PRACTICE MAKES POLICY
Making connections, building skills, shifting mindsets, and sparking curiosity.
This year's Policy Community Conference explored the idea of Practice:
- What are the practices, the skills and mindsets, that support great policy work?
- How do we use these practices to creatively resolve increasingly complex policy challenges?
- What new questions can we ask to transform our practice?
More simply – How do we do it? How do we do it when it’s hard and messy? How could we do it differently, together?
The 2019 Conference offered thought provoking plenary talks, hands-on workshops with leading practitioners both inside and outside government and panels supporting reflection on big questions for the future of our policy practice.
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ABOUT
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Why gather?
Creating something meaningful and transformative
The Annual Policy Community Conference brings together practitioners from across the public policy ecosystem to connect, learn and explore the “how” of policy in a hands-on way.
We convene people in a space and format that sparks curiosity, encourages the collision of ideas and approaches, and stimulates reflection.
Intentional in design
Thought for the conference experience we wanted to give
The 2019 Conference offered a variety of immersive learning and development experiences, including field trips, case studies and a Policy Park with reflective practice training, unstructured time and photo exhibit.
We slowed things down and provided a change of pace with fewer plenaries and sessions of varying lengths to allow time for reflection and dynamic discussions.
We also worked to connect the Conference to activities both before and after the event as part of the regular heart-beat of your Community vs being a stand alone event.
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Choosing your own adventure
Over the two days of the conference, we invited practitioners to explore practice in three ways:
Skills and Mindsets
How we do it: practice A, B...
Broaden your knowledge base, gather new tools and develop the skills and mindsets you need to tackle increasingly complex policy issues.
Integration
How we do it when it’s complex: bringing A and B together, to create better options.
Exploring the process of integrative thinking to go beyond weak compromises between opposing options and work through the tension to create a more powerful policy choice.
Evolution
How might we reimagine how we do it?
Reflect on what is disrupting policy practice to generate insights and ask questions that will help us meet the emerging challenges we face.
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AGENDA
Registration
Conference Opening
MC Kaili Levesque
Teaching
Elder Mac Saulis
Watch the recording
Shifting perspectives: Implementing an Inuit Nunangat policy
Natan Obed, President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
Watch the recording
Health Break
10:15 EST
Concurrent Sessions
Creating Great Choices (Also available via webcast)
Jennifer Riel, Adjunct Professor, Rotman School of Management
Watch the recording
In this presentation, we will explore integrative thinking as a methodology and mindset for policy practitioners in the federal public service. When faced with clear either-or alternatives – between ideas, perspectives or people – how might we do something other than simply evaluate and choose? How can we experiment with using the tension between opposing models – different views of the world – to create better answers?
How Might we Transform Dialogue Through Generative Listening?
Helen Daniels
Generative listening is more than a valuable social habit; it can be a transformative communication tool that moves us beyond agendas, analyzing, and strategizing, into discovery and possibility. When we listen with curious attention and full presence we not only awaken fresh dialogue, we can actually invite something brand new to emerge into the space between all parties. Whatever your professional role, applying the practice of generative listening at work can help you calm conflicts, reveal common interests, heighten relationships, and co-create novel solutions. In this experiential workshop, we will explore the everyday habits that prevent deep listening and practice four simple steps to open your heart and mind to emerging possibilities.
How Can We Make Sense of Qualitative Data? Some Insight through Public Engagement
Alexandre Enkerli, Privy Council Office's Public Engagement Unit
Beyond broad principles and well-known methods, the practice of policymaking requires deep insight from the public. Consultations and other forms of engagement may provide an avenue to develop such insight but only if we are able to make sense of the data they produce. This interactive session encourages participants to work through issues surrounding the collection, management, and analysis of qualitative data using examples from public engagement in the policy lifecycle.
How might we develop policy grounded in human centred design: Case study and practical tools from a Social Lab aimed at new approaches to Economic Immigration in New Brunswick.
Lewis Muirhead, NouLab
This workshop will give an overview of the techniques NouLAB uses to build policy prototypes and test them with affected populations ('end users' in human centred design lingo). Anecdotes about current prototypes will be shared to inform how NouLAB's process has resulted in implementation. The active portion of the workshop will go into some of the techniques and mindsets NouLAB has used for collaborative problem framing. This is always the first step in developing a shared understanding and surfacing potential intervention points.
The Park
The Park is open all day. It is where you'll find space for reflection, a park bench for chatting with people doing interesting things, a chance to engage with the Policy Perspectives photo exhibit, mini-workshops on reflective practice and connections to Policy Community projects.
Where is here? The Art of Place Field Trip
Susan Johnston and Jonathan Dewar
Where is here? What can we see? Who will we meet? How can we understand various ways to see, and be in relationship with, the land or built environment? Your learning journey will involve three components: a visit to a place of local significance, pre and post-visit reflection, and an opportunity to consider future possibilities. While exploring PLACE(S), we will consider PERSPECTIVES, highlight multiple ways of seeing, and encourage you to interact with your surroundings and each other. All you need for this short walking (or rolling) adventure away from the NAC are warm mitts, a curious mind and a blank slate (or notebook). Please note this session will run for two hours (10:30am-12:30pm) and includes transit time of 10 minutes each way.
