Mark Zelmer – Banking is changing. Bank regulators need to adapt

Published in the Financial Post

Canada has not had a bank failure in over 30 years. But banking is changing, and so bank regulation may need to change, too.

Bank runs can now cripple an institution in a matter of hours, not days. Deposit insurance can no longer be counted on to prevent such runs. And a very different regulatory environment has emerged in the wake of the global financial crisis. Last year’s sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S. and slower demise of Credit Suisse in Switzerland are examples of crises Canadian regulators might struggle to cope with if something similar happened here.

As banking evolves away from the system that existed in the last century, the risk of bank runs is likely to…

Colin Busby – Bill C-59: Is Canada Setting Back Sustainable Investment Opportunities for Green Investors and Pension Funds?

Lawrence Herman – Don’t Let the Dairy Farmers Win Again

Lawrence Herman – Behold dairy lobby’s power, as Bloc holds Liberals hostage over supply management

Published in the Globe and Mail.

There’s something wrong when a narrow interest group can dominate Canadian trade policy. That’s exactly what has happened in the case of the dairy industry, pushing its protectionist agenda on Canadians, not only in getting an ill-considered and self-serving piece of legislation to sail through the House of Commons but in having the Bloc Québécois make final enactment of Bill C-282 a red line for supporting the minority Trudeau government.

Bill C-282 is a Bloc private member’s bill that would exempt the supply managed dairy sector (as well as poultry and eggs) from all future trade negotiations. Even though the bill has already passed the House and is now in the Senate, Bloc Leader Yves-…

Graph of the Week: Canadian AI VC Investments Surpass $12.5B, Led by Finance, IT, and Business Services

David Jones – There’s Method to the Dynamic Pricing Madness

Canada’s Productivity Problem with Michelle Alexopoulos and Jeremy Kronick

Since the mid-1980s, US labour productivity has grown by about 100 percent. But in Canada, it’s only grown by roughly 40 percent. Lower productivity means the economy grows more slowly — and that means Canadians’ paychecks grow more slowly as well. 

Why is Canada less productive? And what can be done about it? Michael Hainsworth speaks with the University of Toronto’s Michelle Alexopoulos and the C.D. Howe Institute’s Jeremy Kronick to get answers.

Grant Bishop – We need repeal, or a provincial challenge, to hasty and overbroad new Competition Act greenwashing rule

Daniel Schwanen – New Thinking Needed on Labour Rules at Supply Chain Choke Points

Daniel Schwanen – Ordering the rail workers back was the right thing to do

Published in The Globe and Mail

Millions of Canadians and hundreds of thousands of businesses were relieved to hear that on Saturday, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) had ordered the country’s two major national railways, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, to resume services, and for their workers to return to their jobs. At the same time, it sent their contract disputes to binding arbitration.

This decision, taken at the behest of Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon, came after lockouts by the two companies last week, and strikes called by members of the Teamsters union.

The CIRB had ruled earlier this month that the rail transport of commodities is not an essential service – not resulting in…

Grant Bishop – Ottawa’s New Greenwashing Rule Infringes Freedom of Expression

Uncertainty and the Burden of Proof in Canadian Competition Law