On Wednesday, new census data will be released and it will provide further evidence Canada is a country of immigrants. Most of our population growth comes from immigration and, by extension, our economic growth is dependent on it. And yet, we are also a country that doesn’t always make immigrants feel welcome. Today in The Conversation Canada, Yasmin Jiwani of Concordia University returns with another thoughtful analysis on race and feminism – and in particular, why the new Quebec law that bans the niqab for those seeking public services is wrong on so many fronts. “The insistence of visibility conveys the message that to belong to Quebec, Muslim women must toe the line; they must dress, talk and behave in particular ways,” writes Prof. Jiwani.

In 1998, Australia introduced something called a Charter of Budget Honesty which requires “fiscal strategy to be based on principles of sound fiscal management and by facilitating public scrutiny of fiscal policy and performance.” Should Canada have such a charter? We’ve got an interesting article by economist Usman W. Chohan of Australia’s University of New South Wales who explains the Australian charter and offers suggestions on whether something similar could work here.

And finally, Canadians use the term “public health system” without fully understanding how much of the system is dedicated to protecting the public from infectious diseases. Ensuring the population stays healthy requires increasing investment in our public health system, says Thilina Bandara of the University of Saskatchewan.

Regards,