Lunch Break
12:00 EST
Concurrent Sessions
Language: Revitalizing the language of policy (Also available via webcast)
Moderator: Rachel Wernick Panel: Elder Mac Saulis; Georgette LeBlanc, Parliamentary Poet Laureate; Nitika Agarwal, Chief Operations Officer, Apolitical; Isabelle Mondou, Associate Deputy Minister Heritage
Watch the recording
Policy practice uses (and misuses) words
Words make (and break) conversations
Conversations nourish (and starve) language
Language creates (and destroys) identity
As a community of practitioners we both think a lot and think a little about the words we use and their impact. But we rarely discuss what language we need when multiple world views mingle, how we want to understand our better selves and what we might be missing in our current interpretation of the world. So how are we doing? Where is the practice of choosing, using and renewing our words taking us? What worlds is it making? What impact does it have on the inner life of policy practitioners? How does it shape our organizational cultures? Where are we stuck and why? Why does this matter? Where are the new possibilities? Why does this matter? Who can help us think about this - help us become wiser?
Words make (and break) conversations
Conversations nourish (and starve) language
Language creates (and destroys) identity
As a community of practitioners we both think a lot and think a little about the words we use and their impact. But we rarely discuss what language we need when multiple world views mingle, how we want to understand our better selves and what we might be missing in our current interpretation of the world. So how are we doing? Where is the practice of choosing, using and renewing our words taking us? What worlds is it making? What impact does it have on the inner life of policy practitioners? How does it shape our organizational cultures? Where are we stuck and why? Why does this matter? Where are the new possibilities? Why does this matter? Who can help us think about this - help us become wiser?
*12:30 Start
Integrative Thinking Challenge 1
When faced with clear either-or alternatives – between ideas, perspectives or people – how might we do something other than simply evaluate and choose? Experiment with using the tension between opposing models – different views of the world – to create better answers. This workshop is 2 hours.
Barn-raising: How to frame problems people can solve
Peter MacLeod, MASS LBP
How do we create better outcomes for people? The only framework you need
Ethan Bowering, Centre for Public Impact
Come learn about a tried and tested approach to assessing and improving the impact of government initiatives.You will apply the nine drivers of policy success - the Public Impact Fundamentals - to a government policy or initiative you're working on (or familiar with) and explore ways to improve its impact. You will leave the session with a simple and practical tool to take into your everyday work to help you achieve better outcomes for people.
The Park
The Park is open all day. It is where you'll find space for reflection, a park bench for chatting with people doing interesting things, a chance to engage with the Policy Perspectives photo exhibit, mini-workshops on reflective practice and connections to Policy Community projects.
Health break
2:30 EST
The Clerk in Conversation (Also available via webcast)
Watch the recording
Michael Wernick, Clerk of the Privy Council; Jennifer Riel, Rotman School of Management
End of Day (Also available via webcast)
MC Kaili Levesque
Giving and Receiving Advice: Politics and Policy
Hosted by PPF & Carleton University
A feature event that will showcase a panel of former politicians and public servants exploring the nuances of giving and receiving policy advice. Focussing on both mindsets and practices, speakers will surface assumptions about the nature of the interface between political and public service actors, build a shared understanding of the different lived experiences/stories; and spark curiosity about the future of giving and receiving advice.
Registration
Welcome to Day 2 (Also available via webcast)
MC Kaili Levesque
Watch the recording
Margins are the Majority
Nadia Duguay, Exeko and CKX Fellow, and Will Prosper, Hoodstock
Watch the recording
Health Break
10:15 EST
Concurrent Sessions
Policy Innovation (Also available via webcast)
Moderator: Kaili Levesque Panel: Graham Flack, Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development Canada; Rodney Ghali, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office; Leanne Labelle, Canadian Digital Services
Watch the recording
Integrative Thinking Challenge 2
When faced with clear either-or alternatives – between ideas, perspectives or people – how might we do something other than simply evaluate and choose? Experiment with using the tension between opposing models – different views of the world – to create better answers. This workshop is 2 hours.
Through the Looking Glass: What Might We Learn From Experiments with Policy in an Innovation Space?
Tamara Girard, Public Servant in Residence at OCAD University
As policy practitioners, we usually experiment with innovation in a policy space. But what if we crawled through the looking glass and experimented with policy in an innovation space? What would that look like? What assumptions are challenged? How does this push the boundaries? Are we really able to shift mindsets in the way we think we can? Tamara Girard is Public Servant in Residence at OCADU in the Strategic Foresight and Innovation graduate program. She is currently exploring the intersection of Policy and Design in this innovation space and will be sharing her observations, findings, and reflections. This session will also include an activity where we will explore these findings more deeply, and see just how far down the rabbit hole we can go.
