelter do not only occur during the depths of winter, but also during the so-called “shoulder seasons” of early spring and late fall. Weather related changes in the demand for shelter spaces is greatest when temperatures hover between 0 and -10 C, and when these temperatures are accompanied by wet snow or sleet. Those conditions can produce a temporary increase of 10 to 15 per cent over the average number of emergency-shelter users. The importance of realistically estimating shelter use should not be understated. Emergency shelters are so named for a reason: When an extraordinary number of homeless people face an urgent need for shelter, it is critical that shelter operators not find themselves caught unawares, and left either scrambling to secure additional capacity or, worse, forced to turn away those in need. Being adequately prepared for significant spikes in shelter usage requires an understanding of what causes shelter use to vary and this requires an appreciation of the role of weather conditions. Understanding that inclement weather in the spring and fall, when temperatures are only moderately below zero and wet snow or sleet is falling, drives large numbers of rough sleepers into shelters gives shelter operators the ability to better prepare for spikes in demand. Given the scarce resources available for shelter provisions, this improved preparation ensures enough beds are available at the times when they are most needed, and decreases the likelihood of potentially catastrophic outcomes.
ESPlannerBASIC CANADA
Authors: Kotlikoff Laurence
Published: August 2024

Traditional financial planning is based on a fundamental rule of thumb: Aim to save enough for retirement to replace 80 per cent of your pre-retirement income with income from pensions and assets. Millions of Canadians follow this formula. Yet, there is no guarantee this approach is consistent with a savings plan that will allow them to experience their optimal standard of living — given their income — throughout their working lives. Consumption smoothing happens when a consumer projects her income and her non-discretionary expenses (such as mortgage payments) all the way up until the end of her life, and is able to determine her household discretionary spending power over time, to achieve the smoothest living standard path possible without going into debt. When consumption smoothing is calculated accurately, a person’s lifestyle should be roughly the same whether she is in her 30s with small children, in her 50s with kids in college, or in retirement, with adult children. Consumption smoothing allows that to happen. But while it is conceptually straightforward, consumption smoothing requires the use of advanced numerical techniques. Now, Canadian families have access to a powerful consumption-smoothing tool: ESPlannerBASIC Canada. This free, secure and confidential online tool will allow Canadian families to safely and securely enter their earnings and other financial resources and will calculate for them how much they can spend and how much they should save in order to maintain their lifestyle from now until they die, without going into debt. It will also calculate how much life insurance they should buy, to ensure that household living standards are not affected after a family member dies. Users can easily and instantly run “what-if” scenarios to see how retiring early (or later), changing jobs, adjusting retirement contributions, having children, moving homes, timing RRSP withdrawals, and other financial and lifestyle decisions would affect their sustainable living standards. ESPlannerBASIC Canada can also be used to understand how families should adjust their saving-and-spending behaviour when there are changes to tax rates and other fiscal policies. When used properly, ESPlannerBASIC Canada gives Canadian families the power to plan the lifestyle they want, based on what they can actually afford, without going into debt, or saving too little — or even too much — for retirement.
Estimating Discount Rates
Authors: Booth Laurence
Published: August 2024

Discount rates are essential to applied finance, especially in setting prices for regulated utilities and valuing the liabilities of insurance companies and defined benefit pension plans. This paper reviews the basic building blocks for estimating discount rates. It also examines market risk premiums, as well as what constitutes a benchmark fair or required rate of return, in the aftermath of the financial crisis and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program. Some of the results are disconcerting. In Canada, utilities and pension regulators responded to the crash in different ways. Utilities regulators haven’t passed on the full impact of low interest rates, so that consumers face higher prices than they should whereas pension regulators have done the opposite, and forced some contributors to pay more. In both cases this is opposite to the desired effect of monetary policy which is to stimulate aggregate demand. A comprehensive survey of global finance professionals carried out last year provides some clues as to where adjustments are needed. In the U.S., the average equity market required return was estimated at 8.0 per cent; Canada’s is 7.40 per cent, due to the lower market risk premium and the lower risk-free rate. This paper adds a wealth of historic and survey data to conclude that the ideal base long-term interest rate used in risk premium models should be 4.0 per cent, producing an overall expected market return of 9-10.0 per cent. The same data indicate that allowed returns to utilities are currently too high, while the use of current bond yields in solvency valuations of pension plans and life insurers is unhelpful unless there is a realistic expectation that the plans will soon be terminated.
Predicting Tags for Research Articles: An Extensive Approach Using Hybrid Topic Modeling Techniques
Authors:   Reva University, Bangalore, KA, India, Jayaram Nagashree , M L Ravikumar ,   Reva University, Bangalore, KA, India
Published: August 2024

The exponential growth of scientific literature has made it increasingly difficult for researchers to efficiently locate relevant articles within vast online archives. Topic modeling and tagging offer effective solutions to this problem by providing a clear categorization of research articles, which enhances both the recommendation and search processes. This paper builds upon previous efforts in topic prediction by focusing on the prediction of specific tags for research articles based on their abstracts. The study utilizes advanced machine learning techniques, including Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), and Non-Negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) with Count Vectorizer and Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs). The research is conducted in the context of a live hackathon, where the challenge is to predict relevant tags from a predefined set for research articles in four key disciplines: Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics. This approach aims to improve the accuracy and granularity of tag prediction, thereby facilitating more effective information retrieval in academic databases. Key Words: Tag Prediction, Research Articles, Topic Modelling, Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), Non-Negative Matrix Factorization (NMF), Text Classification, Natural Language Processing (NLP), LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory), GRU (Gated Recurrent Unit), Machine Learning, Text Mining, Abstract Analysis, Multi-Label Classification, Scientific Literature