External

Anil Wasif on Confronting Institutional Decay After the Dhaka School Tragedy | Policy Magazine

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 17:44:57 +0000

July 23, 2025 | Anil Wasif, MPP ’21, writes in Policy Magazine about the painful disconnect between high-level development discourse and lived tragedy, reflecting on the deadly crash of a military jet into a school in Dhaka, Bangladesh that claimed 32 lives. Writing from the World Bank’s Annual Conference on Development Economics, where he was attending as a Government Analytics fellow, Wasif describes how the academic conversation on institutional decay and populist anger mirrored the catastrophic reality unfolding in his home country.

Isabella Coronado Doria MPP '25 on Canada’s Need for Stronger Online Safety Laws | Policy Magazine

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 19:16:17 +0000

July 20, 2025 | MPP 25 Isabella Coronado Doria wrote an opinion piece for Policy Magazine addressing the urgent need for stronger regulation of digital platforms to protect children’s mental health and safety. The article highlights the tragic story of Sewell Setzer, a 14-year-old who developed a harmful virtual relationship with a chatbot, leading to his suicide and a lawsuit against the platform for inadequate safety measures.

Ricardo Chejfec MPP '21 and Abigail Jackson MPP '23 on Why Canada’s Nation-Building Projects Need a Skills Revolution | Policy Options

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 15:18:08 +0000

July 16, 2025 | Abigail Jackson, MPP '23, and Ricardo Chejfec, MPP '21, along with Rachel Samson, co-wrote an article in Policy Options arguing that Canada’s push to accelerate major infrastructure and energy projects must be matched by an ambitious strategy to build the local skills needed to support them. They stress that without early investment in training and better coordination among employers, governments, and educators, many rural and remote communities could be excluded from the benefits of these nation-building efforts.

Marc Fortin on Rethinking University Research to Drive Canadian Innovation | Canada's National Observer

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 19:04:44 +0000

July 11, 2025 | In an opinion piece published in Canada’s National Observer, Marc Fortin, alongside Richard Gold, Evan Henry, and Martin Bader, argue that Canada should seize the moment created by U.S. research setbacks to build a stronger, more collaborative innovation ecosystem. With American universities facing cuts and instability, the authors call on Canada to rethink how they support research, moving away from patent sales toward long-term industry partnerships, open data, and simplified licensing.

Vincent Rigby on Strategic Autonomy Amidst G7 Uncertainty | The Globe and Mail

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 15:44:40 +0000

June 14, 2025 | Vincent Rigby, quoted in The Globe and Mail, sees Carney’s foreign policy as a clear break from traditional diplomacy rooted in values. He argues that Canada is embracing a more pragmatic, hard-headed approach in response to global volatility. While diversification of defence partnerships—such as working with European suppliers—is on the table, Rigby stresses that close coordination with the U.S. remains essential.

Vincent Rigby on NATO, Canada’s 2% Commitment, and Alliance Readiness | CDA Institute

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 15:48:51 +0000

June 23, 2025 | Vincent Rigby joined the CDA Institute’s Expert Series alongside former Canadian Ambassador to NATO Kerry Buck and former NATO Assistant Secretary General Wendy Gilmour to unpack what’s at stake as leaders gather in The Hague for the 76th NATO Summit. The conversation focused on Canada’s recent pledge to meet NATO’s long-standing 2% GDP defence spending target by March 2026, as well as the summit’s broader agenda—expected to include raising the defence spending floor to 3.5%, enhancing alliance readiness, and addressing industrial capacity shortfalls.

Vincent Rigby on the Challenges Ahead for the Canada-EU Defence Pact | Expert Group on Canada-US Relations

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 17:45:02 +0000

June 2025 | Vincent Rigby, alongside other senior experts, co-authored a white paper analyzing the Canada-EU Security and Defence Partnership. While the agreement aims to reduce reliance on U.S. defence suppliers and expand access to the European market, the report warns that its success is far from guaranteed. Rigby and his co-authors highlight major fiscal and political barriers, including Canada’s underinvestment in defence, EU divisions over spending targets, and implementation hurdles in aligning procurement and supply chains.