Can you think like a futurist?
Blaise Hébert, Policy Horizon
Can you spot Canada’s next big opportunity, or identify its greatest challenge 15 years out? What if I told you can find the next disruption before anyone else could by combining your powers of deduction and imagination? All you need is 90 minutes to see if you can think like a futurist, and play a role in shaping Canadian society. With the help of futurists and foresight analysts from Policy Horizons Canada, you will: identify current assumptions about today’s policy thinking, analyze the potential impact of disruptors through a range of policy lenses, and spot emerging challenges and opportunities in this future landscape.
The Park
The Park is open all day. It is where you'll find space for reflection, a park bench for chatting with people doing interesting things, a chance to engage with the Policy Perspectives photo exhibit, mini-workshops on reflective practice and connections to Policy Community projects.
Where is here? The Art of Place Field Trip
Susan Johnston and Jonathan Dewar
Where is here? What can we see? Who will we meet? How can we understand various ways to see, and be in relationship with, the land or built environment? Your learning journey will involve three components: a visit to a place of local significance, pre and post-visit reflection, and an opportunity to consider future possibilities. While exploring PLACE(S), we will consider PERSPECTIVES, highlight multiple ways of seeing, and encourage you to interact with your surroundings and each other. All you need for this short walking (or rolling) adventure away from the NAC are warm mitts, a curious mind and a blank slate (or notebook). Please note this session will run for two hours (10:30am-12:30pm) and includes transit time of 10 minutes each way.
Lunch Break
12:00 EST
Concurrent Sessions
Digital, ethics and inclusion: why policy practitioners should care? (Also available via webcast)
Moderator: Neil Bouwer Panel: Anna Wong, Digital Academy; Meghan Hellstern, Brookfield Institute; Brent Barron, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Serge Joly, Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada
Watch the recording
*12:30 Start
Integrative Thinking Challenge 3
When faced with clear either-or alternatives – between ideas, perspectives or people – how might we do something other than simply evaluate and choose? Experiment with using the tension between opposing models – different views of the world – to create better answers. This workshop is 2 hours.
Storytelling: How might we drive engagement with research and policy?
Nitika Agarwal, Apolitical
Once there was a public servant who decided her department should talk more to citizens. She started publishing monthly data updates, reams of numbers that would allow people to work out how policies were going, and endless blogs about the policy design process. At the end of it all, she found that nobody cared. Sound familiar? This interactive, practical session, packed with tips provides an opportunity to practice, helping you think about your work from a communications perspective.
Who and what do you need to make experiments happen?
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Natural Resources Canada and Health Canada
This workshop will be focused on learning experimentation by doing, drawing on the lessons of teams that are putting experimentation into practice and taking you through a series of exercises that will let you try your hand at building an experimental project. It will give you a window into the work of two project teams, one from Natural Resources Canada and one from Health Canada, who are responding to the Experimentation Direction for Deputy Heads and making experiments happen. These teams are part of an innovative Government of Canada initiative called Experimentation Works, which has been featured in international articles on government teams devoted to experimenting and is listed among the global case studies of government innovations on the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation. Come learn about the steps these teams took to define and undertake their experiments, and hear about the collaborative requirements and approaches that have been elements of their success. And try it yourself!
The Park
The Park is open all day. It is where you'll find space for reflection, a park bench for chatting with people doing interesting things, a chance to engage with the Policy Perspectives photo exhibit, mini-workshops on reflective practice and connections to Policy Community projects.
Health break
2:30 EST
Remarks (Also available via webcast)
MC Kaili Levesque
Watch the recording
Trust and Legitimacy
Nadine Smith, Centre for Public Impact
Watch the recording
Reflections
Georgette LeBlanc, Parliamentary Poet Laureate
Watch the recording
Policy Community Champions closing remarks
Rachel Wernick, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development Canada; Neil Bouwer, Vice President, Canada School of Public Service
Watch the recording
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FEATURED SPEAKERS
Neil Bouwer
Vice President, Canada School of Public Service
Neil Bouwer has served in many policy roles across departments and central agencies, contributed to the building of the policy community, and supported innovation across the Public Service. In his current role, Neil is building capacity for Digital Government, pursuing pathfinder projects, and supporting public management communities of practice.
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Neil Bouwer has served in many policy roles across departments and central agencies, contributed to the building of the policy community, and supported innovation across the Public Service. In his cur...
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Nadia Duguay
CKX Philanthropy Fellow
Nadia Duguay is CKX fellow and she co-founded Exeko - an organization that uses artistic and intellectual creativity for an inclusive and emancipating social transformation. She created its Social innovation Labs, that define approaches based a mix of mediation practices as a force for social transformation and system change. Her approach focuses on the inclusion of the most marginalized in Canada. Nadia Duguay is a member of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the Observatory of cultural mediations practices and the Quebec network for social innovation (RQIS). She is also an Ashoka Fellow, a member of the Innovation advisory committee of the Rideau Hall Foundation and member of the advisory committee of Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation.
