Category: Seen and Heard

Seen and Heard features coverage and analysis of the speakers and events in and around SPPG.

Food for Thought at the Policy Innovation Initiative’s 2018 Policy Hackathon

By Michael Smolinski and Harrish Thirukumaran “We increase every year. Last year, we [gave out] over 1.6 million pounds of food, so it shows you there’s a lot of need in the community and surrounding areas.” This striking statistic, provided by Pauline Cripps of the Guelph Food Bank when commenting on the organization’s food needs doubling…

Read More

Ford+SPPG Conference: Immigration in a Populist Era

Kelly Rahardja The United States is undergoing a transformation of its immigration policy that could prevent thousands of incoming refugees from gaining entry into the country. As legislative action continues to target refugees at the federal level, the need for state refugee integration and resettlement programs becomes increasingly salient. It was relevant then that this…

Read More

Fintech: Offering Financial Inclusion in an Increasingly Decentralized World?

Shelby Challis Last month, I had the opportunity to attend MoneyConf 2016, a two-day global conference that focused on technological innovations within the financial sector, otherwise known as the Fintech industry. This year’s conference was hosted in Madrid, and brought together disruptive startups, entrepreneurs, investors, and some of the world’s leading financial institutions. The event drew…

Read More

Seen and Heard: Politics & Policy in the PMO

Alexa Greig “I’m here because we were fired by the voters,” noted Sean Speer, in his opening remarks. Beside him, Chaviva Hosek nodded knowingly. Later in the discussion, she matter-of-factly added: “All democratic governments lose elections, thank god. They have to.” These quotes reflect the candid nature of a recent conservation with two people who…

Read More

Seen and Heard: An International Women’s Day Discussion on Gender Equality

James Nelson On March 8th, I attended an International Women’s Day event hosted by The Hill Times in Ottawa to discuss gender equality and the role women play in policy making.  The International Women’s Day 2016 campaign theme, Pledge for Parity, follows the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2015, which estimates that the…

Read More