Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. Measuring Democracy examines three widely used democracy indexes: those produced by Freedom House, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Varieties of Democracy (V‑Dem). This HillStudy explains how these indexes work, how each index evaluates the state of democracy in Canada, how they differ from each other and some possible limitations of… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms sets out the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. The Supreme Court of Canada (the Court) has consistently interpreted this right as protecting substantive equality. This means that laws – as well as government activities and policies – must not simply treat people the same. Instead, the effect… Read More ›
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. Conflict of interest management at the federal level has evolved significantly since the 1970s, with the introduction of a legal framework establishing a conflict of interest management regime for both houses of Parliament in 2004, the enactment of the Conflict of… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. The purpose of Canada’s retirement income system is twofold: to alleviate poverty among seniors and to help seniors who are better off to avoid significant declines in living standards when they retire. This HillStudy outlines the different… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. Domestic police, prosecutors and courts must operate within the confines of their territorial jurisdiction, but criminal behaviour knows no borders. Consequently, states have developed legal tools to deal with cases where one or more elements of a crime – such… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. Under section 95 of the Constitution Act, 1867, provincial and federal governments share responsibility for immigration. A provincial legislature can make any law concerning immigration to that province “as long and as far only as it is not… Read More ›
Reading Time: 3 minutesDisponible en français. In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada released Carter v. Canada (Attorney General), an important decision about the law on assisted dying. The decision found that the Criminal Code provisions that made it a crime to help a person end their life violated the Canadian Charter… Read More ›
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. With the majority of grains produced in Western Canada intended for export, the grain trade relies on a complex supply chain in which rail transportation is the cornerstone. Rail makes it possible to cover the vast distances… Read More ›
Reading Time: 2 minutesDisponible en français. A healthy environment is essential to human life, health and well-being. Climate change is increasingly impacting the environment in ways that harm people. Climate change affects the air we breathe, the availability of food and water, and… Read More ›
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDisponible en français. Economists view productivity growth as the main long-term determinant of improvements in the average standard of living, as measured by the growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Researchers and policy makers note that a decline… Read More ›