In contrast to the ambitious Strategic Defence Initiative of the 1980s, the current US program to build ground-based missile interceptors in Alaska and California is a feasible and prudent response to the growing threat of missile and nuclear developments in North Korea and Iran. The United States is both able and by law committed to go-it-alone on missile defence.

The geographical growth of urban areas, pejoratively called urban sprawl by anti-growth advocates, has become a heated issue across Canada but especially in Ontario, home to the country's largest agglomeration. The new provincial government has indicated its intention to implement smart growth policies intended to slow or stop the growth of urban land areas.

Canada's non-profit sector is a vital component of Canadian civil society, providing many important social, cultural, and environmental amenities independently of both the government, and the for-profit business sector.