Photo credit: Sylviane Robini
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Nadia Duguay is CKX fellow and she co-founded Exeko - an organization that uses artistic and intellectual creativity for an inclusive and emancipating social transformation. She created its Social inn...
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Georgette LeBlanc
Parliamentary Poet Laureate
Georgette LeBlanc holds a PhD in Francophone Studies from ULL (University of Louisiana at Lafayette). She has since published a fictional cycle in free verse, Alma (2007), Amédé (2010) recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masterwork Award, Prudent (2013), finalist for the Governor General Award in Poetry et most recently le Grand Feu (2016), with les Éditions Perce-Neige in le Coude (Moncton, NB) where she presently edits the literary collection Acadie Tropicale. She has published more exploratory texts in literary journals. She has written and collaborated for television, theatre and in music. Georgette LeBlanc is currently the 8th Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada.
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Georgette LeBlanc holds a PhD in Francophone Studies from ULL (University of Louisiana at Lafayette). She has since published a fictional cycle in free verse, Alma (2007), Amédé (2010) recipient of ...
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Natan Obed
President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
Natan Obed is the President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization representing Inuit in Canada. He is originally from Nain, Nunatsiavut, and currently lives in Ottawa. For 10 years, he lived in Iqaluit, Nunavut and worked as the director of social and cultural development for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI), which represents the rights of Nunavut Inuit. He has devoted his entire professional career to working with Inuit representational organizations to improve the wellbeing of Inuit in Canada.
Photo credit: Hebron JackieDives
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Natan Obed is the President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization representing Inuit in Canada. He is originally from Nain, Nunatsiavut, and currently lives in Ottawa. For 10 years,...
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Will Prosper
Co-Founder of Montréal-Nord Républik and the Hoodstock Social Forum
Will Prosper is a documentary filmmaker and civil rights activist. A former RCMP officer, he co-founded Montréal-Nord Républik, a citizens’ movement against police brutality and economic oppression. He is also the co-founder of the Hoodstock Social Forum, a space for dialogue and social innovation for the co-creation of inclusive, safe and dynamic urban environments. Over the years, he has contributed to important civil society institutions in Quebec, such as the Popular Commission on Political Repression, the League of Rights and Freedoms, the Coalition for Equality and Against Systemic Racism, and the “We Need to Talk” Collective. He writes and frequently appears in the media on issues of social justice and human rights.
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Will Prosper is a documentary filmmaker and civil rights activist. A former RCMP officer, he co-founded Montréal-Nord Républik, a citizens’ movement against police brutality and economic oppressio...
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Jennifer Riel
Adjunct Professor, Rotman School of Management
Jennifer Riel is an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, specializing in creative problem solving. Her focus is on helping everyone, from undergraduate students to business executives, to create better choices, more of the time. Jennifer is the co-author of Creating Great Choices: A Leader’s Guide to Integrative Thinking (with Roger L. Martin, former Dean of the Rotman School of Management). Based on a decade of teaching and practice with integrative thinking, the book lays out a practical methodology for tackling our most vexing business problems. Using illustrations from organizations like LEGO, Vanguard and Unilever, the book shows how individuals can leverage the tension of opposing ideas to create a third, better way forward. It was shortlisted for the National Business Book award. An award-winning teacher, Jennifer leads training on integrative thinking, strategy and innovation at organizations of all types, from small non-profits to some of the largest companies in the world.
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Jennifer Riel is an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, specializing in creative problem solving. Her focus is on helping everyone, from undergraduate students...
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Malcolm Saulis
Indigenous Elder (Spirit name: Nil na abis)
Malcolm Saulis is a Malecite Indian from the Tobique First Nation. He is a recently retired social work educator and Indigenous Scholar and Elder in the Faculty of Social Work Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. He has been a professor for 35 years and a researcher in many areas of Indigenous interest. He is recognized as Circle Keeper and received teachings from many Elders. He has worked with churches and government around issues of healing and reconciliation, restorative justice, residential school survivors and indigenization. He has worked with communities in regards to child welfare, health transfer and health planning, suicide, conflict resolution, Indigenous governance models and many healing strategies based on Traditional Processes. He has been a Resident Elder with the Office of the Child Advocate at Queens Park in Ontario, a visiting Elder at the Kumik and Iskotew Lodge in Ottawa, and a counselling Elder at many First Nations and Aboriginal organizations.
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Malcolm Saulis is a Malecite Indian from the Tobique First Nation. He is a recently retired social work educator and Indigenous Scholar and Elder in the Faculty of Social Work Wilfrid Laurier Universi...
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Nadine Smith
Global Communications Director, Centre for Public Impact
Nadine Smith is the Global Communications Director for the Centre for Public Impact (CPI), a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to helping governments to achieve better outcomes for people. Based in London, she leads their global work on legitimacy, one of CPI's Public Impact Fundamentals. After 15 years as a Whitehall Communications Strategist and Chief Press Officer, she then became the founding director of communications for the UK Institute for Government before joining BCG's Global Public Sector Practice where she helped to set up CPI. She now dedicates her time at CPI to finding how people and governments can work better together, she advises governments on how to be more effective at this and is a passionate about hearing the unheard voices in government.
