Projects 2007/2008
Urban Violence – The Silent War of the Americas: Canadian Leadership Opportunity
Rebecca Comley, Justin Ferbey, Marc Fournier, Nicholas Gafuik, Benjamin Perrin
Advisor: Malcolm Rowe
Canada has recently signaled an intention to play a greater role in the Americas. If we truly wish to be a leader in the region, then we must address its most pressing challenge: widespread urban violence.
Unlawful killings, gang wars, shoot-outs with police, kidnappings, robbery and narco-trafficking are exacting terrible human, economic and social costs in the region. Latin America, with only 14% of the world’s population, accounts for 42% of firearms-related homicides in the world. Unfortunately, in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the police and military responsible for providing public security are unable or unwilling to perform that function.
Trade, human rights, and democratic practice in the region are all threatened by urban violence. There is also an insidious, direct link between drug gangs in the region and the traffic of illegal narcotics to Canada.
We recommend that Canada confront the silent war of urban violence in the Americas through:
• Improving local responses to urban violence by helping reform the police and other institutions
• Breaking the cycle of urban violence through grassroots, community-based programs
• Reducing a key driver of urban violence through stemming the flow of illegal narcotics
Lester: The Case for a Canadian Magazine of International Affairs
Tim Coates, Jane McDonald, Shauna Mullally, Taylor Owen, Gino Reeves, Irvin Studin
Advisor: Antonia Maioni
Team Lester, having determined that Canadian leadership in foreign affairs can only materialize in the context of a world-class foreign affairs public debate, has made the case for a bold, world-class foreign affairs magazine as a key vehicle for driving such debate.
To this end, we studied the intensity and character of Canadian print media coverage of top foreign policy issues and confirmed our initial hypothesis that the Canadian foreign affairs debate is poor–failing to hold political leaders to account, generate meaningful policy ideas and, most significantly, create a foreign affairs culture in Canada from which future Canadian world leaders may emerge.
In order to show how we may begin to address this poverty of debate, we conducted interviews with leading foreign affairs thinkers across Canada and did a case study of one of the world’s leading foreign affairs magazine, Foreign Policy, based in Washington, D.C. All of this work culminates in our own business case supporting the creation of the said bold, world-class Canadian foreign affairs magazine we call Lester Magazine, and–wait for it–an 80-page ‘mock-up’ or first edition of the magazine. So let it be written, so let it be done…
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View Lester website
Green Bonds Policy Proposal
Benjamin Fine, Oliver Madison, Emily Paddon, Tom Rand, Andrew Sniderman
Advisor: Rae Hull
The Green Bonds policy proposal analyzes the benefits to Canada that would emerge from the issuance of a government-backed privately-run financial instrument, designed to both engage the public and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy technologies. Like a Canada Savings Bond, it would be bought by the public – the key difference being that the proceeds would be made available as low-cost debt capital to renewable energy producers. Accelerated carbon emission reductions, direct public engagement on the climate change issue and the development of a renewable energy industry are all identified as key benefits of this proposal. The private sector would run the fund, and the government’s role is limited to backing the bond and reducing the risk to investors. Our analysis indicates that – on a cost per tonne of carbon reduction – this policy stands head and shoulders above other policy options, with an estimated total cost to government of somewhere between $1 and $13 per tonne. Our team has worked equally on policy development and advocacy – it is fully our intention to have this policy adopted in the 2009 Federal Budget.
