C. D. Howe Institute
Encyclopedia
The C.D. Howe Institute is a Canadian
public policy think tank
based in downtown Toronto
, Ontario
. Founded in 1958, the Institute publishes research and hosts conferences on a wide variety of issues in Canadian economic and social policy. As a Non-profit
, politically Independent organization, its official mandate is to improve the standard of living for Canadians through sound public policy solutions.
The Institute derives the majority of its funding from individual and corporate members, who are given the opportunity to attend public policy roundtables and conferences featuring prominent Canadian and International policymakers, business leaders and public servants. Major areas of policy research include Fiscal and Tax Policy
, Monetary Policy
, Social Policy
, Governance and Public Institutions, Trade Policy
and Economic Growth and Innovation. The Institute also commissions a number of policy programs, including the Monetary Policy Council, Fiscal and Tax Competitiveness Program, Financial Services Research Initiative, and Pension Policy Council and Competition Policy Council. The current President and C.E.O. of the Institute is William B.P. Robson.
by successive federal governments; elimination of federal and provincial deficits; lowering of inflation
and establishment of inflation targets; reform of the Canada
and Quebec Pension Plans; implementation of lower and more competitive business taxes; and innovation and reform of social programs.
The primary interest of the PPAC’s early years was trade, a focus reflected in the establishment in 1961 of the Canadian Trade Committee (CTC), whose purpose was to explore international trade and other closely related subjects crucial to Canada’s prosperity. In 1968, the CTC was reconstituted as the Canadian Economic Policy Committee, with an expanded membership and wider terms of reference. The work of the CAC and the CTC foreshadowed the liberalization efforts that ultimately culminated in the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement of 1988.
During the 1960s, the PPAC cemented its growing reputation as a serious research institution by publishing, either alone or in conjunction with the CAC, such renowned economists as Harry Johnson
, Robert Mundell
, Grant Reuber
, Ed Safarian, David Slater
, and David C. Smith
In 1973, the PPAC’s assets and activities were subsumed into the C.D. Howe Memorial Foundation to form the C.D. Howe Research Institute (HRI). Energy, fiscal policy, labour policy, and monetary policy were some of the new areas in which the Institute’s expertise began to be applied. Another new area was constitutional issues. Responding to growing concerns over the rising tide of nationalism in Quebec, in the late 1970s and early 1980s HRI published, in both English and French, a major series of studies called Accent Québec, which took a comprehensive look at the structure of Quebec’s economy.
In 1981, the organization's name changed to its current form, the C.D. Howe Institute, after the Memorial Foundation chose to focus directly on memorializing C.D. Howe. The Institute began to expand its national presence by establishing a Western Regional Committee to involve members in Western Canada more closely in its research and advisory activities. A Quebec Committee was also set up in 1981 to help the Institute’s members in Quebec become more involved in the Canadian public policy debate.
In 1982, after more than 20 years in offices in Montreal’s Sun Life Building, the Institute moved its headquarters to Toronto. A dominant economic issue for Canada in the mid- to late 1980s was the prospect of free trade with the United States. The Institute was an authoritative voice on this controversial subject, as the Canadian-American Committee had been studying it since the mid-1960s.
As the decade progressed, inflation and the Bank of Canada’s increasingly aggressive program to bring it down also became a pressing issue. Under the leadership first of Dick Lipsey, and then of leading monetary economist David Laidler
and William B.P. Robson, who joined the Institute as Fellow in Residence and Policy Analyst respectively in the late 1980s, the Institute’s views gained a wide audience, both inside and outside the Bank of Canada.
Throughout the 1990s the Institute continued to expand its areas of analysis, particularly in the fields of social policy and constitutional issues. Two major series of studies reflected these concerns: The Canada Round, edited by John McCallum
; and The Social Policy Challenge, edited by John Richards
and William Watson
. The Institute’s longstanding concern with mounting public sector obligations was reflected in a series of Commentaries spelling out the dangers and urging reforms to federal and provincial finances, as well as to the Canada Pension Plan.
From 1999-2006, the Institute was led by President and CEO Jack M. Mintz, a tax specialist and University of Toronto professor. In 2006, he was succeeded by Bill Robson, formerly Senior Vice President and Director of Research. Key focuses of the Institute’s work during the 2000s have been tax competitiveness, North American economic and security cooperation, sectoral studies in such areas as financial services, monetary policy – including the innovative Monetary Policy Council, which provides advance recommendations on the Bank of Canada’s policy-rate setting – and social policy.
