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Those surreal weeks of March 2020. The coronavirus was cutting a path of devastation around the globe and across our communities. Canada’s political leaders announced wide-scale shutdowns that affected all facets of our daily lives. We couldn’t fathom then the long-term impact the pandemic would have on our families, our businesses, on public finances and on the health care system.
Four years later, it’s worth asking: Have Canadian institutions learned anything from that traumatic roller-coaster of a crisis? Will they be ready for the next one?
The short answer is an unsatisfactory “sort of.” Our governments have only a fragmented picture of what happened during the pandemic. Provinces, territories, federal departments and officials have taken their own limited snapshots of the pandemic, but that’s not enough.
Resilient Institutions: Learning from Canada’s COVID-19 Pandemic, a new report from the Institute for Research on Public Policy’s Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation and the Institute on Governance, is the first publication to look at how COVID-19 impacted public institutions across the country, with a focus on public health, the public service, federalism and democracy.
Join us on Wednesday, April 3 in Toronto or online for a conversation about how to make Canada’s institutions more resilient so that they’re better able to respond to future crises. Panellists David Lametti (Counsel at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin and former Minister of Justice and Attorney General), Fahad Razak (Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics), and Lori Turnbull (professor of political science in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University) will discuss the findings of the report, and what the government can do better the next time it is confronted by a crisis.
The discussion will be moderated by Charles Breton, executive director of the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation. It will be a hybrid event that will take place in person at the Toronto Reference Library and online via Zoom. Participation is free, though space is limited and registration is required. A reception will follow the panel discussion.
For in-person registration, please click here.
For online participation via Zoom webinar, please click here.
Join us on Tuesday, April 9 in Ottawa or online for a conversation about how technology, and digital technology in particular, can improve urban transportation for the people who need it most. Panellists Shauna Brail (Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto Mississauga), Jean-Sébastien Langelier (Infrastructure Canada) and Catherine McKenney (CitySHAPES) will discuss the policies needed to realize the benefits of “the new mobility era” in a way that is equitable, efficient and effective.
The panel, moderated by the IRPP’s vice-president of research, Rachel Samson, will be a hybrid event that will take place in person at the Delta Ottawa City Centre hotel and online via Zoom. Participation is free, though space is limited and registration is required. A light lunch will follow the panel discussion.
The event is the second in a three-part IRPP lecture and research publication series, Imagining a Better Digital Future for Canada, sponsored by TELUS. A supporting policy paper by Ata Khan (Carleton University) and Ren Thomas (Dalhousie University) will be published in advance of the event.
Affordability and climate are compounding, overlapping crises — and people are struggling through them both at the same time. Individuals across Canada are tired of making trade-offs because, when it comes to life’s necessities — housing, food, transportation and a sustainable climate — there should be none.
Solutions that ignore the full picture are no longer acceptable. What’s needed now is a fundamentally different approach to policymaking, one that considers all basic needs because they are all interdependent. The Affordability Action Council (AAC), a collaboration of diverse policy and community leaders, has broken down silos to table a package of “all-in” solutions to help meet Canadians’ basic needs in an integrated way.
On Thursday, February 1, we held a panel discussion featuring three AAC members who explored the group’s main areas of focus — food, transportation and housing — and explained how a holistic approach to policymaking can lead to solutions that lower cost, reduce vulnerability and give people greater control over their lives. The event took place at the Impact Hub in Ottawa and was also live streamed.
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About the Affordability Action Council
The AAC is a dedicated, pan-Canadian group that brings together diverse policy experts and community leaders to come up with new approaches to policymaking that considers all basic needs, including housing, food, transportation and a livable climate. It is an initiative of the Institute for Research on Public Policy, Destination Zero, the Trottier Family Foundation and the McConnell Foundation.
Can technology help Canada feed the world while reducing emissions?
On November 21 we held a panel discussion on the future of agriculture in Canada. Panelists Katherine MacDonald (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), Tyler McCann (Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute), Lenore Newman (University of the Fraser Valley), and Peter W. B. Phillips (University of Saskatchewan) explored the potential for digital technologies to help address policy objectives relating to agriculture, including global food security and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
The panel, moderated by IRPP President and CEO Jennifer Ditchburn, was held in-person in Ottawa, at the Central Experimental Farm.