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Nadine Smith is the Global Communications Director for the Centre for Public Impact (CPI), a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to helping governments to achieve better outcomes for people. Based in ...
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Michael Wernick
Clerk of the Privy Council
Michael Wernick became Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet on January 22, 2016. Michael joined the federal public service in 1981. Since then he has worked in various departments and agencies, including the Department of Finance Canada, Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada and the Privy Council Office. In 2012, Michael received the Queen Elizabeth 11 Diamond Jubilee Medal.
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Michael Wernick became Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet on January 22, 2016. Michael joined the federal public service in 1981. Since then he has worked in various departments a...
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Rachel Wernick
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development Canada
Rachel Wernick is known for her passion for policy excellence and her strong belief in user-centric design. She has held a variety of positions (policy, program, central agency, corporate, dedicated task force) which has made her a strong proponent of the benefit of multi-disciplinary approaches. She loves challenging assumptions and having her own assumptions challenged. To seek out fresh ideas she strives to engage with a diversity of people from all ages and backgrounds. To inspire new thinking she often brings perspectives from the arts and humanities to bear when discussing public policy issues.Talk to me about:
The Policy Community
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Rachel Wernick is known for her passion for policy excellence and her strong belief in user-centric design. She has held a variety of positions (policy, program, central agency, corporate, dedicated t...
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PANELISTS
Nitika Agarwal
Nitika Agarwal is a policy maker turned entrepreneur. Previously a senior advisor in UK government, she has led European negotiations on economic and financial policy, including serving as Chief of Staff of the U.K. Ambassador to the EU. She is now Chief Operating Officer at Apolitical - the free peer to peer learning platform for public servants in 140 countries. Apolitical has been named one of the world's most innovative companies for social good.
Talk to me about:
- Entrepreneurship and innovation in policymaking
- Creating vibrant communities of policy makers which bust traditional siloes
- Government partnering with smaller NGOs and startups
- Building an ambitious, mission driven tech company
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Nitika Agarwal is a policy maker turned entrepreneur. Previously a senior advisor in UK government, she has led European negotiations on economic and financial policy, including serving as Chief of...
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Brent Barron
Brent Barron is Director, Public Policy at CIFAR where he is responsible for building relationships with CIFAR’s government partners and engaging the policy community around cutting edge science. He played an important role in the development of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, and now oversees CIFAR’s AI & Society program, examining the social, ethical, legal, and economic effects of AI. Prior to this role, Brent held a variety of positions in the Ontario Public Service, most recently in the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science. Brent holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Toronto, as well as a Bachelor’s in Media Studies from Western University.
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Brent Barron is Director, Public Policy at CIFAR where he is responsible for building relationships with CIFAR’s government partners and engaging the policy community around cutting edge science. He...
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Rodney Ghali
Rodney Ghali is the Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet of the Impact and Innovation Unit at the Privy Council Office, Government of Canada. He is responsible for leading the exploration and execution of new and innovative policy and programmatic approaches, focused on improving impact, accountability and value for Canadians. Prior to his current role, Rodney was Director General of the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention, Public Health Agency of Canada, where he was responsible for overseeing the Federal Government's policy and programs in the areas of healthy living and chronic disease prevention. Previously, Rodney spent a number of years at Health Canada in various positions such as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister and Director of Strategic Policy. He has worked on numerous legislative/regulatory initiatives and health-related issues including: food and consumer product safety, reproductive technologies, aboriginal health, blood safety and mental health. Rodney holds a Master of Science (neurobiology) from McGill University and a Honours Bachelor of Science (genetics) from the University of Western Ontario.
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Rodney Ghali is the Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet of the Impact and Innovation Unit at the Privy Council Office, Governm...
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Meghan Hellstern
Before joining BII+E, Meghan Hellstern worked at the City of Toronto’s Civic Innovation Office, a Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded innovation team (i-team) dedicated to using human-centered design and data-informed decision-making to improve residents’ lives. She has also worked with organizations like Code for Canada, Laurier University’s Social Innovation and Venture Creation (SIVC), Samara Canada and MaRS Solutions Lab, not to mention spending years working with the Government of Canada on a wide range of files from electoral reform and veterans affairs to digital government and indigenous affairs. Meghan contributes to her community in many ways, including designing and delivering the Ontario Digital Inclusion Summit, one of Ontario’s first conferences on the topic, co-founding Canada’s biggest civic tech community Civic Tech Toronto and sitting on the advisory board of the Digital Justice Lab. She also maintains a vibrant facilitation, consulting and teaching practice, including delivering the Digital Government and Civic Tech course at Ryerson University’s Chang School of Continuing Education and the Digital Leadership Program at the Institute on Governance in Ottawa.
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Before joining BII+E, Meghan Hellstern worked at the City of Toronto’s Civic Innovation Office, a Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded innovation team (i-team) dedicated to using human-centered design an...
