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Archive for the ‘Public Policy’ Category

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Gamification and Public Policy

In Brent Barron, Public Policy on February 8, 2012 at 10:00 am

Brent Barron

Policy professionals had better start getting used to playing games. Not because we’re dour individuals in need of some fun (although maybe we are a bit dour: federal layoff fears led to less Christmas spending spirit in Ottawa), but because games and friendly competition have the power to seriously change how people behave.

One of my favourite features about the Chevy Volt (I swear this isn’t a paid blogvertisement, even though it starts exactly like one) is the dashboard, specifically the green bubble on the right side. The car automatically calculates how efficiently you’re driving and gives you a visual representation of it: green is efficient, while yellow means aggressive and inefficient braking or acceleration. Read the rest of this entry »

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A National Energy Strategy for Canada: Current Opportunities and Challenges

In Leonardo Tovar, Public Policy on January 13, 2012 at 10:00 am

Leonardo Tovar

You’ve probably heard this argument many times. The U.S. needs energy resources. Canada has the human capital and physical infrastructure to deliver them cost-efficiently. Let the market do its job and Canada benefits from its trade surplus with its southern neighbour. What about the environment, you say? Well, according to the Federal government, Canadians want to focus on the Copenhagen and Cancun accords that are as hazy as the mechanisms currently available to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.

This has been essentially Canada’s approach to energy since the 1980s.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Myanmar’s Long Road Back

In Ernest Chong on December 30, 2011 at 12:22 pm

Ernest Chong

This year has certainly been a surprising one for Burma/Myanmar watchers. Beginning with the release of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest nearly a year ago, Myanmar’s nominally-civilian government has embarked on a gradual but sustained effort to implement political, social, and economic reforms. October saw the government unconditionally free more than 200 political prisoners as part of a larger amnesty announcement and pass new laws to give workers the right to form unions and strike. Internet restrictions have been lifted on a number of international media websites, while publication censorship has been relaxed. Political party laws have been amended to allow opposition parties to register – including Ms. Suu Kyi’s own political party, which will now run in the next by-election. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Reckoning

In André Côté, Public Policy on December 12, 2011 at 10:00 am

André Côté

The Reckoning – Part 1

Years ago, when I was getting my first taste of comparative public policy as an undergrad, a wise and engaging professor of mine lectured about how states, from time to time, face a “reckoning.” While I could well have missed his point, what I took it to mean was the moment at which a society realizes that the state’s political economy – it’s social, political and economic framework – is no longer working. I found this to be a very profound and powerful idea.

It’s not a stretch to suggest that Western civilization is in the midst its own moment of reckoning. Over the last three years, we’ve seen the post-war liberal-democratic economic model – the source of much triumphalism and hubris in recent times – seemingly come apart at the seams. Read the rest of this entry »

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Interpreting China’s First Aircraft Carrier

In Ernest Chong, Public Policy on December 5, 2011 at 10:00 am

Ernest Chong

China’s first aircraft carrier is back at sea.

The ex-Ukrainian warship has spent more than a decade being refurbished and modified in Chinese shipyards, and only had its maiden voyage in August of this year. To the world, Shi Lang (the carrier’s rumoured Chinese name) is the latest unsettling example of Beijing’s rapid military modernization. For China’s maritime neighbours, she also represents a powerful and unmatched addition to Beijing’s naval arsenal. This deepening of an already-inferior military balance has the region fearing that it will embolden China’s already-aggressive approach to territorial disputes, particularly in the South China Sea. Read the rest of this entry »

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Setting the Agenda for the Canada We Want in 2020

In Mark Stabile, Public Policy on November 24, 2011 at 12:30 pm

Mark Stabile

Today, Canada 2020 will launch a book called “The Canada We Want in 2020: A Strategic Policy Roadmap for the Federal Government.” The publication highlights some key challenges for Canada over the next decade, and provides strategic policy advice specifically for the federal government on how to tackle them.  A series of five chapters on productivity, Asia, carbon, income disparities, and health care provides some clear policy advice for a majority federal government that is now in a position to provide strong leadership for the country and aims to raise the level of public debate around these key issues. If the federal government is going to act boldly, regardless of its majority standing, it will need the public to understand and support its actions.  Each topic is supported by pieces from various authors, and I was privileged to write one of the chapters on health care. Read the rest of this entry »

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Why Canadians Should Fear Two-Tier

In Brianne Kirkpatrick, Public Policy on November 10, 2011 at 10:00 am

Brianne Kirkpatrick

Over the past few months we, as a city, a province, a state, and a people, have been distracted. We have been busied by an economic crisis. Keeping up with Rob Ford’s vision for Toronto. Swept up in the largest social movement our generation has seen in support of Occupy Wall Street. But there are other interests at work and other dialogues to which to listen. Health care, I argue, is an issue deserving constant vigilance. To look away from it for a moment is to relinquish that moment to another interested party – one that, if left unchecked, could seriously damage the quality of health care we receive in this country.

Universal health care is a symbol of Canada, both to its citizens and to its global audience. ‘Universal’ is an assumption that has become natural to Canadians. But what does universal really mean? How is the Canadian health care system universal? Read the rest of this entry »

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More Can be Done to Reduce Medical Errors

In Matt Warwick, Public Policy on November 4, 2011 at 10:00 am

Matt Warwick

Four-year-old Courtney Braund, a recovering leukemia patient in a Halifax hospital, was set to receive her last chemotherapy treatment.

On this particular April day in 1992, she was also scheduled to receive dental surgery due to side effects from the treatment. Her usual chemotherapy drug, vincristine, was a potent medication that is deadly if injected into the spinal cord.

That night, Courtney was very restless while sleeping in her parents bed. She screamed and vomited  the next morning, prompting her parents to take her back to the hospital. Although the error was identified immediately, nothing could be done to change the outcome. Courtney died a week later. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Undergraduate Crisis in Ontario

In John Blattler, Public Policy on November 3, 2011 at 10:00 am

John Blattler

A great deal of hand wringing throughout Canada’s universities has marked 2011.

After decades of topsy-turvy growth, schools are finally assessing the effect of this on undergraduate education. Most do not like what they see. Robert Campbell, president of Mount Allison University, told a conference of his fellow university presidents in March that:

“We all know that the character of undergraduate experience has deteriorated in our lifetimes, especially so in the last decades. And we know in our hearts of hearts that this experience can and should be much better” Read the rest of this entry »

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Time for the not-for-profit sector to lead

In Public Policy, Viola Dessanti on October 31, 2011 at 10:00 am

Viola Dessanti

The Ontario Not-for-Profit sector is vital to Ontario’s economic development and social prosperity. Yet, the sector has been shy of recognizing the knowledge it holds and its capacity for leadership. There are at least three things we can do to address this.

Last summer, Robin Cardozo, CEO of the Ontario Trillium Foundation delivered a speech entitled “Who is going to Address Canada’s Big Issues.” He recognizes that the not-for-profit sector plays a major role in addressing the country’s major issues and he puts out a call to action to the not-for-profit sector: “we may have full plates, tight budgets, limited time and important missions, but we cannot afford to let this opportunity slip … there is no sector better equipped to influence change.” Read the rest of this entry »

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