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from their social circle—espousing fashionable views like “defund the police” or suggesting that marriage is an outdated, patriarchal institution—while hypocritically not following these beliefs in their own lives.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 • 2 months ago
Nigel Biggar — Anglican priest, scholar, and the author of the book "Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning" — joined us in Vancouver for the latest instalment of Voices That Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Speaker Series. He sat down with MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley for an honest conversation about the legacy of colonialism. nigel biggar said now is not the time for Western democracies to lose their confidence, and this requires a balanced view of history which includes celebrating the remarkable achievements of our ancestors. Watch the full conversation here:
Macdonald-Laurier Institute1,201,913 views • 1 year ago
Immigration was on the agenda at our recent Voices That Inspire event in Vancouver. Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) Michel Maisonneuve told MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley that “it's important to have immigration, but it's important to have the right kind of immigrants coming in—immigrants that will assimilate into our culture.” Watch the full conversation here:
Macdonald-Laurier Institute643,718 views • 8 months ago
Following the successful first season of our Voices That Inspire series, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute is proud to announce that we will present another crop of fearless public speakers in 2025. Join us here in watching some highlights of last year's series, and get ready for more ideas that change the world: season two's first event, featuring Nigel Biggar, will premier online in July 2025. In the meantime, watch of all last year's events here: Each event is full of ideas that change the world, presented by thought leaders who have the courage to speak up first.
Macdonald-Laurier Institute607,881 views • 1 year ago
The UN Human Rights Council contains members like China, Cuba, and Qatar – states criticized for systemic abuses. Yet citizens of Western democracies still view the UN as a highly trusted institution. That's the paradox: nations accused of violating rights are the ones charged with setting global human rights standards. To discuss this, Hillel Neuer joins Inside Policy Talks. Neuer is a lawyer, writer, and activist, and the executive director of UN Watch, a human rights NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland. On the podcast, he tells Casey Babb, director of MLI’s Promised Land project, that public opinion surveys continuing showing widespread public confidence in the UN amongst those living in Western democracies. “What’s said at the UN influences the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of people,” says Neuer. And that means what happens at the UN matters “whether we like it or not.” That’s why he’s focused on turning a mirror on some of the UN's worst human rights abusers, while highlighting the hypocrisy of the body's treatment of Israel: It “turns a blind eye to human rights abuses happening in China,” he notes, while making Israel a “scapegoat for everything they're not doing on catastrophes around the world.” He says Canada and its Western allies must use their “moral gravitas” to challenge this moral imbalance at the UN. Watch the full episode:
Macdonald-Laurier Institute262,579 views • 8 months 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 Institute68,053 views • 5 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 • 2 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 • 3 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 • 3 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 • 9 months ago
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