There was a collective sigh of relief among officials in Canada’s steel and aluminum industries when Donald Trump announced last week that Canada and Mexico would be - at least for the time being - exempt from his plan to bring in stiff tariffs. Today in The Conversation Canada, Christopher Sands of the Center for Canadian Studies at Johns Hopkins University explains the history of how presidents as far back as Lyndon Johnson have dealt with Canada as a trading partner.

Josh Cronmiller, Kelechi Nwanekezie and Magali F. Nehemy of the University of Saskatchewan look at the relatively new government positions of “chief scientist” that have been created by the federal government and several provinces and whether they will have a significant impact on scientific policy.

Calgary is Canada’s oil capital, but Andrew Sudmant and Andy Gouldson of the University of Leeds tell us about the city’s plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Their analysis in conjunction with the University of Calgary shows “meeting this target is not only possible, but can be achieved in ways that yield substantial and broad-based economic, social and environmental benefits.”

And finally, Greg Naterer, the dean of the faculty of engineering and applied science at Memorial University, writes about “one of the most remarkable offshore wonders of the world and among the most impressive engineering accomplishments in Canada” - the recently completed Hebron oil structure.

Regards,