The magazine of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute examines how to make Canada world leader on intellectual property
OTTAWA, June 10, 2016 – The excitement over the federal election is now over, and the not-so-new Liberal government is facing a number of troublesome issues that have the potential to affect Canadians for years to come. Among their priorities are strengthening Canadian culture, boosting innovation, and growing the economy. Which makes it odd that there hasn’t been a more serious national discussion on intellectual property protection.
The June 2016 issue of Inside Policy, the magazine of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, charts a path for making Canada a world leader in intellectual property.
To read the full version of the magazine, click here.
Canada’s lack of attention to the issue has been to our detriment. Why wouldn’t Canada want to protect the ideas and creativity of its artists and knowledge industries?
- Laura Dawson writes that this country has been fairly lax at protecting its intellectual property, particularly its drug patents;
- Adrienne Blanchard outlines specific court challenges that have been launched by drug makers concerned about the invalidation of existing patents;
- Former Minister of Industry James Moore emphasizes that at a time when our commodity-based and manufacturing industries are suffering, we must support our ideas-based economy through effective IP laws;
- Sean Speer and Michael Robichaud remind us that stronger IP laws are a key ingredient to any effective Innovation Agenda;
- Richard C. Owens reacts to the negative media commentary on the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s IP provisions;
- Brian Lee Crowley notes that, even with an “Innovation Agenda,” government can’t make businesses innovate; it would work better were it to get out of the way, and let businesses make their own decisions.
This issue also features James Bowden on the problems with Ottawa’s electoral reform agenda, Stanley Hartt on the long-form census and the limits of statistics in policy making, Brian Lee Crowley on the positives of Aboriginal entrepreneurialism, Gaétan Caron on how pipeline projects have become bogged down in politics, Philip Stevens on why well-intentioned people are incorrect about drug patents and developing countries, Ian Blue on the far-reaching implications from the Comeau case in New Brunswick, and Elizabeth May on why Canada is a miraculous option for Syrian refugees who’ve arrived on our shores.
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Inside Policy, the flagship magazine of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, is published six times a year.
The Macdonald-Laurier Institute is the only non-partisan, independent national public policy think tank in Ottawa focusing on the full range of issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
For more information, please contact Mark Brownlee, communications manager, at 613-482-8327 x105 or email at mark.brownlee@macdonaldlaurier.ca.
