Professor Mel Cappe: Proud to Be a “Faceless” Bureaucrat
Posted: May 11, 2013 Filed under: Fardowsa Hashi, Leadership, Lisa Blackweel, Matthew Higgins, Public Service | Tags: Anti-Terrorism Act, bureaucracy, Mel Cappe, Privy Council, Public Policy Forum Leave a comment »Lisa Blackwell, Fardowsa Hashi and Matthew Higgins
When Professor Cappe was named High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, a colleague provided him with this bit of wisdom: “From now on Mel, people are going to address you as Your Excellency; remember, they’re referring to the Office – it’s not about you.” Such is the nature of public service: even officials upholding the most prestigious and honourable positions inevitably remain ‘faceless’ bureaucrats.
On April 11, 2013, in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, the Public Policy Forum (PPF) brought together over 1,300 individuals from every sector to pay tribute to the thousands of public servants whose efforts are often taken for granted. Five of Canada’s former Clerks of the Privy Council, including the School of Public Policy and Governance’s very own Mel Cappe, were honoured at the PPF’s 26th Annual Testimonial Dinner & Awards.
Seen and Heard: Stephen Lewis on Gender Equality
Posted: April 20, 2013 Filed under: Foreign, Health, Middle East & Africa, Public Policy, Seen and Heard, Wyndham Bettencourt-McCarthy | Tags: gender equality, HIV/AIDS, Stephen Lewis Leave a comment »Wyndham Bettencourt-McCarthy
“There is no issue more important [than women’s rights],” humanitarian Stephen Lewis told a packed atrium at Ryerson University on Wednesday night. Lewis, who is currently a visiting professor at the school, spoke to students and the public at the free event on global gender issues as part of the student and faculty-run International Issues Discussion series.
Lewis began the talk by speaking fondly of his wife, journalist Michele Landsberg, and her influence on his interest in feminism and women’s rights. “She likes to say it took her ten years to turn me into a human being,” he joked. His anecdotes, however, quickly turned serious, as he launched into a discussion about his involvement in the international fight to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Of the population living with HIV in Africa, 61% are women and girls, yet Lewis pointed out that at nearly every panel and symposium on the issue, women are rarely–if ever–represented. “There’s this Pavlovian embrace of misogyny,” he said, recalling a conference where he was invited to speak alongside 18 men and one woman. “And this is for a pandemic that has disproportionately ravaged the lives of women.” Read the rest of this entry »
Volume 4 Issue 2
Posted: April 18, 2013 Filed under: Announcements Leave a comment »
The Public Policy and Governance Review is pleased to announce the release of Volume 4 Issue 2.
The Winter 2013 issue opens with two papers that examine changing approaches to public administration: the use of incentives to improve worker performance in the public sector, and the shift from technocracy in the health policy process. The impacts of Canadian disability policy and minimum wage legislation are considered from an evidence-based perspective. On the international front, the development of the responsibility to protect doctrine is analyzed through the norm life cycle framework. Authors question the efficacy of two development policies: land tenure reform in Kenya’s Maasailand, and CIDA’s maternal, newborn and child health strategy. Fresh insights are provided in the Commentary section on bribery in the Arab world and provincial involvement in international trade policy. The issue closes with a look at the development of self-government at Westbank First Nation.
We hope you enjoy.
Max Greenwald and Adina Serbanescu
Editors-in-Chief, Public Policy and Governance Review
Arctic Sovereignty: The Next Great Game – Recap of the Ford+SPPG Conference 2013
Posted: March 30, 2013 Filed under: Canada, Energy & Natural Resources, Environment, Ford Conference, Foreign, Natalia Segal, Security, Defence & Military, The North, Trade, U.S. | Tags: Arctic sovereignty Leave a comment »Natalia Segal
Due mainly to global warming, an environmental effect that has influenced the Arctic region faster than some other parts of the planet, the previously inaccessible Northwest Passage is opening up. The Northwest Passage, a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will (once we can navigate it) save valuable time and fuel for ships that now must travel through longer passages via Egypt or Central America. These previously inaccessible shipping lanes and exposed abundances of natural resources such as oil, natural gas, gold, and diamonds, stand to entice expanded Maritime activity, increase international political interest and raise pressing questions around Arctic sovereignty with regards to matters of resource extraction, trade and navigation, environment, and security. It was due to these tenacious questions and policy problems that Public Policy Masters students from the University of Michigan and the University of Toronto met for a two-day conference last weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
