We are pleased to announce the topic for 2013 Sylvia Ostry Prize in Public Policy. The top essay will be awarded $1000 CAD and published in Volume 4 Issue 2. Details found here. Deadline is February 11, 2013.

2013 Ostry Prize Topic: “Leveraging Challenges to Reform Policy”

“Crises almost inevitably bring forth bad public policy decisions born of desperation… Unlike a crisis, a challenge can be met with well-considered, firm, steady and even imaginative action that deals with the problems methodically and phases in the needed changes over a period of years.”      – Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services

Many governments are facing significant challenges due to structural budget deficits, projections of low economic growth, and social and political shifts. The Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services considers this challenge to be an opportunity for long-term, well-considered and imaginative action.

We ask graduate students: What policy area or public service—at any level of government in any jurisdiction, within Canada or internationally—is in most need of reform, why, and how can that reform leverage current challenges into opportunities? Broad interpretations, with focused arguments, are encouraged.