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Leanne Labelle
Leanne Labelle brought her expertise in innovation to the Government of Canada in 2010 in the role of Manager, Innovation at the Public Health Agency where she helped pioneer the first release of de-identified chronic disease datasets and led the development of a series of hackathons, all aimed at helping to improve access to health information. In 2017 Leanne joined NRCan to manage the design and release of 4 clean tech challenges under the Impact Canada Initiative, a whole-of-government effort that helps departments to accelerate the adoption of outcomes-based approaches. Leanne is currently a senior advisor at the Canadian Digital Service where she is working towards bringing traditional policy work into the digital era. Prior to joining the Government Leanne founded and ran a successful digital strategy and design firm for over 10 years. Recognized as a “Top Forty Under 40” by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to the innovation and digital sectors, Leanne is considered a thought leader on issues related to innovative funding and digital solutions.
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Leanne Labelle brought her expertise in innovation to the Government of Canada in 2010 in the role of Manager, Innovation at the Public Health Agency where she helped pioneer the first release of de-i...
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Kaili Levesque
Kaili Levesque is the Executive Director of Strategic Policy at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Kaili has spent her whole career trying to find better ways to deliver meaningful impact through public policy, whether through prototyping innovative approaches, developing collaborative engagement processes, working to understand foresight and complexity thinking, in an attempt to continuously improve her own policy toolkit. With these tools, Kaili has had the privilege of working in a variety of policy areas including venture capital, small and medium-sized businesses, regulatory cooperation, digital policy, the digital economy, foresight and scanning, and most recently, energy efficiency. Kaili is a proud alumnae of Carleton University’s Masters of Arts in Public Administration program, When not working, she has adventures with her husband, two children and one very surly cat.
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Kaili Levesque is the Executive Director of Strategic Policy at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Kaili has spent her whole career trying to find better ways to deliver meaningful impact throu...
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Isabelle Mondou
Isabelle Mondou joined the Department of Canadian Heritage on October 22, 2018, as Associate Deputy Minister. On September 19, 2016, Isabelle was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Priorities and Planning) at the Privy Council Office. Prior to that, she was legal counsel to the Clerk of the Privy Council and Assistant Secretary (Democratic Reform). Isabelle joined Canada’s public service in 1994 as an employee of the Department of Revenue. She has held a wide range of positions, including in the Intergovernmental Affairs, Machinery of Government and Senior Personnel sections at the Privy Council Office. Isabelle has a Bachelor of Law degree (1989) and a Master of Law degree (1994) from the Université de Montréal. She was called to the Barreau du Québec in 1990. She practised law in the private sector, with a focus on administrative, environmental and municipal law. Isabelle is originally from the Laurentian region and has lived in Ottawa since 1996. She is the mother of two teenagers.
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Isabelle Mondou joined the Department of Canadian Heritage on October 22, 2018, as Associate Deputy Minister. On September 19, 2016, Isabelle was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Prioriti...
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Anna Wong
Anna Wong is passionate about social policy and using novel approaches and partnerships to tackling the wicked problems of the day. With experience in policy development, stakeholder engagement and communications in multiple federal departments, Anna takes a holistic approach to problem solving. She is currently the Product Owner of the specialized training in the areas of AI/ML, Data, Design and DevOps at the Digital Academy at the Canada School of Public Service, upskilling today's public servants to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. She is also working on using data and applications of artificial intelligence such as advanced analytics and machine learning to improve policy and program analysis and development.
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Anna Wong is passionate about social policy and using novel approaches and partnerships to tackling the wicked problems of the day. With experience in policy development, stakeholder engagement and co...
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For more presenters and contributing partners, please see our Contributors Page.
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CONFERENCE-IN-A-BOX
Bringing together colleagues to learn, question and explore
For participants who couldn’t participate in person, or wanted to use exercises with their teams outside the conference, we created a treasure chest of resources, called Conference-in-a-box. In addition to webcasting, some of our content collaborators designed activity kits for groups that they could run on their own, outside of the conference itself. The Conference in a Box, including activity kits and archived webcast videos, remains available year-round.
PHOTO MOMENTS
Here are the winners of our Policy Perspectives contest!
It is important to us that policy practitioners from all across the Community have a chance to participate in the conference. The Policy Perspectives Photo contest invited entries from public servants.
Policy Moments
“Our lives are measured in moments,” say Chip and Dan Heath in their book, The Power of Moments. Moments can make us feel engaged, joyful, and motivated or they can be sorrowful and difficult. They can mark transitions, good or bad, or happen spontaneously. They are also everyday. Some moments are strengthened because they are shared, others are powerful because they come from within ourselves.
So, what makes a policy moment? Who are the people, what are places, issues and different perspectives that shape our understanding of policy moments?
