Macdonald-Laurier Institute
@MLInstitute • 22,595 subscribers
Canada's leading independent, nationally focused think tank based in Ottawa. We exist to make poor public policy unacceptable in the nation's capital.
Videos
We were thrilled to welcome author and political commentator Rob Henderson—who famously coined the term “luxury beliefs”—as our latest guest at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's Voices That Inspire speaker series in Vancouver. In a live conversation with MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley, Henderson discussed how today’s elites use luxury beliefs to elicit approval from their social circle—espousing fashionable views like “defund the police” or suggesting that marriage is an outdated, patriarchal institution—while hypocritically not following these beliefs in their own lives. Holding these views “separates you from the unwashed masses, the unenlightened rubes,” says Rob Henderson. “And yet, when you look at the behaviours of these same people, they do not abide by these luxury beliefs.” Watch the full conversation here:
Macdonald-Laurier Institute900,355 views • 4 months ago
MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley (Brian Lee Crowley) joined The BenMulroneyShow to discuss the incident and what it reveals about the growing threat of foreign interference targeting Canadian institutions. Crowley explained how Canadian security and law enforcement officials alerted MLI after discovering that the Institute's website had been cloned in an apparent effort to exploit its reputation and credibility. Listen to full interview here⬇️
Macdonald-Laurier Institute54,664 views • 2 months ago
“On average, we send about 4.1 million barrels a day to the United States. That's an enormous amount. That's the most that any country has ever sent to another country ever in the history of the world, and we do it every single day,” says Heather Exner-Pirot. Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment at the MLI, lays out the risks and downside of weaponizing Canada’s energy exports in an interview with the National Post. Watch interview here⬇️
Macdonald-Laurier Institute19,025 views • 24 days ago
Critics of DEI have long warned that demographic-based hiring requirements can come at the expense of merit and academic excellence. In a recent MLI paper, The equity excellence trade-off: A study of EDI in the Canada Research Chairs Program, senior fellow Eric Kaufmann (Eric Kaufmann), alongside coauthors Leif Rasmussen and Jonah Davids (Jonah Davids), examines the publication records, citation measures, and other indicators of research productivity among Canada Research Chairs before and after the introduction of DEI hiring requirements. Kaufmann joins MLI’s Peter Copeland (Peter Copeland) on Inside Policy Talks to explore his findings and discuss what they mean for the future of Canada’s universities. Watch episode here⬇️
Macdonald-Laurier Institute12,359 views • 23 days ago
“The question is no longer whether this is happening. The question is whether Canada is prepared to respond with the seriousness that the evidence demands.”—Christopher Coates MLI’s Director of Foreign Policy, National Defence, and National Security, Christopher Coates, speaks in Ottawa at a news conference on the findings of an investigation into the activities of the Chinese Communist Party’s united front groups in Canada and other Western countries, co-hosted with Jamestown Foundation.
