The Max Bell School of Public Policy remained a public policy leader through our events and research, and ensured that we maintained the high quality of our MPP program while recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. We have had a productive year with numerous events and research opportunities.
We graduated our Class of 2022 and welcomed our fourth cohort of MPP students this year. Members of our third cohort have jumpstarted their careers at prestigious institutions in Canada and around the world including the government of Alberta, Canada Revenue Agency, and many more. We also welcomed visiting professors Olivia Smith, Vincent Rigby and Neil Bouwer for the 2022-2023 school year.
Here are some of the highlights from our fun-filled year!
MPP Program
Policy Lab
A capstone element of our MPP program is the Policy Lab. Sponsors are selected from among corporations, government departments, and NGOs to provide students with specific policy challenges. This year, our MPP students worked in teams to tackle issues including climate change, affordable housing, gaps in healthcare, and more. We also were fortunate enough to have Interac Corp. commit as a sponsor for the Policy Lab for the next three years.
Parliament Hill Visit
In November, our 2023 MPP candidates visited Parliament Hill in Ottawa to meet with Members of Parliament and public policy workers and gain firsthand knowledge. The trip was designed to educate and inspire.
Research and Initiatives
Our faculty members continue to be prolific in their initiatives and research on public policy. Here’s what they’ve been up to over the past 12 months.
The MAX Policy Series
MAX Policy is a collection of provocative ideas and policy solutions generated by the minds at the Max Bell School of Public Policy. In 2022, we heard from Ndidi Nwuneli on averting the next food crisis and enabling small businesses, Sue Gardner on Bill C-18 and "diagnosing" the internet's ills, Vincent Rigby on rethinking Canada's national security, and Chris Ragan on modern monetary theory.
Quebec Election Misinformation Project
McGill researchers within the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy launched the Quebec Election Misinformation Project in 2022 to quickly identify and respond to misinformation circulating during the 2022 Quebec provincial election and assess its scope and effects on Quebecers attitudes and behaviors.
Law Reform Opportunities in Quebec for Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence
Professor Pearl Eliadis, as part of the Quebec Homelessness Prevention Policy Collaborative, published a report in November 2022 with five areas for legal reform with twelve recommendations that have the potential to reduce the risk of housing insecurity for survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and their children.
Events
Like last year, our roster of events over the past year has been extensive, from addressing pressing issues ranging from Russia’s intervention in Ukraine to digital democracy. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to host more in-person events, and we were fortunate to foster connections between cohorts and within the McGill community.
February | Creating and Enabling Policies for Small Businesses: Lessons from Africa was the first online event of the year where two experts from Kenya and Nigeria, Adron Naggayi Nalinya and Toki Mabogunje, shared their experiences in building the skills of entrepreneurs and supportive infrastructure to share micro and macro-economic and financial, and sector-specific policies that positively influence their ecosystem.
As part of the Black History month, speakers Terri Givens and Tshepo Madlingozi unpacked decolonization as a conceptual framework and disrupting mainstream approaches to public policy.
March | In March, the world was struck by the news of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. This event, within the week of the military operation in Ukraine, had experts discussing what this action tells the world about Russia’s goals and military capability, the strength of the Ukrainian resistance, and how international institutions are being tested.
We also hosted former President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, in an event on "Shaping Local and Global Policies for Small Businesses," where he shared his insights and experiences.
June | In June, we welcomed Ravi Venkatesan, the founder of the Global Alliance of Mass Entrepreneurship, where he talked about challenges and opportunities facing enterprises and entrepreneurship, and strategies for enabling conditions.
September | Partnered with the IRPP, this panel of Jennifer Welsh, Ali Dizboni, Vincent Rigby and Andrew Potter looked at the future of national security in the world of the “n-block war”.
October | The 2022 Annual Beaverbrook Lecture featured Jamal Jaffer and Frances Haugen discussing "Free Speech and Democracy in the Era of Twitter and TikTok." The Beaverbrook lecture focused on the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision and addressed broader questions surrounding free speech and social media regulation.
With the Fall Policy Dialogue & MPP Reunion, we welcomed back our MPP alumni to campus and celebrated our graduates before McGill's fall Convocation. The reunion was held after a policy discussion that focused on U.S. politics.
November | We hosted two events on November 8: an invite-only conversation with the Nordic Ambassadors to Canada, and a workshop addressing Human Trafficking by visiting professor Olivia Smith.
Our last event of the year was Humour, Hate and Harm: Rethinking dignity, equality and free speech after the SCC’s decision in Ward v Quebec. This hybrid event explored the legal and policy dimensions of the tensions following the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on the interactions among freedom of expression, human dignity, and equality law. This conference offered a unique opportunity in an intimate setting for students, scholars and the community to discuss these pressing issues of social justice with leaders of Canada’s human right’s institutions as well as prominent constitutional and human rights litigators, academics and anti-racism organizations.
We’re looking forward to continuing success and innovation in our academics and research in 2023!