– former Governor of the Bank of Canada — has called the Institute ‘the best common room in the country’. Recent speakers having included; Mark Carney
, Governor of the Bank of Canada; the Hon. Kevin G. Lynch
, former Clerk of the Privy Council
and Secretary to Cabinet; the Hon. Jim Prentice
, Minister of the Environment; and the Right Hon. Paul Martin
, former Prime Minister of Canada
.
, financial-market participants and economic policy commentators with regular independent evaluations and recommendations for Canadian monetary policy.
The Monetary Policy Council convenes to discuss the Bank of Canada's benchmark interest rate
for influencing monetary conditions in Canada shortly before each of the Bank's interest-rate announcements.
and Nick Le Pan Former Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Canada.
of the C.D. Howe Institute are: William Morneau (Chair); Brian Levitt (Vice-Chair); William B.P. Robson (President and Chief Executive Officer
); Elyse Allan; Scott M. Burns; Philip C. Deck; Hélène Desmarais; David A. Dodge
; N. Murray Edwards; Sheldon Elman, M.D.; Blake C. Goldring; Bruce Gordon; Lindsay Gordon; Ian Greenberg; Paul J. Hill; Tom Jenkins; Brian K. Johnston; Richard Legault; Hugh L. MacKinnon; Al Monaco; Gilles G. Ouellette; Steve Parker; Tracy Redies; Aaron Regent; Donald S. Reimer; Joseph L. Rotman
; Catherine Swift
; Henry W. Sykes, Q.C.; William B. Thomas, Leonard Waverman; and Alfred G. Wirth.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
public policy think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
based in downtown Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Founded in 1958, the Institute publishes research and hosts conferences on a wide variety of issues in Canadian economic and social policy. As a Non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, politically Independent organization, its official mandate is to improve the standard of living for Canadians through sound public policy solutions.
The Institute derives the majority of its funding from individual and corporate members, who are given the opportunity to attend public policy roundtables and conferences featuring prominent Canadian and International policymakers, business leaders and public servants. Major areas of policy research include Fiscal and Tax Policy
Fiscal policy
In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government expenditure and revenue collection to influence the economy....
, Monetary Policy
Monetary policy
Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment...
, Social Policy
Social policy
Social policy primarily refers to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare. Thus, social policy is that part of public policy that has to do with social issues...
, Governance and Public Institutions, Trade Policy
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
and Economic Growth and Innovation. The Institute also commissions a number of policy programs, including the Monetary Policy Council, Fiscal and Tax Competitiveness Program, Financial Services Research Initiative, and Pension Policy Council and Competition Policy Council. The current President and C.E.O. of the Institute is William B.P. Robson.
Policy Impact
The C.D. Howe Institute notes that its research and policy forums have helped inform a number of major events in Canadian public policy including: the embrace of continental free tradeNorth American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
by successive federal governments; elimination of federal and provincial deficits; lowering of inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
and establishment of inflation targets; reform of the Canada
Canada Pension Plan
The Canada Pension Plan is a contributory, earnings-related social insurance program. It forms one of the two major components of Canada's public retirement income system, the other component being Old Age Security...
and Quebec Pension Plans; implementation of lower and more competitive business taxes; and innovation and reform of social programs.
History
The C.D. Howe Institute’s origins go back to Montreal in 1958 when a group of prominent business and labour leaders organized the Private Planning Association of Canada (PPAC) to research and promote educational activities on issues related to public economic policy.The primary interest of the PPAC’s early years was trade, a focus reflected in the establishment in 1961 of the Canadian Trade Committee (CTC), whose purpose was to explore international trade and other closely related subjects crucial to Canada’s prosperity. In 1968, the CTC was reconstituted as the Canadian Economic Policy Committee, with an expanded membership and wider terms of reference. The work of the CAC and the CTC foreshadowed the liberalization efforts that ultimately culminated in the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement of 1988.
During the 1960s, the PPAC cemented its growing reputation as a serious research institution by publishing, either alone or in conjunction with the CAC, such renowned economists as Harry Johnson
Harry Johnson
Harry Zephaniah Johnson is a Jamaican reggae record producer of African, Sicilian and Scottish descent. He is the head of the landmark Harry J. Records, located at 10 Roosevelt Avenue, Kingston 6, Jamaica WI.-Biography:Johnson started to play music with the Virtues as a bass player before moving...
, Robert Mundell
Robert Mundell
Robert Mundell, CC is a Nobel Prize-winning Canadian economist. Currently, Mundell is a professor of economics at Columbia University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong....
