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Macdonald Laurier Institute

Canada's only truly national public policy think tank based in Ottawa. MLI is rigorously independent and non-partisan, as symbolized by its name. Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier were two outstanding and long-serving former prime ministers who represent the best of Canada's distinguished political tradition. A Tory and a Grit, an English-speaker and a French-speaker, each of them championed the values that led to the creation of Canada and its emergence as one of the world's leading democracies and a place where people may live in peace and freedom under the rule of law.

Most Recent Articles by Macdonald Laurier Institute:

The politics of culture wars in contemporary Canada

Executive Summary: “Culture wars” refers to the contention between cultural socialism – prioritizing equal results and protection from emotional harm for minority groups – and both cultural liberalism and conservatism, which prioritize free speech, objective truth, due process, and national heritage. Media coverage of this phenomenon has exploded since 2015 across the West, including in Canada.

- Thursday, February 15, 2024

Government surrenders to Google: Peter Menzies in the Line

Heritage Minister Pascale St. Onge has surrendered to Google and Canadian media have avoided what would have been a catastrophic exclusion from the web giant’s search engine.

In the short term, this is very good news. The bureaucrats at Heritage must have performed many administrative contortions to find the words needed in the Online News Act’s final regulations to satisfy Google, a beast which isn’t easily soothed.

- Saturday, December 2, 2023

Trudeau launches assault on property rights to answer housing shortage

In Tuesday’s fiscal update, the Trudeau government found itself trying to bury the lede in a bad news story of bigger deficits, higher debt payments and a weakened economy.

Following a slew of opinion polls that show the Liberals trailing the opposition Conservatives by a widening margin, the update also exuded a palpable sense of urgency as the government scrambles to address a critical issue on which they were caught completely off guard: housing.

- Saturday, December 2, 2023

Politically motivated gun policies hinder law-abiding Canadians

OTTAWA, ON (August 14, 2023): On November 22, 2021, the federal government presented Bill C-21, aiming to entrench in law aspects of the 2020 Order in Council, banning “assault-style firearms,” codifying the regulatory freeze on the purchase, transfer, and inheritance of handguns, and further complicating Canada’s “red flag” laws.

In this new paper, Aiming off target: gun policy in Canada, Noah Schwartz and Tim Thurley examine the state of Canada’s current gun policies and offer recommendations for improvement. In essence, current policies will have little effect on violent crime but they will have significant adverse impacts on hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Canadian gun owners, including members of Indigenous communities, and the businesses and networks supporting them.

- Monday, August 14, 2023

COVID-19 - MASKING A FAILED SYSTEM

OTTAWA, ON: As lockdown restrictions gradually lift in parts of Canada, we are hearing the same message from politicians: these measure are required to keep our health system from collapsing due to an influx of COVID-19 patients. But, as MLI senior fellow Dr. Shawn Whatley asks, why, 11 months into the pandemic and amid a predictable second wave, are we faced with a choice of locking down or having our hospitals overrun?
- Friday, February 12, 2021

Exploring China's Political Warfare Against Taiwan

OTTAWA, ON--Since the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou on an extradition request from the US, Canada’s political class has become increasingly aware of the threat posed by Chinese political warfare – or “sharp power” – influence operations. However, while Canadian policy-makers are now just waking up to this danger, Taiwan has long been subject to these sharp power attacks against its democracy. In MLI’s latest paper titled “Democracy Under Fire: China’s political warfare against Taiwan during President Tsai Ing-Wen’s first term,” MLI senior Fellow J. Michael Cole examines how Beijing’s sharp power influence operations against Taiwan have played out from 2016 to 2020.
- Thursday, July 30, 2020

Canada's Economic Freefall Might Be Over, But The Recession Is Far From Done

OTTAWA, ON: Canada’s economy has continued its downward slide, with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s leading economic indicator dropping by yet another 1.9 percent. This builds upon a harsh trend of decline that has been tracked in the previous two LEI updates. Comprising of 10 components, the LEI is a tool designed to predict Canada’s future economic growth and track changes within Canada’s business cycle. This latest update reflects data from May, demonstrating that while the trajectory of the freefall has improved slightly, Canada’s economy is still not out of the woods.
- Monday, July 13, 2020


COVID’s Collateral Contagion: Why Faking Parliament Is No Way To Govern In A Crisis

OTTAWA, ON: The COVID-19 pandemic has come at considerable human, economic, and societal cost to Canada. Yet an unexpected victim of the crisis has been Canada’s Parliamentary democracy. In MLI’s latest commentary paper titled “COVID’s Collateral Contagion: Why Faking Parliament is No Way to Govern in a Crisis,” author and MLI Munk Senior Fellow Christian Leuprecht examines the federal government’s efforts to stifle Parliament. As the author explains, the extraordinary measures employed by the minority Liberal government demonstrate “unprecedented disregard for parliamentary convention.”
- Monday, June 15, 2020

WHAT WENT WRONG WITH CANADA’S CARBON TAX?

