Macdonald-Laurier Institute

MLI is celebrating fifteen years of fighting for a better Canada!🎂 As trust in media, the universities, and government plummeted we established ourselves as an independent, non-partisan, and serious voice. Join us⬇️ macdonaldlaurier.ca/fifteenth-anni…

Pleased to see the federal government recognize the potential of small modular reactors (SMRs) technology for northern and remote communities. As MLI Director of Energy, Natural Resources and Environment Heather Exner-Pirot (@ExnerPirot) wrote in 2023, “Technologies are now emerging that have the potential to address the challenges that remoteness imposes on energy, transportation, and connectivity. These [SMRs] have the potential to not only improve the quality of life for the region’s inhabitants, but allow more economically and environmentally responsible development of critical minerals.” MLI Paper: macdonaldlaurier.ca/overcoming-rem… Globe and Mail Article: theglobeandmail.com/business/artic…

I waded into the recent controversy surrounding fears of gerrymandering in Alberta for @MLInstitute. Critics such as @JLisaYoung @DuaneBratt @DrJaredWesley have a point, esp. regarding the Commission's minority report, but we should also applaud the gov's response.

In “Blueprint for Internal Trade and Property Rights,” Tim Sargent and Paul Salembier present a special project to realize the economic vision embedded in the Constitution Act, 1867. Interprovincial barriers still limit labour mobility, investment, and growth across the country. This project goes beyond analysis and provides concrete model legislation to harmonize regulations, enable mutual recognition, and strengthen property rights. It offers a practical path to a more unified and competitive Canadian economy. Read here⬇️ macdonaldlaurier.ca/blueprint-for-…

“Canadians in other provinces can take note of this drama as evidence for the importance of independent commissions in ensuring effective democratic representation. Alberta’s decision to adopt Justice Miller’s addendum has helped prevent gerrymandering that erodes this trust. The honourable judge deserves some praise for that too,” writes MLI Senior Fellow Geoffrey Sigalet (@GeoffSigalet) on Alberta’s electoral boundaries fight for Inside Policy. Read here⬇️ macdonaldlaurier.ca/lines-power-an…

MLI Senior Fellow Christian Leuprecht speaks with Global News on the state of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

“But over the longer term, as a country, as a people, we need to start having uncomfortable conversations. We need to start grappling with some of the ideas we’ve told ourselves for decades about who we are. And we need to start becoming intolerant of intolerance. These things are going to take time, but they’re really the only things that are going to save us over the long term,” said Casey Babb (@DrCaseyBabb), MLI’s director of the Promised Land project in an interview with @TheHubCanada. Read here⬇️ thehub.ca/2026/05/01/we-…

I was pleased to speak with @TheHubCanada about the recent Bondi report, what lessons might be in there for Canada, and the current state of antisemitism in this country. "My children’s favourite part of going to a synagogue shouldn’t be talking with police officers and people in tactical gear." thehub.ca/2026/05/01/we-…

Heather Exner-Pirot (@ExnerPirot), director of energy, natural resources and environment at MLI, joins @BNNBloomberg to discuss the spring economic update.

What could Canada’s new defence bank mean for businesses? Joe Varner (@josephbvarner) goes on @CTV to discuss what to expect from Canada’s new defence bank, noting it could create opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises across NATO.

On @ABCaustralia, Heather Exner-Pirot (@ExnerPirot) breaks down the OPEC shakeup as the United Arab Emirates moves to exit, warning that while markets may hold steady for now, a weaker cartel could mean greater volatility ahead.

Our culture tells parents that “you can do it all” – but that's “a very dangerous narrative” and “a narcissistic trope,” says social worker and parenting coach Erica Komisar(@EricaKomisarCSW). Is it time for our culture to grapple with a hard truth: life requires setting priorities and making trade-offs between career and family, rather than trying to have it all at once? Our economies and social norms prize autonomy, flexibility, and paid work. Meanwhile, many parents feel more stretched and isolated than ever, and the social networks they inhabit feel thin. To discuss these challenges, Komisar joins Inside Policy Talks. Komisar is a clinical social worker trained in psychology, and an author whose work argues that the first years of childhood are foundational for attachment, mental health, and later resilience. On the podcast, she tells Peter Copeland (@CopelanPeter), deputy director of domestic policy at MLI, that “it's a narcissistic trope that you can do it all, that you don't have to take anything off the plate, that you don't have to sacrifice anything.” Komisar says that messaging sets up internal conflict for parents, especially mothers, when they face choices around whether to stay home with their toddlers or return to work. She says deep down many mothers would rather stay home, and the pressure to return to a career sets up internal conflicts leading to health problems or even resentment towards the child. For example, she points to the growing trend of women posting online that they regret becoming mothers. “When you reject your own children and mothering, we know that we've taken a turn in society,” says Komisar. Watch the full episode: youtu.be/7bFq_H0ueKo

