Macdonald-Laurier Institute

The Aftermath of October 7
2025-10-07 09:00 - 10:30 (America/Toronto)
Two years after the horrific Hamas attacks on Israel, join us for an essential conversation with leading experts Hussein Aboubakr Mansour, Casey Babb, and Einat Wilf. They will examine the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Israel’s defence against escalating Islamist terror, and the global forces reshaping the region’s future. With rising antisemitism in the West, including in Canada, this session will provide vital insights into the Israeli-Hamas conflict, shifting Arab political thought, and a roadmap for a more secure future for Israel.
Please register for the event here.

Shadows over Canada: Confronting foreign influence
2025-10-08 15:00 - 17:00 | Kildare House, 323 Chapel Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 7Z2
Foreign interference. Money laundering. Undue influence by powerful insiders. These are just some of the hidden threats facing Canada’s democracy. It’s time to unmask these forces – subjecting them to hard scrutiny before they can further erode our democratic institutions.
Join MLI for a timely discussion with senior experts on the policy choices Canada must make to address its growing vulnerabilities. Our panel – including a former solicitor general, veteran investigators, and a senior fellow with national security experience – will reveal how illicit networks, substate capture, and abuse of public office undermine Canadian democracy. In addition, participants will consider concrete policy and institutional reforms that Canada needs to confront these risks. Based on fresh investigations and new insights, this event exposes threats too often overlooked.
Reception to follow at All Saints 5:00 -7:00 PM (330 Laurier Ave E).
Please register for the event here.
Event Program:

3:00 pm: Doors open, with refreshments
3:30 pm: Welcoming remarks by Christopher Coates, MLI
3:40 pm: Panel begins, moderated by Kevin Vuong, with panelists: Hon. Wayne Easter, Garry Clement, and Dean Baxendale
5:00 pm: End of event

Copies of Canada Under Siege: How PEI Became a Forward Operating Base for the Chinese Communist Party will be available for purchase at the event.

The productivity puzzle: Why Canada struggles to build its way out of the housing crisis
2025-10-27 14:00 - 15:00
Canada isn’t short on builders, yet it’s building less than ever. Despite record numbers of workers and billions in public spending, housing output per worker hasn’t kept pace. Home prices may be softening, but affordability remains out of reach and construction backlogs keep growing.
An often-overlooked aspect of Canada’s housing affordability and supply challenge is construction sector productivity. The data raise hard questions about whether government housing targets are even possible under the current system, and what needs to change to make building faster, smarter, and more affordable.
This panel discussion will explore why total construction times and productivity have stalled and how better policy, smarter regulation, and modern building methods can help break through the bottlenecks. If Canada wants to solve its housing crisis, it must first fix how it builds – and that starts with productivity.
Speakers

Please register for the event here.

Trump's peace plan: Assessing the future of Canada-US relations in the Middle East
2026-01-29 12:00 - 13:30
Join us for a groundbreaking Macdonald-Laurier Institute webinar as we explore the shifting landscape of the Middle East and its direct implications on Canada-US relations. In this exclusive session, our expert panel will dissect the long-term consequences of President Donald Trump’s peace plan, analyze Canada’s evolving foreign policy toward Israel and Gaza, and discuss how recent geopolitical shifts are reshaping cross-border diplomacy. Featured speakers include Dr. Michael Doran, senior fellow and director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute; Dr. Ronen Hoffman, Israel’s former ambassador to Canada; and Dr. Casey Babb, director of MLI’s Promised Land Program. The panel will unpack these crucial issues and then questions from attendees. Be a part of the conversation – the first of its kind in Canada.
Please register for the event here.

Charting Uncertain Waters - Facts vs. Fears
2026-02-05 11:00 - 14:00
Experts cut through Indigenous land claim rulings, transparency gaps, and uncertainty affecting real estate and resource development.

Resource Works Presents “Charting Uncertain Waters: Facts vs. Fears” at the Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort:
Leading experts will navigate the noise around recent Indigenous land claim rulings, government transparency and the resulting uncertainty around real estate risks and natural resources development.
Speakers
Karen Restoule – Director of Indigenous Affairs and Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Crystal Smith – Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Thomas Isaac – Partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
(More to be announced soon.)
Please register for the event here.

Healthcare without hate: Confronting antisemitism in medicine
2026-02-18 18:00 - 19:00
Throughout Canada, the United States, and much of the Western world, antisemitism and other forms of bigotry are creeping into healthcare at unprecedented rates as medicine becomes increasingly politicized. Although this issue affects everyone, few are giving it the attention it deserves. In this timely webinar, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, in collaboration with Doctors Against Racism and Antisemitism and the American Jewish Medical Association, unpacks these troubling trends, shedding light on a dangerous issue that warrants urgent attention.
Speakers

Please register for the even here.

Energy Security Summit 2026
2026-03-10 - 2026-03-11
The Energy Security Summit is a premier gathering of decision-makers, security experts, and energy system leaders focused on confronting the most urgent energy security challenges facing Canada today. Over two days, participants will examine the evolving global threat landscape, Canada’s role in supporting global energy security, and the technologies critical to protecting and strengthening energy production and delivery systems.

Presented by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) and fuelled by the Energy Security Technical Advisory Committee (E-STAC), the summit is shaped by the guidance of a cross-sector Advisory Council with deep expertise across energy systems, national security, technology, and public policy.

Day 1 examines the strategic pressures reshaping Canada’s energy landscape. Through keynotes and high-level panels, participants explore energy security and strategic spending, the challenges of balancing affordability, sustainability, and resilience, and the role of government within an increasingly unstable global environment. Sessions address foreign influence in Canadian energy projects, security risks in the Arctic and northern regions, and intelligence and defence cooperation with international allies, underscoring the scale and immediacy of today’s threats.
Day 2 focuses on resilience across Canada’s interconnected systems. Programming highlights the growing interdependence of energy, telecommunications, and financial infrastructure, the rising importance of data security, and the need for coordinated, cross-sector responses. Discussions emphasize collaboration, alignment, and technological readiness to strengthen Canada’s ability to anticipate, withstand, and respond to emerging risks.

Restoring the economic vision of Canada’s constitution
2026-03-26 14:00 - 15:00
Canada’s Constitution rests on an implicit economic vision – one grounded in property rights, decentralized decision-making, and the free movement of goods, services, labour, and capital across the country.
Though not explicitly articulated in the constitutional text, this vision is embedded in its architecture: federalism, subsidiarity, and the commitment to economic union. Over time, however, that underlying logic has been obscured by regulatory fragmentation, interprovincial barriers, and institutional inertia.
Building on three recent Macdonald-Laurier Institute papers – on mutual recognition, property rights, and the creation of a new agency to facilitate internal trade – this project moves from theory to practice. MLI will develop concrete legislative drafting instructions to translate these ideas into actionable, ready-to-adopt policy.
Canada’s current political moment has renewed attention to issues long relegated to the margins: persistent internal trade barriers and the unrealized economic promise embedded in our constitutional framework. The time for endless diagnosis is over. We need practical proposals capable of turning that promise into reality.

Safeguarding Canada’s parliamentary tradition
2026-04-21 13:00 - 14:00
Canada’s Parliamentary democracy – the core of our constitutional system – is increasingly threatened by expansive judicial decisions. Some of these rulings reflect skepticism, even outright hostility, to Parliament’s role; others stem from misunderstanding or ignorance about how our system is meant to work. This concise, accessible webinar will explain how Parliamentary democracy fits within Canada’s constitutional order – and what can be done to safeguard it from judicial overreach.
Speakers
