Category: Other Publications

Dealing with Climate Change “Losers.”

Noel Semple

The Windsor Star, July 15, 2014.

Full text: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/opinion/dealing-with-climate-change-losers

How can politicians move climate policy forward?  “Dealing with losers” is a big part of the answer.

Last month, Stephen Harper joined the other G7 leaders in calling for “urgent and concrete action” to address climate change. We should expect our Prime Minister to take climate change seriously, because it’s probably the gravest long-term threat to Canada’s security and prosperity. Here in Windsor, heat waves and declining water levels are among the serious problems partially attributable to global warming.
President Barack Obama has mandated significant reductions from the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions in his country. Will Prime Minister Harper be able to do likewise with Canada’s oil and gas sector, and with consumers’ transportation and home energy emissions?

A new book from Professor Michael Trebilcock, of the University of Toronto, can help our Prime Minister do so.  In Dealing with Losers: the Political Economy of Policy Transitions, Trebilcock shows that even the wisest policy changes create “losers.”  The key message of the book is that leaders must mitigate the opposition of those who stand to lose from policy change. Trebilcock proves this with examples from fields like public pension reform and agricultural supply management, in addition to carbon pollution control.

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CDO: Stop Assisting the NYC Migration

Ultra Vires (U. of Toronto Faculty of Law)

The Career Development Office (CDO) has to be one of the best-run bits of U of T. Efficient, compassionate, and knowledgeable — these people do a great job. I can only think of one thing that would make the CDO better: they should stop helping American firms hire our best graduates. The CDO shouldn’t advertise American jobs, host American OCIs, or do anything else to encourage our graduates to work outside the country.

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A Cowardly Concession

Noel Semple

The Varsity (Online Edition), October 26th, 2006.

On Monday, Hart House hosted a debate between candidates for the November 13th election of Toronto’s mayor.  Three candidates were invited – Stephen LeDrew, David Miller, and Jane Pitfield.  Among the 38 registered candidates, these are the only three who have any chance of being elected Mayor of Toronto.

A large and excited audience filed into the Great Hall at 6:30 to see and hear them.  As the spectators took their seats, they found that someone else was already making a speech.  The speaker was one of the 35 candidates who were not invited. He carried a large, dirty broom which he waved in the air and banged on the floor.  He ranted incoherently at the top of his lungs. He did so for a full hour, as the spectators’ mood shifted from amusement to embarrassment to anger.

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“The Worst-Case Scenario, and How We Could Get There.”

The most serious source of conflict in Canada-U.S. relations in 2015 will be the Canadian response to American foreign policy. This essay will argue for the plausibility of the worst-case scenario, described in the fictional article below. Such a scenario would make Canada choose between economic devastation and participation in a highly unpopular war.

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