“To remain relevant universities must focus on the development of talent, be attentive to innovation leading to sustainable growth, be accountable to students and the public, and be partners in economic and technological transformation,” writes Peter MacKinnon in the @nationalpost. Read here⬇️ macdonaldlaurier.ca/the-clear-and-…

“The gap between Albertans and other Canadians is real, but it is far narrower than some of the more heated sources of rhetoric would suggest. The challenge for policymakers is to do the more mundane but ultimately more consequential work of reform, so that the federation Canadians say they want starts to look like the one they actually have,” write MLI Senior Fellow Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe) and Brooks DeCillia. Read here⬇️ macdonaldlaurier.ca/albertans-and-…

Jamie Tronnes, executive director of the Center for North American Prosperity and Security, said that there haven’t been enough updates from the Canadian government about what it is seeking to accomplish. “The line of ‘trust me, I know what I’m doing’ ends when you don’t show that you’re doing something with people’s trust,” she said. “There needs to be more official government information sharing so businesses can feel that trust with the government,” Tronnes said. “The problem that the Liberals are having at the moment is that they are relying on ‘elbows up’ as a strategy to shore up that trust, and that’s a mistake because we can still be very patriotic people, but we also have to feed our families and know that the people we’ve elected to do the job of negotiating with the U.S. have a plan.” Read here⬇️ hilltimes.com/2026/04/29/as-…

“Bill C-14 is therefore best understood as a constructive but partial response. The test will be whether it reduces violent crime and other visible forms of crime without worsening pressures in provincial remand facilities, and whether Parliament follows them with deeper reforms that I think are needed to sentencing, enforcement and prosecution capacity, and organized crime,” says Peter Copeland (@CopelanPeter), deputy domestic policy director at MLI, during Senate committee hearings on Bill C-14. Watch full testimony here⬇️ senparlvu.parl.gc.ca/Harmony/en/Pow…

Last week, Marcus Kolga (@kolga), Senior Fellow at MLI, testified before the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on the global impact of transnational repression. He outlined how authoritarian regimes are increasingly targeting dissidents abroad, including in Canada, and urged stronger protections for those facing foreign intimidation. Watch full committee testimony here: parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Harmony/en/Pow…

“The living tree has become a dead metaphor; we should properly place our approach to constitutional interpretation within its intellectual roots in Burkean minimalism. It is worth recharacterizing our inherited approach to constitutional interpretation in the future. Perhaps, as is sometimes said in technology circles, ‘that future is now,’” writes @dy_clarke. In a new commentary for MLI, Dylan Clarke argues Canada’s “living tree” doctrine has strayed from its roots, shifting from cautious constitutional evolution to judicial activism. He calls for a return to Edmund Burke’s philosophy of restraint, arguing courts should interpret Charter rights more narrowly and incrementally. Read the full paper ⬇️ macdonaldlaurier.ca/from-living-tr…

Jamie Tronnes, executive director of the Center for North American Prosperity and Security, a project of the @MLInstitute quoted today in the @nationalpost⬇️ “There is growing fear that the United States will use the 301 tariffs as leverage or as a way to get out of the tariff-free trade that Canada and the United States have established through USMCA,” she said. Canada’s been walking a fine line on this for longer than many people have realized, Tronnes added, but now, she says, “I  think most trade watchers are starting to become a little more concerned about the 301s than they are about the actual renewal of the USMCA.” Even more worrying, she said, is the possibility of stacked tariffs. “Any sector that has already received 232 tariffs is probably even more vulnerable because these (301s) could be stacked tariffs, which would make the tariff rate even higher,” she warned, noting how the auto sector is already reeling. “If USMCA-compliant parts and other USMCA-compliant goods go by the wayside,” Tronnes warned, “then we’re looking at a major shift in how we trade with the United States.” Full article: nationalpost.com/news/as-trump-…

MLI Director of Indigenous Affairs @karenrestoule went on Free for All Friday with Amanda Galbrait (@agalbraith) to discuss the recent BC DRIPA court decision. Full podcast here: omny.fm/shows/the-vass…

“Subsidizing production may sustain broken business models, but without incentives for consumption, they do nothing to achieve the public good of a well-informed public with a shared understanding of basic facts,” writes MLI Senior Fellow Peter Menzies (@Pagmenzies) regarding Canada's subsidized journalism in @TheHubCanada. Read here⬇️