2019 Year‑in‑Review

The MacEachen Institute's 2019 year-in-review featuring highlights from public panel discussions, round tables, workshops, reports, media coverage and more.

January | ACPA 2019: Trade Panel

Our first event of the year was a panel discussion on trade policy with Maryscott Greenwood, Pierre Pettigrew, Colin Robertson and Darrell Dexter.  The panel featured discussion on the NAFTA and CETA negotiations, Brexit, the Transpacific Partnership and more.

January | Climate Policy and "The Turnover Problem" Round Table

This round table brought together 20 graduate students studying climate change issues from across Dalhousie campus.  The session focused on the historical overturning of existing policies by new regimes (both federally and provincially), as was done recently in Ontario and New Brunswick. Questions included: Why have the previous and current policies ‘failed’? What are the practical and workable ways through which we can reconceive and redesign the Canadian climate policy to engender acceptance and long-term effectiveness?

March | The SNC Lavalin Affair: Panel Discussion

In the midst of a national scandal, we brought Lori Turnbull, Sara Seck and Darrell Dexter together for a discussion on the SNC Lavalin affair. 100 people attended the session moderated by Institute Junior Fellow Tari Ajadi. The timely conversation focused on the implications of this scandal on the future of party politics, the rule of law, and on Government attempts at reconciliation.

April | Basic Income: The Evidence Speaks

Basic Income Nova Scotia (BIG NS) hosted a mini conference at the Halifax central Library.  The MacEachen Institute partnered with BIG NS to record video and make sure that this panel could be shared online.  The panel was entiteld "A Nova Scotia Context for Basic Income" and featured Jen Brady, Karen Foster, Roger Hunka, Wayne MacNaughton, Amy Moonshadow, Wallace Nevin, Pierre Stevens.

June | Solutions to Rental Housing Policy Protection Workshop

Founding Fellow Ren Thomas (pictured) hosted a workshop at the MacEachen Institute with municipal and provincial public servants to talk about rental housing.  Participants in the workshop explored rental housing policy ideas from around Canada in an effort to develop their own approaches that could aid in the protection and provision of rental housing in Halifax. Read a briefing note on Dr. Ren Thoma's research on rental housing. 

Summer | Climate Strikes in Halifax (MacEachen Institute In the News)

Climate change action/inaction has been a reoccuring theme in 2019. Fellows at the MacEachen Institute watched the student climate change strikes throughout the summer, penned some op-eds and spoke to media about the climate-related challenges facing Nova Scotia. 

• COMMENTARY: This isn’t your parents' climate anymore, despite Nova Scotia's progress by: Founding Fellow Larry Hughes - The Chronicle Herald
• Rethinking Canada’s climate policy from the ground up by: Junior Fellow Bayo Majekolagbe - The Conversation Canada
• 'Completely inconsistent': Carbon taxes applied unequally between provinces, new report says by: Founding Fellow Larry Hughes - The National Post
• Bring those who question climate change into the discussion: panellists about a MacEachen Institute panel discussion - Global News

August | New MacEachen Institute Fellow Appointments

In August, the MacEachen Institute appointed five new Founding Fellows:

• James Barker (Herbert S. Lamb Chair of Business Education in the Rowe School of Business)
• Christine Chambers (Canada Research Chair in Children’s Pain and Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychology & Neuroscience)
• Sara Kirk (Professor of Health Promotion and Scientific Director of the Healthy Populations Institute)
• Ajay Parasram (Assistant Professor in the Departments of International Development Studies and History)
• Sheila Wildeman (Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Law)

And appointed five Dalhousie graduate students as the 2019 - 2020 Junior Fellows:

• MD Jahedul Alam (PhD Candidate in the Department of Civil and Resource Engineering)
• Keisha Jefferies (PhD candidate in the School of Nursing)
• Melina Kourantidou (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Marine Affairs Program and the Ocean Frontier Institute)
• Michael Mackley (Medical student at Dalhousie Medical School)
• Julia Rodgers (PhD student in the Department of Political Science)

The Fellows play an important role in shaping the Institute’s agenda and profile, ensuring it becomes the ‘go-to’ place for policy discussion and analysis, regionally and nationally. 

Fall | Policy Matters 2019

Our annual speaker series was back in full force for its 3rd season.  Topics touched on imporant policy issues and debates during the federal election.  You can find links to videos of all 10 panels below:

1. Election 2019: Democracy and Manipulation in the Internet Age
2. Food System Failure: Why Food is a Forgotten Policy Option
3. The Future of Work: Where Demographics, Technology and Urbanization Collide
4. Canada’s Energy Future: Boom or Bust?
5. Human Rights and Reconciliation: Indigenous Child Welfare
6. Resilience or Reluctance: Climate Change Policy in Atlantic Canada
7. A Key Determinant of Health: Meeting the Housing Needs of older LGBTQ2S+ Canadians
8. When the Dust Settles: How Do We Hold People to Account After Disasters?
9. The Art of the Deal: Public-Private Partnerships
10. Not All Fun and Games: Tough Choices and Trade Offs in Cultural and Recreational Infrastructure

September | A Political Talk about the Future of Atlantic Canada

200 people were in attendance to see Darrell Dexter, Janice Harvey, The Honourable Peter MacKay, and The Honourable Anne McLellan square off in a discussion about the future of Atlantic Canada.  Topics on the table were climate change, healthcare, immigration, the economy and more. You can watch the full video at the link above or read about the event in Dal News.

September | Hurricane Dorian (MacEachen Institute In the News)

In September, Hurricane Dorian caused extensive damage in the Bahamas and the United States before landing in Nova Scotia on September 7. Though our office was closed and the majority of the city didn't have power, it didn't stop MacEachen Institute experts from sharing their insights with the press.

• Room for improvement in emergency preparedness - Kevin Quigley on CBC Information Morning
• Dorian Aftermath - Fire Volunteers, EMO, Rogue Wave, Financial Aid and Phone-in - Kevin Quigley on CBC Maritime Noon
• Mayor Savage mentions the work of Kevin Quigley and the Institute on CBC Information Morning

October | Round Table on Climate Change Adaptation

In October, the MacEachen Institute invited Head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation Blair Feltmate and City of Halifax Energy and Environment Program Manager Shannon Miedema, to speak about climate change adaptation at a round table with academics, researchers, NGOs, and public servants from all three levels of government.

The 2019 Federal Election (MacEachen Institute In the News)

There was a lot of discussion in the lead up to the 2019 federal election and our fellows weighed in.  Here are some select articles from MacEachen Institute Founding and Junior Fellows writing about the election, politics, electoral systems and more. 

• "Urban-rural" divide in Atlantic Canada is a myth by Junior Fellow Rachel McLay and Howard Ramos - Policy Options
• Why Canada should embrace a coalition-style ‘fellowship of parties’ by: Founding Fellow Ajay Parasram - The Conversation Canada
• Climate change is a top issue for Canadians. What should voters look for? by: Founding Fellow Larry Hughes - The Conversation Canada
• Brand versus reality: Trudeau’s style of governing must now change by: Junior Fellow Julia Rodgers - The Conversation Canada
• Justin Trudeau’s job just got a lot more complicated by: Founding Fellow Ajay Parasram - The Conversation Canada

November | Report on Recreational and Cultural Infrastructure

How much should we pay for cultural and recreational infrastructure (CRI) and where is the money best spent?  In November, we released a report on cultural and recreational infrastructure spending in Nova Scotia to our final Policy Matters crowd.  The report examines the policy context for CRI decision-making in Nova Scotia and governance frameworks that can assist with difficult decisions and make values and trade-offs more explicit. The full report is available on our website.