canada

Civic Searchlight: A Tool to Fight Disinformation

- Adam Clare

Picture of Vancouver City Hall

Canada’s National Observer as seen that journalists are feeling the years of budgets cuts and the lack of institutional supports and decided to do something about it. The National Observer has released a fantastic new tool to help Canadian journalists research and identify issues in municipalities throughout the country. The tool known as Civic Searchlight makes it easy to track issues and find what’s being discussed at the local level across Canada, and they are adding more towns and cities!

In at least one municipality — Cochrane, Alta. — reporting based on Civic Searchlighthas been instrumental in providing the council with the information it needed to stay in the net-zero program the town had been part of for more than 20 years. Canada’s National Observer’s reporting was the deciding factor in the town remaining in the program — that’s according to the group that targeted Cochrane with climate misinformation to try to convince it to leave. “We would have won in Cochrane if that hadn’t happened,” the group’s organizer said in a meeting.

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Canada Does Something About The Housing Crisis

- Adam Clare

construction

The housing supply in Canada, like many other places, has been negatively impacted by the financialisation of housing. Companies like AirBnB and private equity have removed housing from the market which have increased the price of shelter for everyone, but benefiting only a few. This has led to a crisis of affordable housing for individuals and families alike. Thankfully the federal government of Canada has launched the Build Canada Homes initiative to increase housing supply while not giving into fickle market trends. The new housing will be built with an environmental lens and make use of local resources as best as possible. Let’s get building.

A central feature of Build Canada Homes is its focus on affordable and social housing rather than relying solely on market supply. The agency is mandated to build and preserve units that remain permanently affordable, including supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness, rentals for low and moderate income households, and mixed income communities that reduce stigma by serving a broad spectrum of Canadians. This emphasis has important implications. By expanding the non-market stock, the program builds a foundation of housing insulated from speculative pressures, stabilizing communities over the long term. Inclusion of mixed income developments, as seen in successful models in Vienna, ensures political support and better integration into cities. It also shifts the federal role from merely enabling private developers to directly shaping housing outcomes, embedding affordability as a permanent feature of the housing landscape.

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Canada Now Requires Companies to Disclose Who Benefits

- Adam Clare

Following similar legislation in other countries Canada has finally introduced a beneficial ownership requirement on Canadian companies. Federally registered companies will have to disclose who owns them, which means it’ll be harder to commit tax fraud. Plus, by having companies reveal who benefits from their existence it will be easier for authorities to track criminal behaviour and efforts around snow washing.

In 2017, an investigation by the Toronto Star and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, based on ICIJ’s Panama Papers dataset, revealed how Canada had emerged as a popular tax haven, touted by corporate service providers as a “reputable” destination to hide wealth.

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Transparency advocates welcomed the landmark reforms, which passed into law on Nov. 2 under an amendment to the Canada Business Corporations Act, following a years-long push for a legislative means to tackle money laundering and tax evasion.

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A New Guide to Science Advocacy

- Adam Clare

Scientists used to think that sharing the facts and evidence of an issue was enough to sway policy makers and the general public. Unfortunately, with many issues facing us today there are vested interests looking to derail civil discourse around topics like climate change and vaccines. Today Evidence for Democracy launched a toolkit for scientists to better advocate for evidence based policy decisions. The idea now is to provide scientists with guides on how to share facts and evidence so that the general public can benefit from their research and not be manipulated by lobbying campaigns and the like.

Whether you want to dip your toes into advocacy for the first time, or are looking to fine-tune your skills, this guide will help you expand your toolbox of advocacy strategies, and build and nurture relationships with decision-makers.

Fostering a better relationship between scientists and policy-makers is not just about enabling ground-breaking discoveries or strengthening the economy. It’s also about how science can serve the collective good — for a healthier, more prosperous, and just society.

Within the guide, you will also find firsthand experiences from parliamentarians reflecting on their experiences interacting with the science community. Personally, I’m still thinking about this quote:

“Conversations around science are frequently centered around funding. They are less often about how [the] government can make better evidence informed decisions using the research that is being produced by the stakeholders I meet with.” — Member of Parliament

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Canada Starts to Reduce Oil & Gas Subsidies

- Adam Clare

A country that loves extracting fossil fuels has begun to clean up its tax rebates for the destructive oil and gas industry. Canada spent over $15 BILLION on subsidies for the oil and gas sector in 2021 alone, which isn’t just bad it’s literally funding the destruction of the planet. Thankfully the government has figured out that destroying the land for short term profit isn’t a good idea when the industry profiting kills everything it touches.

Starting this year the Canadian government will begin the long process of cutting tax loopholes and subsidies for oil and gas, which generate billions in profits. Why fund an industry that is insanely profitable that harms people and the planet?

Burning fossil fuels is one of the main drivers of climate change, so ending public spending that supports the industry is crucial. Ending fossil fuel subsidies frees up those funds to support things like renewable energy and electrification. Clean energy is of paramount importance as the world is under pressure to slash greenhouse gas emissions more than 40 per cent by the end of the decade.

“Moving forward, every subsidy that the government would want to grant to the oil and gas sector would have to go through this filter — any department of the federal government, whether it’s finance, international trade, natural resources — to ensure that we do not give federal dollars to support the production of oil and gas or coal,” said Guilbeault. “This is a fundamental shift from what we’ve done in this country for decades.”

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