, Grant Reuber
Grant Reuber
Grant Louis Reuber, OC, FRSC is a Canadian economist, academic, civil servant, and businessman.Grant Louis Reuber, the son of Daniel and Gertrude Reuber, was born in Mildmay, Ontario. He was educated at Walkerton High School. He received an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the...
, Ed Safarian, David Slater
David Slater
David Slater is an American singer.-Career:He was the Male Vocalist champion on TV's Star Search in 1987. Slater then signed a recording contract with Capitol Records and launched a country music career. He released two critically acclaimed albums on Capitol in the late 1980s entitled and . Both...
, and David C. Smith
David Chadwick Smith
David Chadwick Smith, CM, FRSC was an Canadian economist, and the sixteenth Principal of Queen's University from 1984 to 1994....
In 1973, the PPAC’s assets and activities were subsumed into the C.D. Howe Memorial Foundation to form the C.D. Howe Research Institute (HRI). Energy, fiscal policy, labour policy, and monetary policy were some of the new areas in which the Institute’s expertise began to be applied. Another new area was constitutional issues. Responding to growing concerns over the rising tide of nationalism in Quebec, in the late 1970s and early 1980s HRI published, in both English and French, a major series of studies called Accent Québec, which took a comprehensive look at the structure of Quebec’s economy.
In 1981, the organization's name changed to its current form, the C.D. Howe Institute, after the Memorial Foundation chose to focus directly on memorializing C.D. Howe. The Institute began to expand its national presence by establishing a Western Regional Committee to involve members in Western Canada more closely in its research and advisory activities. A Quebec Committee was also set up in 1981 to help the Institute’s members in Quebec become more involved in the Canadian public policy debate.
In 1982, after more than 20 years in offices in Montreal’s Sun Life Building, the Institute moved its headquarters to Toronto. A dominant economic issue for Canada in the mid- to late 1980s was the prospect of free trade with the United States. The Institute was an authoritative voice on this controversial subject, as the Canadian-American Committee had been studying it since the mid-1960s.
As the decade progressed, inflation and the Bank of Canada’s increasingly aggressive program to bring it down also became a pressing issue. Under the leadership first of Dick Lipsey, and then of leading monetary economist David Laidler
David Laidler
David Ernest William Laidler has been one of the foremost scholars of monetarism. He published major economics journal articles on the topic in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
and William B.P. Robson, who joined the Institute as Fellow in Residence and Policy Analyst respectively in the late 1980s, the Institute’s views gained a wide audience, both inside and outside the Bank of Canada.
Throughout the 1990s the Institute continued to expand its areas of analysis, particularly in the fields of social policy and constitutional issues. Two major series of studies reflected these concerns: The Canada Round, edited by John McCallum
John McCallum
John McCallum, PC, MP is a Liberal Canadian politician, economist and university professor. Following the 2006 Federal Election, he became the Liberal Finance Critic in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet...
; and The Social Policy Challenge, edited by John Richards
John Richards
John Richards may refer to:*John Richards , Irish judge*John Richards , Bishop of St David's*John Richards , Bishop of Ebbsfleet...
and William Watson
William Watson
William Watson may refer to:*W. Marvin Watson , U.S. Postmaster General*William E. Watson, military historian*William H. Watson , Mexican-American War soldier from Maryland*William J. Watson...
. The Institute’s longstanding concern with mounting public sector obligations was reflected in a series of Commentaries spelling out the dangers and urging reforms to federal and provincial finances, as well as to the Canada Pension Plan.
From 1999-2006, the Institute was led by President and CEO Jack M. Mintz, a tax specialist and University of Toronto professor. In 2006, he was succeeded by Bill Robson, formerly Senior Vice President and Director of Research. Key focuses of the Institute’s work during the 2000s have been tax competitiveness, North American economic and security cooperation, sectoral studies in such areas as financial services, monetary policy – including the innovative Monetary Policy Council, which provides advance recommendations on the Bank of Canada’s policy-rate setting – and social policy.
Events
The C.D. Howe Institute holds more than 50 major policy conferences and roundtables annually across Canada, bringing together Institute members, senior civil servants, academics, and decision-makers in an interactive setting. These events are off-the-record and are instrumental in shaping the Institute's public policy work. David DodgeDavid Dodge
David Dodge is the name of:* David A. Dodge , Canadian economist and Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2001 to 2008* David F. Dodge , American novelist...
– former Governor of the Bank of Canada — has called the Institute ‘the best common room in the country’. Recent speakers having included; Mark Carney
Mark Carney
Mark J. Carney is the eighth and current governor of the Bank of Canada and the Chairman of the Financial Stability Board, an institution of the G20 based in Basel, Switzerland. These appointments were on October 4, 2007 , and on November 4, 2011...
