From Reconciliation to Reparations: Exploiting a Noble Idea is a new study that documents how the current judicially driven approach of the federal justice department to negotiate financial compensation with First Nations to settle lawsuits—instead of litigation—means elected representatives have no meaningful oversight of the large sums of money being paid out. And contrary to Canadian legal tradition, individual claims of mistreatment are not merely leading to compensation, but are being used to overturn core government policies enacted by previous Parliaments.

Counting the Poor: The Empirical Evidence is the second part of the Thinking About Poverty series by Senior Fellow Christopher A. Sarlo. The new study finds that three different Statistics Canada models for measuring poverty are broadly consistent: Income poverty for households is in the five to seven per cent range; and for individuals, it is in the four to six per cent range. Critically, the study also measures consumption poverty, which measures what households consume rather than counting their income. This is important because many low-income households will draw on savings, charity, assistance from family, etc. that assists them but doesn’t appear in income statistics. Consumption poverty was less than three per cent of Canadians in 2019, which points to an all-time low for “basic needs” poverty in Canada.

Mill’s Harm Principle: A Study in the Application of On Liberty is a new essay by Sandra J. Peart—part of the Institute’s Essential Scholar series—that explores in-depth John Stuart Mill’s famous harm principle, its relevance today and how it might impact the debates surrounding gun control, free speech and even mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.