http://www.irpp.org

THINKING AHEAD – The monthly update on the activities of the Institute for
Research on Public Policy

March 2005

 RECENT PUBLICATIONS

 • Maritime security.  In a study entitled “Guarding the Continental
Coasts: United States Maritime Homeland Security and Canada,” Joel Sokolsky
says Canada needs a navy with the capacity to safeguard national interests
both at home and overseas to secure the physical and economic well-being of
its people in the global war on terrorism.

 • Democratic reform.  A new book entitled Strengthening Canadian
Democracy, edited by Paul Howe, Richard Johnston and André Blais, brings
together a series of updated studies to reflect new developments in
democratic reform and weigh the merits of various alternatives.

 • Immigration.  Canada continues to accept large numbers of skilled
immigrants every year, the majority of whom now come from non-European
countries, but their foreign-acquired education and work experience is
significantly discounted, says a study by Naomi Albiom, Ross Finnie and
Ronald Meng entitled “The Discounting of Immigrants’ Skills in Canada:
Evidence and Policy Recommendations.”

 • Immigration.  The underutilization of skills is a pressing problem
contributing to downward trends in employment and earnings among
immigrants, says University of Toronto professor Jeffrey Reitz in a study
entitled “Tapping Immigrants' Skills: New Directions for Canadian
Immigration Policy in the Knowledge Economy.”

  http://www.irpp.org/indexe.htm

 UPCOMING PUBLICATIONS

 §         Geopolitical Integrity

Hugh Segal (ed.)

 §         Democracy and Peace-Building

Jane Boulden

 §         Democracy and Economic Development

David Gillies

 POLICY OPTIONS

 February 2005

 §         Sixteen articles examine Canada's role in the world, Tom Kent on
the importance of human capital, an excerpt from Fight or Pay by Desmond
Morton, and much more.

 §         Coming up in March-April: Policy Options celebrates its 25th
anniversary with a completely bilingual double issue.

  http://www.irpp.org/po

 UPCOMING EVENTS

 §         Working Lunch: India’s High Commissioner to Canada

Her Excellency Shyamala B. Cowsik

March 8, 2005

Toronto, Ontario

  www.irpp.org/events

 DID YOU KNOW?

 §         According to Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert, the
IRPP-published Confiscatory Equalization: The Intriguing Case of
Saskatchewan’s Vanishing Energy Revenues is the “definitive study” on how
equalization adversely affects Saskatchewan (Maclean’s, February 18, 2005).

 §         The In the Spotlight section of our home page changes weekly to
highlight past and present IRPP research that is pertinent to current
events.

 §         Our Web site features an annotated list of links to other policy
research organizations in Canada and around the world (
www.irpp.org/links).

 For more information, please contact Jeremy Leonard ( [log in to unmask])
or Jasmine Sharma ( [log in to unmask]).