MPP '25 Al-Amin Ahamed on Why the Ideology Behind Conversion Therapy Still Persists | Policy Magazine

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 18:33:24 +0000

July 14, 2025 | In an article for Policy Magazine, MPP '25 Al-Amin Ahamed examined the gap between Canada’s 2022 federal ban on conversion therapy and the ongoing harm caused by its underlying ideology. While Bill C-4 made it a criminal offence to attempt to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, Ahamed warns that the ideology behind these practices has simply evolved—adopting new language and methods that fall outside the law’s reach.

Pearl Eliadis on Potential United Nations Challenge to Bills 21 and 96 | Montreal Now with Aaron Rand

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 17:50:48 +0000

June 16, 2025 | Speaking on Montreal Now with Aaron Rand, Pearl Eliadis cautioned that if Canada’s Supreme Court does not act to limit Quebec’s use of the notwithstanding clause in laws such as Bills 21 and 96, the anglophone community may need to seek recourse through the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Eliadis noted that Canada, as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has a duty to uphold principles of equality and non-discrimination—protections she believes are being undermined by the legislation.

Pearl Eliadis on Challenging Quebec’s Bills 21 and 96 at the UN | City News Montreal

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 17:42:05 +0000

July 12, 2025 | Pearl Eliadis spoke to CityNews Montreal about the potential to challenge Quebec’s Bills 21 and 96 before the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Eliadis explained that bringing the case to the UN would aim “to get the UN committee's view” on whether the laws violate international human rights obligations. The interview highlights growing legal interest in using international mechanisms to confront the controversial legislation.

Vincent Rigby on the Risks and Realities of Canada’s New EU Defence Pact | The Globe and Mail

isabela.sullivan@mcgill.ca — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 17:40:00 +0000

July 9, 2025 | Vincent Rigby, along with retired vice-admiral Mark Norman, former deputy trade minister Tim Sargent, former defence minister Perrin Beatty, and professor Fen Hampson, wrote a report highlighted in The Globe and Mail that raises concerns about Canada’s new Security and Defence Partnership with the European Union. The pact, signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, aims to reduce Canada’s reliance on U.S. military contractors and boost the Canadian defence industry by tapping into the EU’s growing defence market.

Taylor Owen on Gander, a Canadian Social Media App | 1075koolfm

pinaki.siwach@mail.mcgill.ca — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 15:44:09 +0000

June 25, 2025 | Professor Taylor Owen, founding director of The Center for Media, Technology and Democracy has come together with other advisors to build an application, called Gander. It’s a social media platform that lets you post videos, write updates, and tailor your feed to what you actually want to see — minus the trolls, conspiracy theories, and the “why is this even in my feed?” content.

Chris Ragan on Carbon Tax Woes | TVO Today

pinaki.siwach@mail.mcgill.ca — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 17:37:33 +0000

June 23, 2025 | Professor Chris Ragan, chair of Ecofiscal Commission spoke about the pitfalls of the Carbon Tax at the TVO on The Agenda with Steve Paikin. Chris mentioned the lack of not presenting rebates, and about the resentment from the Conservatives, "when the liberals adopted a carbon pricing policy and traditionally we viewed a carbon pricing policy as actually a fairly market-friendly and even a conservative type policy," said Ragan.

Vincent Rigby on 76th NATO Summit | CDA Institute

pinaki.siwach@mail.mcgill.ca — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 15:41:51 +0000

June 23, 2025 | Professor Vincent Rigby, a former NSIA to the Prime Minister, along with Kerry Buck, a former Canadian Ambassador to NATO and Former Assistant Secretary General, Defence Investment, Wendy Gilmour joined the CDA Institute Expert Series to discuss the key issues, challenges, and likely outcomes of this year’s Summit for Canada and the Alliance in this podcast.

L’Europe et le défi américain | Tour de Table

pinaki.siwach@mail.mcgill.ca — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 17:53:16 +0000

June 18, 2025 | In March 2023, Jennifer Welsh launched Tour de Table, a podcast series that joins leading scholars and policymakers for a bilingual discussion of the political, economic, and security challenges confronting our world and whether and how Canada is prepared to address them.