PPGR Morning Briefing 
Good morning and welcome to another edition of the PPGR Morning Briefing!
This week, we’re giving in to the increasingly desperate emails we’ve been receiving from the CRTC, and serving up our normal helping of Canadian content. So sit back, relax, throw an extra “u” or two into your words, and try to exude the air of liberal smugness that the world has come to expect from Canucks in 2016.
Each week we will bring you a selection of relevant articles from the PPGR and other publications on policy issues unfolding across the Canadian media landscape.
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New from the PPGR:
It’s time to mind the gap and level the paying field. On November 4th, many SPPG students took part in an internal case competition, which focused on Ontario’s gender wage gap. Each team came up with their own unique solution to eradicate this gap, defined as the difference between what men and women earn. The PPGR’s Sasha Gronsdahl reports on some of the takeaways from the competition, including why the gap exists, some proposed solutions, and what is currently being done by the government to decrease it.
Next up, in the latest installment of an ongoing series on all things species related, Ian Thomson’s explainer examines the Canadian government’s efforts to protect vulnerable species. Although the Species at Risk Act (SARA) has been in place since 2002, Ian’s piece reminds us that a policy is only as good as its design and enforcement. Last month’s decision to allow 19 exemptions to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act by the Ontario Court of Appeal suggests that it may be time to re-evaluate vulnerable species policies across the country.
Finally, from the hottest voices in Canadian radio since the prematurely cancelled Stuart McLean & Rex Murphy sing-along hour, our friends at Beyond The Headlines have released their first show of the new year! As the Toronto Police Services’ (TPS) budget increases, internal reforms to combat the organization’s disciplinary system and every-day operations have lagged. Reports and internal reviews have also failed to enact visible changes. Beyond the Headlines takes a look at this issue in a two part series. The first episode features former TPS Chief, Alok Mukherjee, and Anna Willats of the Police Accountability Coalition.
Morning Roundup:
Trudeau will be accompanied by Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi (pictured) and Minister of Finance Bill Morneau at today’s investment summit.
Following the Morning Briefing’s example, Parliament also took last week off from Canadian politics. As MPs return to the Hill this week, they won’t waste any time before getting to work on the Trudeau government’s recently announced plan to court foreign capital for infrastructure projects. As Joan Bryden and Jordan Press report for iPolitics, the Prime Minister will spend much of the day at an investors summit in Toronto – known unofficially around our offices as “public-privatepalooza” – where he will meet with some of the world’s largest institutional investors.
Staying on the topic of infrastructure, Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove writes that recent moves by the Liberal government to bolster environmental measures may be aimed at quieting opposition before approving the Trans Mountain pipeline extension in British Columbia.While the federal government holds the final say, it will be interesting to see if they allow the project to go ahead, as Trudeau had made many promises regarding the environment upon election in 2015. Opposition to the pipeline project includes Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, BC environmental groups, and Indigenous communities from across the province. The Liberals face a tough decision in the coming weeks.
Finally this morning, in the latest news on what the pot is calling the kettle, Conservative leadership candidate Chris Alexander accused leadership race opponent Kellie Leitch of turning to anti-immigrant rhetoric for “crass political purposes.” If only there was a hotline to report this kind of barbaric malfeasance! Get the complete run down on last night’s Conservative debate, including an update on Leitch’s absence, from CTV News here.
Long-form:
Construction on the Muskrat Falls Dam
In a remote corner of Labrador, provincial energy corporation Nalcor is going forward with a hydroelectric station at Muskrat Falls. Many groups, including local Indigenous communities, have opposed the project, but work continues even after sustained protests and a ballooning budget. If you haven’t read up yet on this controversial Canadian energy project, Andreae Callanan’s piece is a good place to start.
Jane Jacobs would be proud! Toronto is creating new complete-streets guidelines which will look beyond cars in the modernization and development of streets across the city. Complete with graphics, Oliver Moore’s article demonstrates how the concept will take into account the use of public spaces by pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users.
We leave you this morning with The New Yorker’s recent profile of Leonard Cohen. Written before his death last Monday, the piece provides a beautiful examination of different moments across Cohen’s life and takes on new prescience with news of his passing: “’The big change is the proximity to death,’ he said. ‘I am a tidy kind of guy. I like to tie up the strings if I can. If I can’t, also, that’s O.K. But my natural thrust is to finish things that I’ve begun.’”
That’s all for today! Look out for the next addition of the PPGR Morning Briefing on Thursday, November 17th and remember there’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.
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