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Ideas & Insights


Op-Ed: Canada’s critical mineral diplomacy aims to keep it at the table and off the menu—as U.S. competition looms
MoUs don’t make mines, and partnerships don’t build processing facilities. What happens after the ink dries?
By Ailsa Popilian and Marla Orenstein. Originally published in The Hub, April 15, 2026


Op-Ed: You want to talk defence? Talk energy.
By Marla Orenstein and Ashley Meller When the Prime Minister launched Canada’s first Defence Industrial Strategy a few weeks ago, it was an appropriate response to a rapidly shifting geopolitical reality. But alongside the important elements that the strategy contained, there was a conspicuous, and potentially even fatal, absence: energy. Specifically, domestic energy sovereignty didn’t merit a mention. But a Canadian defence strategy falls short if the fuel for your fighte


Op-Ed: Building industrial strength: a regional approach to Canada’s critical materials
No single jurisdiction has all the ingredients. But by leveraging its collective strengths as a whole, the region becomes competitive. By Alison Cretney Originally published in The Hill Times , Feb. 25, 2026


Before Deep Sky, deep work helped found a culture of innovation in Innisfail
The future of energy is arriving fast, and nowhere more so than in Innisfail. Here's how a year of deep community engagement with the Energy Futures Lab cultivated the culture, confidence, and capacity to seize it.
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