Instrument Choice

The effectiveness and legitimacy of instrument choices - the tools of governance - have been of significant interest in the public sector for several years. In 2002, the PRI initiated a research project with a view to examining the topic, and some of the key obstacles its development to date, as well proposals for a research path forward. Information about the project and the ideas that gave rise to it can be found in the foundation paper, which also provided the basis for a conference held in 2002 at McGill University entitled Instrument Choice in Global Democracies. Later that year, PRI held a one-day policy dialogue on the use of alternative social policy instruments as tools to achieve community-based reconciliation and avoid litigation.

The ideas generated at the conference – notably the shift from instrument choice as a tool for effectiveness to a tool for good governance – have been picked up in the public service through an innovative research proposal by Health Canada entitled Governance Choices and Health Care Quality: A Focus on Patient Safety. The proposal has generated several funded research studies that are currently underway.

The work done to date by the project has generated an edited collection entitled Designing Government: From Instruments to Governance, which was published by McGill-Queen's University Press in February 2005. The book includes both Canadian and comparative analyses of the intellectual history of instrument choice, its practical application and development in Canada and the relationship of instrument choice to policy design, implementation and risk management from economic, legal and political science perspectives.

Urban Aboriginals Peoples: Perspectives in Research

The Aboriginal Policy Research Conference, organized by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) in partnership with a number of federal departments and agencies, including the PRI, was held November 2002 in Ottawa. Many of the presentations given at the Conference were based on papers, commissioned by the PRI, on urban Aboriginal issues. These papers form the core of a publication titled "Not Strangers in These Parts: Urban Aboriginal People". The PRI, in partnership with Privy Council Office's Urban Aboriginal Strategy, INAC's Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate, and the University of Western Ontario, assembled the publication. Edited by Professors David Newhouse (Trent University) and Evelyn Peters (University of Saskatchewan), this compilation covers a wide range of topics including urban Aboriginal institutions, Aboriginal languages, and economic development. Launch of this collection was fall 2003. For more information you can call the PRI at 613-947-1956 or e-mail us at <questions@prs-srp.gc.ca.>

Genomics and Public Policy: Symposium Papers

A symposium on "Genomics and Public Policy" was held in Toronto in June 2002. The event was organized by the PRI, in partnership with the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Genome Canada, Health Canada, and Industry Canada. A publication titled "Genomics, Health, and Society: Emerging Issues for Public Policy" was released in December 2003. The publication themes include the policy context, genetic medicine and privacy, intellectual property, implications for the developing world, and informing government.

The symposium, Genomics, Health and Society: Emerging Issues for Public Policy, held in Ottawa on March 24 and 25, 2004 was an effort to bring together experts and policy makers to better understand the implications of rapid advances in this human science for individuals, societies, and economies. This symposium report captures the essence of the presentations and the discussions. For more information you can call the PRI at 613-947-1956 or e-mail us at <questions@prs-srp.gc.ca.>