Macdonald-Laurier Institute68,197 views • 7 months ago
We’re in a moment of heightened focus on Canadian national identity. But it’s playing out amid the historic and cultural amnesia that’s plagued Canada for decades. Ever since Donald Trump threatened to annex Canada, many Canadians have responded that our identity is unique from the United States. But this national mood comes only a few years after a campaign of tearing down statues of Canada’s seminal historic figures, and then-prime minister Justin Trudeau calling Canada a “post-national state.” Most recently, a so-called prank show with funding from the CBC targeted Canadians who have defended the legacy of Canada’s founding prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. So, is the wave of Canadian patriotism that’s emerged over the past year grounded in a firm understanding of the history—both good and bad—that has shaped the country? Or is it detached from an appreciation of Canada’s democratic roots, and the stories of how Macdonald worked tirelessly to forge a second North American nation? One voice who has consistently stood up for the idea that Canadians should have a robust and balanced view of their past is Trent University history professor Christopher Dummitt. Dummitt joins Inside Policy Talks to discuss his efforts to reach beyond the classroom with his new Canadian history YouTube channel, and share his views on the current state of Canadians’ relationship with their history. On the podcast, he tells Ian Campbell Ian Campbell, digital editor at MLI, that one source of Canada’s amnesia about its cultural and democratic roots is the deliberate erasure of Canadian national symbols that took place in the 1960s. This was most famously exemplified by the new Canadian flag created by the Pearson government, devoid of any reference to Canada’s British heritage—the very roots that gave Canada’s its parliamentary democracy. Dummitt says the toppling of historic statues that has taken place in the 2020s is “in a sense just a continuation of what happened in the 1960s and 1970s.” Part of the solution, says Dummitt, is to restore content-rich provincial history curricula that teach a cohesive Canadian national story. Watch the full episode:
Macdonald-Laurier Institute21,029 views • 3 months ago
“I strongly recommend the federal government stop making our oil and gas and other energy-intensive and trade-exposed industries less globally competitive.”—Heather Exner-Pirot Today, MLI Director of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environment Heather Exner-Pirot testified at the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development regarding industrial carbon pricing.
Macdonald-Laurier Institute16,822 views • 5 months ago
“The whole of the West views Islam … through a Western cultural prism,” and that’s a problem, says British author and commentator Melanie Phillips. With terrorism, extremism, and antisemitism surging throughout the West, people are looking for answers. They’re trying to understand why our leaders and institutions are failing to stand up to this threat. Phillips Melanie Phillips, one of the clearest voices sounding the alarm about these issues, joins Inside Policy Talks to share her assessment of the problem. As a journalist, Phillips has championed traditional values in the culture war for more than three decades. She is the author of numerous books, including her 2006 best-seller Londonistan, about the British establishment's capitulation to Islamist aggression. Her latest book, Fighting the Hate: A Handbook for Jews Under Siege, was released earlier this year. On the podcast, she tells Casey Babb, director of The Promised Land at MLI, that the West’s “ignorance” of Islam is one of the key factors leading to the extremist threat going unchecked. “They think (Islam) is a private matter between the individual and the Almighty,” says Phillips. “I'm sure that is part of the religion of Islam, but Islam is also a political project. … If you're a pious Muslim, you have a religious duty to Islamize the non-Islamic world.” “The West can't get their heads around that at all.” She says Western governments must show leadership by standing up for their own cultures. “I don't think it's coincidence that governments that have gone down this bad road of not defending their culture properly have descended into … a mire of absolute incompetence,” says Phillips. “They can no longer keep the show on the road.” Watch the full episode:
Macdonald-Laurier Institute17,284 views • 5 months ago
!["What draws people to 🇨🇦 is freedom, but freedom also in the context of order... Part of the reason that we are Canada and not part of the United States is because we as a society looked at what was going on the United States... way back after the revolution... [and said] 'okay they are really preoccupied with freedom, and that is good, but they are also kind of subject to mob rule and the excesses that freedom can bring in its train.' [Canadians] wanted to carve out in North America a society that had a better balance between freedom and order." Brian Lee Crowley, MLI's managing director, speaking with the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation. Watch the full event at the link below 👇](https://image.24vids.com/tw-1985730016609501593/amplify_video_thumb/1985727062527655936/img/l0k0pDl-az_HGA2Z.jpg)
"What draws people to 🇨🇦 is freedom, but freedom also in the context of order... Part of the reason that we are Canada and not part of the United States is because we as a society looked at what was going on the United States... way back after the revolution... [and said] 'okay they are really preoccupied with freedom, and that is good, but they are also kind of subject to mob rule and the excesses that freedom can bring in its train.' [Canadians] wanted to carve out in North America a society that had a better balance between freedom and order." Brian Lee Crowley, MLI's managing director, speaking with the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation. Watch the full event at the link below 👇
Macdonald-Laurier Institute22,106 views • 10 months ago