WHAT WENT WRONG WITH CANADA’S CARBON TAX? OTTAWA, ON -- At one time, the carbon tax was a popular policy with a significant number of proponents on both ends of the political spectrum. Now, public perception of the controversial tax is split along deeply partisan lines. Proponents and detractors of the policy are likely to be locked in bitter conflict during the 2019 election. What happened?
- Friday, July 12, 2019

Assessing Islamist Radicalization in Canada New MLI Report

Assessing Islamist Radicalization in Canada New MLI ReportOTTAWA, ON (April 9, 2019): With ISIS facing complete collapse, Canada is now forced to deal with an uncomfortable reality; there are Canadians who joined or supported movements such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda who are coming home or are already here.
- Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Canadian Economy Still Stuck in The Rut

Canadian Economy Still Stuck in The RutOTTAWA, ON --Following a meager performance in January, February's numbers continue to suggest that Canada's economy is stuck in the rut. The Macdonald-Laurier Institute's Leading Economic Indicator (LEI), a tool designed to predict changes in the Canadian business cycle, remained unchanged in February. This follows a disappointing start to 2019 in which the LEI also remained stagnant.
- Tuesday, April 2, 2019

It's no wonder no one wants to invest in Canada's resources

It's no wonder no one wants to invest in Canada's resourcesOTTAWA, ON (February 22, 2019): While the modern Canadian economy is largely diversified, the natural resource sector still plays an incredibly important role when it comes to creating economic opportunity and prosperity. So, why can’t Canada seem to get resource development right? In the latest MLI commentary, long-time Globe and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson addresses the “Uncertainty and Confusion in Canada’s Natural Resource Development.” It is a powerful indictment.
- Sunday, February 24, 2019

DEFICIT DEBATE CLOUDING THE BIG PICTURE ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING:

OTTAWA, ON (February 14, 2019): A recent series of speeches, articles, and debates is provoking big questions about deficits and debt. Do they matter? Should we care? Has the past political emphasis on balancing the budget been misguided? A new commentary paper by MLI Munk Senior Fellow Sean Speer titled Deficits, Debt, and the Right Path for Fiscal Policy: A Framework for Smaller Government aims to answer these questions as we approach the upcoming federal budget.
- Thursday, February 14, 2019


Government efforts have failed to Stimulate the Economy

Government efforts have failed to Stimulate the Economy OTTAWA, ON With persistent uncertainty plaguing business investment and consumer confidence, economic growth in Canada has been sputtering. Now, to make matters worse, the federal government is facing new economic challenges including faltering infrastructure spending, ongoing NAFTA disputes with the US, and the court ruling which has blocked the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
- Thursday, September 13, 2018

CANADA POISED FOR A SLUGGISH END TO 2018: MLI'S LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATOR

Leading Economic Indicator OTTAWA, ON--The Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Leading Economic Indicator (LEI), a tool designed to predict changes in the Canadian business cycle, increased by 0.1 percent in July. This represents a continuation of the slow growth that it has posted over the last four months.
- Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Canada’s Economy to Continue Experiencing Slow Growth in 2018

Leading Economic Indicator OTTAWA, ON The Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Leading Economic Indicator (LEI), a tool designed to predict changes in the Canadian business cycle, increased by 0.2 percent in June. This follows two consecutive gains of 0.1 percent.
- Friday, August 10, 2018

Why the American Economy is hot, and Canada's is not

Why the American Economy is hot, and Canada's is not OTTAWA, ON--With an increasingly favourable business environment in the US and the opposite trend occurring in Canada, business investment in the US is improving faster than in Canada, Munk Senior Fellow Philip Cross said today upon release of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's latest Quarterly Economic Report.
- Friday, June 22, 2018

MLI Mourns Passing of Renowned Philanthropist Peter Munk

MLI Mourns Passing of Renowned Philanthropist Peter Munk OTTAWA, ON A great Canadian has passed from the scene. The Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) wishes to express sincere condolences to the family and friends of renowned business leader, entrepreneur and philanthropist Peter Munk. Mr. Munk, who passed away Thursday, was a huge supporter and friend of MLI.
- Thursday, March 29, 2018

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