Here are the views and descriptions that were shared. While you’re browsing, consider your perspective and the relationship between objects in the photograph. Is there a particular way of thinking reflected (real or constructed)? How is that point of view influenced by beliefs or lived experiences? Who is in the frame and who is missing? What is the essence of the moment you want to share? What new questions or insights can you bring on the policy practitioners and challenges that are shaping our world?
Aalya Dhananiessa
Transport Canada
This moment captures my visit to Pier 21, which to me, represents the importance of open immigration policy leading to the Immigration and Refugee Pro...
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This moment captures my visit to Pier 21, which to me, represents the importance of open immigration policy leading to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of today. When Canada welcomed immigrants fleeing their homes in search of a new life, it was history in the making which has demonstrated the value of living in a pluralistic society. While my family was not part of the history of immigrants that arrived at Pier 21, they are part of the history of immigrants that arrived in the 1990’s. When Idi Amin’s rule persecuted the South Asian African community in Uganda during the 1970’s, there was major impact on the rest of East Africa including neighbouring Tanzania where my family and I came from. This occurred before I was born but I know it affected my parents and even when it ended, my family sacrificed a life of comfort and luxury to leave a nation of corruption/political issues so that I could have a better education and life. I am so grateful for their sacrifice and to the policies that allowed my family to begin a new life and become fellow Canadians.
Abe Greenspoon
Canada School of Public Service
Roborace is the world's first driverless electric racing car. It represents the policy challenges on the horizon for governments to regulate the use o...
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Roborace is the world's first driverless electric racing car. It represents the policy challenges on the horizon for governments to regulate the use of driverless cars across a variety of industries.
Ahmed Tareq Rashid
Employment and Social Development Canada
I captured this photo in the Senegalese capital Dakar in February 2016, during a workshop on situational analysis of ma...
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I captured this photo in the Senegalese capital Dakar in February 2016, during a workshop on situational analysis of maternal and child health in the West Africa region. The workshop was organized by the ‘Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa' (IMCHA) initiative- funded by the government of Canada. The workshop participants included African and Canadian researchers, health policymakers from six countries in West Africa and other stakeholders. Generating relevant evidence to inform policies and practices to improve maternal and child health is a key element of the IMCHA initiative. The photo shows the power of collaboration and partnership in policymaking. The particular moment captured the essence of evidence-based policy whereby researchers and policymakers are not only sharing the same platform, but also demonstrating their commitment to work together. Being there at that very moment also made me realize how the government of Canada is fostering good practices in policy development not just in Canada but also across the globe. PS: I also wrote a blog to capture some of my observations on the workshop. Link: http://www.thinktankinitiative.org/blog/improving-maternal-and-child-health-west-africa-%E2%80%93-importance-knowledge-translation.
Fatima Mawani
Department of National Defence
The Directorate, Gender, Diversity and Inclusion (DGDI) is holding a Visioning workshop, as part of taking a strategic approach to supporting the inte...
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The Directorate, Gender, Diversity and Inclusion (DGDI) is holding a Visioning workshop, as part of taking a strategic approach to supporting the integration of Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) for the Department of National Defence. DGDI is taking a collaborative, team approach that capitalizes on its diversity, expertise, and passion to re-defining its priorities, approach, and work plan. While GBA+ is recognized as part of the policy development cycle, it is also important that there is the infrastructure, tools, and governance to support GBA+ as part of that cycle. In 16 months, the DGDI team has gone from 2 staff, to 13. It is being recognized as a Centre of Expertise within the department, as well as externally. It has developed a number of tools, including a Treasury Board Submission Annexe guide and Thinking Things Through tool that have been recognized as a best-practice by Status of Women Canada and are used extensively internally to the department. DGDI has also established a network of over 85 GBA+ Focal Points, conducted GBA+ assessments on over $10 Billion of projects or initiatives, and has begun to map the stakeholders, processes, and areas it will seek to influence over the short and medium-term. This picture represents the discussion of this team to reflect on its accomplishments, but also to look forward at what it should be doing to fully support the integration of GBA+ in all defence activities, from the design and implementation of programs and services that support our personnel, to equipment procurement and operational planning.
Kayle Hatt
Treasury Board Secretariat
I've submitted a photo of my daughter Delta. When she was born a little more than a year ago, I discovered that the Province of Ontario and the Govern...
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I've submitted a photo of my daughter Delta. When she was born a little more than a year ago, I discovered that the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada have created an integrated birth bundle for new parents. Through a single portal we were able to apply for a birth registration, birth certificate, social insurance number and CRA's tax benefits for parents. Four programs, from three different departments, across two jurisdictions and you only had to tell the government the information once. As a new father worrying about diaper changes, late-nights, etc. I appreciated that there service was easy to user and I didn't need to complete multiple forms. For me, this is a current state example of digital government at its best. Easy, User-centred, digital-end-to-end, reusing data responsibly and integrated across silos.
Michelle Fairbrother
Environment and Climate Change Canada
On my first taxi ride as a government employee, my coworker requested our route take us over the Alexandra Bridge to better see the view of the Parlia...
