The Max Bell School’s first policy conference was held at the Sofitel on November 14th, and attracted a diverse crowd of both students and professionals. This year’s conference theme was ‘Why good ideas aren’t enough,’ and featured a panel of academics, political commentators, think tank experts and politicians —notably including the former Premier of Alberta, Rachel Notley, and former Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin.

The theme of the conference gave rise to a bigger question, one that was broached in each panel discussion: aside from good ideas, what else do we need for better policy? Through their years of experience and shared ideas, the panelists suggested a few answers to this question.

1. Honesty

The first panel opened up with a discussion on ‘pendulum swings:’ oscillations in policy driven by the political current. 

“What hurts issues is pendulum swings,” said Velma McColl, Principal of Earnscliffe Strategy Group. When politicians support radical policies backed by populist movements in order to get elected, their dishonesty can prove costly in the long-run. Money spent on advancing a policy agenda is wasted when a new government is elected on a platform that seeks to entirely undo the work done by previous governments. McColl referred to such policies driven by polling as ‘unserious,’ a term which continued to be used throughout the panel.

Bruce Lourie, President of the Ivey Foundation, posited that the goal in policymaking is to agree on the fundamental ideas and instead focus debate on the “margins of issues,” i.e. the specifics of policymaking. The discussion that ensued attributed the Harper government’s success in holding office for nine years to the ‘seriousness’ of their policies (which was swiftly juxtaposed with Andrew Scheer’s ‘unserious’ climate policies this election season).

Former Alberta Premier Rachel Notley advised that running on an honest campaign is ultimately beneficial to the politician, as it allows them to get elected on a platform that represents their true interests.  

2. Strategy

In his 1984 publication Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies, renowned political scientist John Kingdon introduced the Multiple Streams Framework, which has become a widely used model for policy analysis. The framework states that the policy window only opens, permitting policy change, when three streams converge: problems, proposals, and politics. In other words, he argued that policymaking is only possible when governments recognize problems which have viable policy solutions and when these solutions align with political agendas. 

Nancy Olewiler, Director of Simon Fraser University’s School of Public Policy, emphasized the need for strategic work among policy schools and think tanks. She suggested that academics — especially those equipped with the freedoms of tenure — tend to pursue their interests on their own schedules, rather than pooling research and being prepared for when the policy window opens. Effective coordination and collaboration among policy schools could generate a strong force, when produced at the right time, that will amplify the effect of good policy ideas. 

3. Long-Term Thinking

Lester R. Brown, a renowned environmental analyst, once said that policymaking is about ‘representing the future to the present,' which was a phrase that gained some traction at the conference. The ideas we have now will be the ideas implemented in the future. Given the slow pace of policymaking, those working in policy may be easily dissuaded from pushing for new ideas if those ideas are not acknowledged firsthand. 

Jack Mintz, President’s Fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, suggested that branding is especially important for think tanks, as it enables ideas to gather support over time. Policy schools are similarly an investment in long-term thinking, as policy professors are able to influence many cohorts of students over the course of their careers. Thus, conference rapporteur Andrew Potter said in his concluding remarks that policy schools are “creating the future” by diffusing their ideas through the next generation of policy leaders. 

4. Putting good ideas into practice

One good idea that was extensively discussed during the conference was Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission. Largely deemed successful ex-post by the panel, this initiative aimed to bring academic discussions on environmental pricing reform into the practical policymaking world. Chaired by McGill economics professor Chris Ragan, Ecofiscal engaged academics in a unique way; Andrew Leach, an environmental economist at the University of Alberta, joked that more people read Ecofiscal reports than his academic papers. Considering economist Bill Watson’s pithy two cents that even the best policies generate losers, being risk-averse at the time of an environmental crisis and failing to put good ideas into practice is especially detrimental.

Final thoughts

While good ideas may be available and abundant, putting them in place may be difficult due to pressure from stakeholders, the risk of failure and the frustrations that come with slow policy change. Through the various speakers and panels, it is clear that policymaking is complex and warrants critical, evidence-driven discussions.