The event is the first in a three-part IRPP lecture and research publication series, Imagining a Better Digital Future for Canada, sponsored by TELUS. A supporting policy paper by University of Saskatchewan Economist and Founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Science and Innovation Policy, Peter W. B. Phillips, was published in advance of the event.
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It was with pleasure that the IRPP held its 2023 Fall Lecture in Ottawa on Wednesday, November 8, 2023 at the National Arts Centre.
The evening featured a keynote lecture by University of Toronto professor Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, co-author of the 2023 book Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization and the Fight for Racial Justice. The lecture was followed by a lively networking reception, offering the chance to mix and mingle with Canada’s dynamic policy community. We also took the opportunity to officially launch a call for applications for our new IRPP Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Support of Indigenous, Black, and Other Racialized Scholars.
While there was no charge to attend this event, guests were encouraged to donate to the fellowship, which helped support early-career policy leaders who identify as Black, Indigenous or as a racialized person.
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Social inequalities have shown no sign of receding in Canada or worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the persistence of deep-seated inequalities along racialized and gendered lines. Meanwhile, the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice has called into question the weight that power and privilege continue to hold in our society.
Although policymakers continue to attempt to address the many dimensions of inequality, economic, racial and gendered disparities remain. Worse yet, public policy decisions have, in many cases, been complicit in the perpetuation of social inequalities.
This in-person conversation between Debra Thompson, associate professor of political science at McGill University and the host of the IRPP’s In/Equality podcast, and Joe Soss, the Cowles Chair for the Study of Public Service at the University of Minnesota, addressed these concerns head-on, considering the intersection of public policy and social inequality.
ChatGPT took the world by surprise last year: it was almost as though we had discovered an alien life form. Ever since, artificial intelligence has developed without legal regulations, leading some to refer to it as a “technological Wild West.”
The opportunities presented by artificial intelligence are just as bewildering as the dangers that it poses.
But how should we regulate AI? Who should do it? How should we ensure that the businesses and individuals who develop and use AI do so ethically? Should we create laws for a technology that we still don’t fully understand? Does the federal government’s proposed Bill C-27 adequately respond to these issues? And what role should Quebec and the other provinces play?
These issues are discussed in a series of articles published recently by Policy Options, and in a webinar attended by experts on the ethical, legislative and legal issues surrounding AI.
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Welcome to In/Equality, the new series from the IRPP’s Policy Options Podcast, exploring the many facets of inequality in Canada through conversations with experts.
This new series is hosted by Debra Thompson, Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University and IRPP research advisor. She is also the author of The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging, a personal story and examination of the nuances of racism in the United States and Canada.
In/Equality will feature in-depth discussions with researchers conducting ground-breaking work on inequality in Canada, from the politics of redistribution and criminal justice to homelessness and disability justice.
The pandemic marked one of the most intense periods of intergovernmental relations in the country’s history. This roundtable will invite decision-makers to reflect on and share their real-life experiences during the pandemic. It will provide a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by intergovernmental relations in times of crisis. In addition, the panel will consider how we can implement the aspects of intergovernmental relations that worked well during the pandemic to improve our response to future crises.
NB: This roundtable is open only to participants registered for the entirety of the conference. For details, visit the main conference page. Confirmed speakers are shown. Roundtable composition is not yet final.
Next roundtable: Imagining a federal community that works
The pandemic highlighted how crucial data is in informing health care decisions, and how it is imperative that we improve the sharing and use of data across Canada. This roundtable will bring together experts to explore lessons learned from the pandemic about data sharing in the health care system and identify how we can better collaborate across levels of government. The discussion will delve into the unique challenges and opportunities presented by Canada’s federal structure for data production and sharing, and suggest practical solutions for implementing best practices and bridging gaps exposed by the pandemic.
NB: This roundtable is open only to participants registered for the entirety of the conference. For details, visit the main conference page. Confirmed speakers are shown. Roundtable composition is not yet final.
Next roundtable: Intergovernmental relations during the pandemic: Reflections on real-life experiences
