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  • Jordan Peterson is too big to be silenced by the naysayers and regulators—but what about the rest of us?
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Robert Asselin

By Robert Asselin

Robert Asselin is Senior Vice-President, Policy at the Business Council of Canada and Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

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President Joe Biden speaks virtually during an event in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Monday, July 25, 2022. Susan Walsh/AP Photo.
Viewpoint

Refocusing the debate on industrial policy

The debate on industrial policy should not be about the amount of government intervention in the economy we need, but rather how effective that intervention is.

Robert Asselin - Posted on January 12, 2023
Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland addresses a crowd at the Empire Club of Canada in Toronto, Thursday, June 16, 2022. Cole Burston/The Canadian Press.
Viewpoint

Does the fall economic statement pass the test? 

Canada cannot avoid the coming economic slowdown any more than we could have avoided the global pandemic. The risks remain enormous, and the government’s fiscal firepower is not what it was three years ago.

Robert Asselin - Posted on November 4, 2022
Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland holds a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press.
Viewpoint

Don’t become complacent about fiscal policy

Economic and fiscal outlooks always look better down the road until they don’t. Nobody expected inflation to rise as quickly as it did.

Robert Asselin - Posted on November 26, 2021
President Joe Biden listens as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during the G-7 summit at the Carbis Bay Hotel in Carbis Bay, St. Ives, Cornwall, England on June 11, 2021. Kevin Lamarque/AP Photo.
Viewpoint

Who will speak for Canada?

Constantly arguing that we have less and less in common will lead to a heap of ruins.

Robert Asselin - Posted on September 28, 2021
Green Party leader Elizabeth May, left to right, People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau take part in the federal leaders French language debate in Gatineau, Que. on October 10, 2019. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press.
Viewpoint

Robert Asselin: Our short-term politics has left us unable to solve big problems

We used to have election campaigns to guide governing mandates. Too often, we now witness a large share of governing mandates only serving as a set-up for the next election campaign. We used to campaign to govern and now we govern to campaign.

Robert Asselin - Posted on July 14, 2021
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem takes part in a news conference in Ottawa on Dec. 15, 2020. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press.
Viewpoint

Robert Asselin: Big questions remain as the central banks look for balance on inflation

When and how central banks will start winding down this unprecedented accommodative monetary support has become a central question. It comes with huge implications for fiscal policy but more importantly for consumers (mortgages, prices) and taxpayers (deficit financing).

Robert Asselin - Posted on June 9, 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden's election could bring a reset on how we think about economic competitiveness and innovation policy.
Viewpoint

Robert Asselin: Time to ditch the incremental approach to innovation and go big

It’s about time we substitute our incremental approach to innovation mostly made of ill-targeted programs that have yielded sub-par outcomes in the past for a higher risk, higher reward approach.

Robert Asselin - Posted on May 27, 2021
On the same day Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the budget, NASA flew a helicopter on Mars. Credit: NASA.
Viewpoint

Robert Asselin: The federal budget has no answers on the question of growth

Governing is about making choices, but if this budget can be defined as anything it is everything. No one has been left out.

Robert Asselin - Posted on April 21, 2021
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