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On my first taxi ride as a government employee, my coworker requested our route take us over the Alexandra Bridge to better see the view of the Parliament Buildings perched on top of the Ontario ridge. That day, and many days since, I have felt a sense of pride and connection to the larger community of policy makers tirelessly striving for a better Canada when I look at the cluster of impressive buildings on the Hill. I feel very fortunate to be a part of an organization that instills a sense of continual improvement, as I am aware that this is not the case in every country, and the system is not perfect. This photo was taken on an evening commute home, capturing a visual reminder of a shared course of action and positive outcomes for the future.
Pam Turner
Public Health Agency of Canada
Using policy powers for good (and not evil)! This is the little superhero in my life. When he came along, the importance of creating a world that is p...
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Using policy powers for good (and not evil)! This is the little superhero in my life. When he came along, the importance of creating a world that is positive, healthy, safe and connected was crystalized in my heart and mind more than ever before. As a policy practitioner, I feel lucky every day to have the opportunity to contribute to programming that has the potential to make a difference in the health of Canadians. In my work at the Public Health Agency of Canada, we put policy into practice by building partnerships and funding projects that encourage Canadians to sit less, move more, eat healthier and stop smoking. The ability to translate policy into meaningful and impactful programming is an ongoing challenge that we try to meet everyday. You can practically hear the BAM, POW, BOOM as we try to ensure that we are using our policy powers for good (and not evil)! The innovation agenda in the Government of Canada is helping us to do that by providing options to further refine our processes and tools to find ways to work smarter in the push to achieve our outcomes and ensure accountability to Canadians. My hope is that our policy contributions in healthy living and chronic disease prevention will help to build a Canada where the small superheroes of our future can learn, grow and thrive - and hopefully use their superpowers to continue making the world a better place.
Patrick Seguin
Employment and Social Development Canada
My perspective on policy is similar to my perspective on art: each beholder experiences a different view. My experience...
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My perspective on policy is similar to my perspective on art: each beholder experiences a different view. My experience as a privacy policy analyst taught me that although the topic subjected to policy analysis has been scoped, it will invariably be given different readings. Stakeholders will voice views on the evidence collected about the topic according to their experiences and interests. As such the topic under analysis will unfailingly be a superposition of narratives with various degrees of convergence and antinomy. As a policy analyst, my work entails making sense of this hodgepodge to materialize government objectives into measurable results while still retaining the essence of the views voiced by stakeholders. The glass sculpture Mandala Blue by Alex Anagnostou embodies my perspective on policy. The sculpture has a well define scope in its width, height and depth, as a policy topic ought to have. It is balanced a solid aluminum base much like a policy needs to be anchored in a solid body of evidence. The myriad of features and colours in the glass exemplify the peculiar reading of the evidence according to ones experiences and interests. I love the contrast between the colours. You may hate the air bubble. Each of our impression adds a distinctive narrative to the history of the sculpture much like policy analysis accumulates narratives on a topic. The sunlight captured in the sculpture is a reminder of government’s orientations that serves to highlight and find the elements to be retained in a policy. Finally, my reflection in the glass is a reminder that policy analysts leave their mark on policy instruments. However, much like artists, we must learn to let go of our work and let it evolved on it’s own while it is applied by others.
Sebastian Muermann
Global Affairs Canada
Many people take pictures in parks. While on a holiday, what I believed to be a spontaneous picture of my environs proved to be much more than a light...
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Many people take pictures in parks. While on a holiday, what I believed to be a spontaneous picture of my environs proved to be much more than a light-dappled copse of trees captured in this photograph. In fact, the design of the park, and the subtle curvature of the round steps my tour group walked on, were actually a by-product of a citywide activist campaign. It was also a technological innovation that was meant to control park irrigation and water levels in public spaces. The discovery created a hopeful moment in me, and provoked a rush of inspiration I had not expected to get so early in the morning on a Saturday morning. I learned that a company had installed sensors to monitor rain and humidity, and park workers could control how much irrigation was needed in each area, and which areas were self-sufficient. I learned that electrovalves were remotely controlled to deliver necessary water across the city. This programme was established in almost two-thirds of Barcelona’s parks, and helped the city achieve a 25% increase in water conservation, with savings of around £440,000 each year. This little shady corner became the highlight of my trip. It related to the work I did, and helped me to imagine a future were innovation, activism and community group integration are seamless in the spaces that we live in, and in the image of a policy making process.
Vanessa Perrin
Western Economic Diversification Canada
I've captured the perspective we take on policy development and analysis at Western Economic Diversification. We at WD are Ottawa's "Window to the Wes...
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I've captured the perspective we take on policy development and analysis at Western Economic Diversification. We at WD are Ottawa's "Window to the West." We ensure unique western Canadian interests are represented equally in national policy. WD and the other 5 Regional Development Agencies are important to reflect the unique challenges and opportunities found in the various regions of the country and ensure a regionally-tailored approach to economic policy development and analysis in Canada.
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LOCATION
National Arts Centre
1 Elgin Street
Ottawa, ON
K1P 5W1