The Inaugural Policy Community Conference comprised a series of panel presentations and a workshop over one and a half days.
Over 450 people participated in person. More than 230 connections to the webcast brought in participants from St John's, Fredericton, PEI, Sherbrooke, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton and Vancouver.
The program was crafted in collaboration with 19 departments and external in-kind support to bring key speakers.
• Policy community includes research, evaluation, policy, programs and operations
• Be open: Put the problem at the centre and invite solutions to enable creativity
• Expand the toolkit: use novel policy instruments to achieve the desired outcomes
• Be outward looking: Seek to build diversity in external stakeholder networks; know the environment when planning to engage; be fundamentally partnership oriented
• Experiment: test rigorously for impacts and outcomes; choose experiments that fit context
• Be transparent: Honest communication about results builds trust; recognizing what’s not working leads to improvement
• Decolonialize policy thinking: involve the individuals the policy is likely/designed to impact; never “for”, think “with”
In a world where anyone with a smart phone and Google account can do “analysis”, the Public Service’s advantage lies in its ability to transform a flood of advice and analysis into actionable decisions for democratic governments.
Canada is in a moment of renaissance - is seen as a place of hope; showing how a society and a government can be compassionate and intelligent. Use the moment, don't be distracted, don't be too slow, don't talk too much.
Globally, we are in a period of public service renaissance.
7 practical skills of a modern public service, to innovate with ambition and deliver results that really matter. Know:
"We [the Policy Community] will determine how far this takes us. "Our time as Champions of the Policy Community Project showed that the policy community is eager to:
Matthew Mendelsohn
Elissa Golberg
Fraser Valentine
Two case studies examined how data can be marshaled to design policies that deliver results and impact: Canada’s International Assistance Review and Express Entry for Economic Immigrants.
Matthew Mendelsohn
Taki Sarantakis
Sabine Kröger
Jean-Pierre Voyer
Elizabeth Hardy
Dr. Steffen Christensen
Stephen Huddart
Chad Park
Lauren Hunter
Julie Greene
Peter McLeod
Jordan Zed
Sue Barclay
Kimberly Lavoie
Gail Haarsma
Jonathan Dewar,
Manitok Thompson
Keith Conn
Erin Corston
Jennifer Lord
Danielle White
In a workshop on building the policy community, some main principles were:
In the months following the Conference, a small secretariat will be built to catalyse the Community around: