Today, the Northern Policy Institute was finally announced by the
Ontario government simultaneously at Laurentian and Lakehead Universities with
the news that the institute will be jointly housed at Lakehead and Laurentian
with a 10 member board overseeing the operation and with the search currently
underway for a CEO. This is a process
that has been a long time in the making starting from the original North
Superior Planning Board Report in 2007 on a policy institute for Northwestern
Ontario and then the morphing of the concept into a pan-northern institute
through the 2008 Rosehart Report and then the 2011 Northern Ontario Growth
Plan. The idea of a policy institute definitely caught the interest of the provincial government given that during this long interim it provided 5 million dollars to University of Toronto to fund the Mowat Centre in 2010 - a public policy institute to research issues from an Ontario perspective.
According to the press release:
The
institute, an independent, not-for-profit organization, will monitor the
implementation of the Growth
Plan for Northern Ontario and make provincial policy recommendations for
the region. It will work with northern municipalities, post-secondary
institutions, research groups, Aboriginal organizations, francophone groups and
industry to set priorities and directions for northern development.
This is very good news for Northern Ontario as it provides
the recognition that there needs to be research and policy analysis on
economic, social and business issues in the North. The Presidents of both Lakehead and
Laurentian are to be commended for their work leading up to today’s
announcements as are many of the local community leaders and politicians who
devoted time to what at many times seemed to be a byzantine task with no end in
sight.
Having followed the Northern Ontario economy and regional
economic development policy for over twenty years and researching and commenting
on issues affecting the region, it is reassuring personally for me to know that
in a sense it will be possible to pass on the torch and finally move on
confident in the knowledge that there will finally be the commitment of
resources for the study of Northern Ontario issues. Despite popular perception (even at the
university where I work), as an academic economist, research and public commentary on northern
Ontario or the Thunder Bay economy was never my main area of academic interest. My fields are public finance and economic
history and “northern” work took much time away from those endeavors. While I enjoyed interacting with the local
media and was always treated very well and fairly by all, this activity also
took a great deal of time in the sense that it often meant completely
interrupting your train of thought. Over
the last while, I have been devoting more time to interests in health economics
and economic history and less to the North and so the actual operationalization
of the institute comes at a good time.
I was born and raised in Northern Ontario and as an academic
I made the sustained effort to apply my skills and knowledge to local and
regional public policy because I felt it was important to give something back
to the community and there was so little analysis of northern Ontario issues. Over the years, many
have thanked me for this work via conversations and personal notes whether it
was for columns in the Chronicle-Journal, interviews on TBT or CBC Radio and
most recently for my blogging on Northern Economist. Of course, in the process I also irritated a great many people. I do not apologize for that. Politicians and society’s leaders need to
realize that true university academics are passionate and committed researchers who speak their
minds and not cheerleaders to be trotted out as a pretty backdrop at a moments
notice for the pet issue of the day.
Those politicians who think academics should simply provide blanket endorsements
for government actions and policies reveal just how little respect they have
for knowledge and education and the people employed in those fields.
As for the future of the Northern Policy Institute (NPI), I
would be remiss as an academic in not offering a final frank and honest
assessment. It is a great idea
and concept but the fact that its role will be to “monitor the implementation
of the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario” in essence undermines both its
independence and its effectiveness as an advocate for the region. Of course, these are just the words of a
press release and the reality will be in implementation but the board of the NPI
needs ensure that the institute sets its own research and policy agenda in
terms of collecting data on economic, social and business issues that reflect
the region’s priorities. If it is
simply a mouthpiece to support the latest government policy initiative in the
North, then what is the point?
That’s all folks!
For additional blog postings on public policy and economics, visit my material on Worthwhile Canadian Initiative. You will be able to continue to access Northern Economist 2.0 postings on this blog as well as my previous material at the old Northern Economist site for the next while.
For additional blog postings on public policy and economics, visit my material on Worthwhile Canadian Initiative. You will be able to continue to access Northern Economist 2.0 postings on this blog as well as my previous material at the old Northern Economist site for the next while.
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