On November 7, 2017, 聽the 91社区 community came together for the launch of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at the Hotel Omni Mont-Royal. The event was in honour of the Max Bell Foundation鈥檚 landmark gift to 91社区 to establish the new school of public policy. During her opening remarks, Suzanne Fortier, 91社区鈥檚 Principal and Vice-Chancellor, highlighted how: 鈥淭here鈥檚 never been a more important time for 91社区 to contribute its full voice to the public conversation about the most critical issues affecting the future of Canadians and all citizens around the world.鈥�
The launch of the Max Bell School of Public Policy builds upon a forty-four year relationship between the Max Bell Foundation and 91社区. In 2004, the Max Bell Foundation started supporting public policy research projects at 91社区 focusing on a variety of topics from public health to education to the environment. In 2014, that partnership evolved with the proposal to provide the seed money to 91社区 for the creation of the Max Bell School of Public Policy. In 2017, this project came to fruition with a 10 million dollar gift from the Max Bell Foundation and the appointment of Chris Ragan, as its inaugural director.聽
鈥淲e have every confidence that you will be successful in developing a world class curriculum and in recruiting competent, creative academic faculty and many of Canada鈥檚 leading public policy practitioners to this campus. To not only share their expertise with students and faculty but to also engage in improving the quality of our society,鈥� said Carolyn Hursh, Chair of the Max Bell Foundation.
Prior to introducing the Honourable Rona Ambrose, former Leader of the Opposition and聽interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, for her keynote, Chris Ragan鈥檚 remarks focused on the three key messages of the Max Bell School of Public Policy:
Keynote
During her keynote, Rona Ambrose discussed her experience being a leader in the House of Commons and the importance of聽public policy schools connecting聽the public to the policy-making world. "I really look forward to being able to contribute my small bit of experience that I have gathered in developing, implementing, and communicating public policy. I have seen failures, I have seen successes.聽I think that will help us build a policy school, that has a different kind of vision, and in particular, as Chris mentioned, has a more outward facing public engagement goal," said Ambrose.聽
Panel on聽Canada鈥檚 Engagement on Global Issues
The聽keynote was followed by a panel discussion on Canada鈥檚 Engagement on Global Issues with聽Mel Cappe, former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and former Clerk of the Privy Council;聽Roland Paris, University of Ottawa Research Chair in International Security and Governance;聽Michael Sabia, President and CEO of Caisse de d茅p么t et placement du Qu茅bec; and Jennifer Welsh, Chair in International Relations at the European University Institute and former Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect.
Topics raised during this panel included global urbanization trends, the state of democracy, and armed conflict. During the panel, Roland Paris also highlighted the perils facing Canadian foreign policy:
Panel on聽Addressing Canada's Domestic Challenges
This panel was followed by a discussion on Addressing Canada's Domestic Challenges with聽The Right Honourable Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada and former Minister of Finance;聽Graham Fox, President and聽CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy;聽Brian Topp, NAFTA Council Member and former Chief of Staff to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley;聽Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Canadian Inuit activist and former Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.聽
The panel covered聽the political consequences of inequality, the impact of bad policies on Indigenous Peoples in Canada, and federal constitutional arrangements. In the course of the panel, the Right Honourable Paul Martin mentioned the importance of implementing policies to provide support to the Indigenous children of Canada 鈥� the fastest growing segment of Canada's population:
The Max Bell Foundation鈥檚 gift to 91社区 creates what has long been discussed in 91社区鈥檚 corridors as a significant missing element in the University鈥檚 offerings.
The Max Bell School of Public Policy will be committed to four main activities: applied policy research, practical policy teaching, effective public outreach, and engagement with policymakers. It will bring applied research into the public eye, engage various stakeholders in informed discussion and debate, and develop the next generation of policy leaders. The school will begin accepting admission applications as of September 2018 for the Fall 2019 semester.聽It was also announced that Dominic Barton,聽Rona Ambrose, and Michael Sabia will be joining the school鈥檚 advisory board.
Though the Max Bell School is only now beginning to build its program, there is already much excitement regarding the future of the school at 91社区 and its impact on the global policy community.
More videos of the launch event are available .