, Governor of the Bank of Canada; the Hon. Kevin G. Lynch
Kevin G. Lynch
Kevin G. Lynch, is a Canadian economist and former Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Canada's most senior civil servant....
, former Clerk of the Privy Council
Privy Council Office (Canada)
In Canada the Privy Council Office is the secretariat of the federal cabinet, providing officially non-partisan advice and support to the Prime Minister and leadership, coordination, and support to the departments and agencies of the government...
and Secretary to Cabinet; the Hon. Jim Prentice
Jim Prentice
James "Jim" Prentice, PC, QC is a Canadian lawyer, and politician. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada...
, Minister of the Environment; and the Right Hon. Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
, former Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
.
Monetary Policy Council
Chaired by William B.P. Robson, the Monetary Policy Council provides the Bank of CanadaBank of Canada
The Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada...
, financial-market participants and economic policy commentators with regular independent evaluations and recommendations for Canadian monetary policy.
The Monetary Policy Council convenes to discuss the Bank of Canada's benchmark interest rate
Interest rate
An interest rate is the rate at which interest is paid by a borrower for the use of money that they borrow from a lender. For example, a small company borrows capital from a bank to buy new assets for their business, and in return the lender receives interest at a predetermined interest rate for...
for influencing monetary conditions in Canada shortly before each of the Bank's interest-rate announcements.
Fiscal & Tax Competitiveness Council
The mandate of the Fiscal & Tax Competitiveness Program is to study Canada's tax system and to develop policies that help to improve economic growth and job creation in Canada. The Fiscal & Tax Competitiveness Council periodically publishes data showing how various tax rates affect people and businesses, reviews specific aspects of the tax system, and identifies needed policy changes. The program is co-chaired by Don Drummond and William MacKinnon.Financial Services Research Initiative
The C.D. Howe Institute Financial Services Research Initiative is a multi-year program that reports and advises on financial sector policy. The Initiative includes regular meetings of experts in the sector, policymakers and supporters engaged in the financial services sector, including financial intermediaries, securities market participants and their regulators, among others. The Initiative is chaired by Edward P. Neufeld.The Pension Policy Council
The mandate of the Pension Policy Council is to address challenges facing Canada’s system of retirement saving, assess current developments, identify regulatory strengths and shortfalls, and make recommendations to ensure the integrity of pension earnings for the growing number of Canadians approaching retirement. The advisory panel is chaired by Claude Lamoureux, Former President & CEO of the Ontario Teachers' Pension PlanOntario Teachers' Pension Plan
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan , commonly referred to as Teachers, is the organization responsible for administering pensions for public school teachers of the Canadian province of Ontario. The OTPP also invests the plan's pension fund, making it one of the largest and most powerful investment...
and Nick Le Pan Former Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Canada.
Governance
Members of the Board of DirectorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the C.D. Howe Institute are: William Morneau (Chair); Brian Levitt (Vice-Chair); William B.P. Robson (President and Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
); Elyse Allan; Scott M. Burns; Philip C. Deck; Hélène Desmarais; David A. Dodge
David A. Dodge
David A. Dodge, OC, FRSC is a Canadian economist. He served a seven-year term as Governor of the Bank of Canada from February 1, 2001 to January 31, 2008. He was succeeded by Mark Carney. On September 12, 2008 he joined Bennett Jones LLP, a leading Canadian law firm, as a senior advisor in their...
; N. Murray Edwards; Sheldon Elman, M.D.; Blake C. Goldring; Bruce Gordon; Lindsay Gordon; Ian Greenberg; Paul J. Hill; Tom Jenkins; Brian K. Johnston; Richard Legault; Hugh L. MacKinnon; Al Monaco; Gilles G. Ouellette; Steve Parker; Tracy Redies; Aaron Regent; Donald S. Reimer; Joseph L. Rotman
Joseph Rotman
Joseph Louis Rotman, O.C., LL.D. , is a noted Canadian businessman and philanthropist. Rotman has been the founder, benefactor and member of many successful organizations, such as the Clairvest Group Inc., the Rotman Research Institute, and the Rotman School of Management...
; Catherine Swift
Catherine Swift
Catherine Susan Swift is the President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which she joined in 1987. She has previously served as CEO from 1997 and President from 1995....
; Henry W. Sykes, Q.C.; William B. Thomas, Leonard Waverman; and Alfred G. Wirth.