Archived Event Publications, Presentations and Speeches

June 10, 2010 JSGS Public Lecture "A Model of Regulatory Burden for the Diffusion of New Technology" Presented by Dr. David Castle, Canada Research Chair in Science and Society, University of Ottawa and Diefenbaker Policy Fellow, University of Saskatchewan

April 23, 2010 JSGS Public Lecture "Decentralization of Health: Recent Studies of Decision Space, Capacities and Accountability" Presented by Dr. Thomas Bossert, Harvard School of Public Health. Click here to download the slides from this presentation. (This event is in conjunction with the Western Regional Training Centre on Health Services Research, and was co-sponsored by the University of Saskatchewan School of Public Health)

March 8, 2010 Download PowerPoint slides from The Future of Pension Policy Symposium

Workplace Pensions: Trouble in Pillar 3 
Presented by Robert Baldwin.
Robert Baldwin was a member of the advisory panel to the Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions. He is an Ottawa-based consultant specializing in pensions, aging society and labour market issues. A senior associate with Informetrica  Ltd., Baldwin is also an adjunct research professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University. In his presentation at the pension conference, Baldwin said that the proportion of the workforce participating in workplace pensions has been declining steadily since the late 1970s. Such a decline in coverage could have a significant effect on the future of Canadian retirements, Baldwin said. He also discussed the differences and benefits of defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) pension plans. He noted that there is a huge array of pension plan designs, and that they are not limited to the DC and DB models.

Pension Futures: Historical Perspectives 
Presented by Daniel Beland, Canada Research Chair, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School.
Daniel Béland is Canada Research Chair in Public Policy and professor at the Johnson-Shoyama School of Public Policy (University of Saskatchewan). A political sociologist working on politics and social policy from an historical and comparative perspective, he has held visiting fellowships at the University of Chicago, the Kennedy School of Government (Harvard University), the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and George Washington University. Béland is an expert in the history of pensions. After providing a glimpse into the development of Canada's pension system, Béland set the stage for the conference by outlining the issues facing pension policy makers and regulators today - such as demographics, flaws in voluntary pension coverage, and the recent financial crisis. He noted that Canada has done a better job than many countries in fighting poverty among the elderly, with its Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) plans. However, Canada must now consider its future options, such as expanding CPP, creating a new public program, and/or strengthening pension regulations. 

American Pension Reform: Beyond the 401(k)
Presented by Teresa Ghilarducci
Teresa Ghilarducci is the Irene and Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of Economic Policy Analysis and Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research. Previously, she served as a professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame. Ghilarducci's recent book, When I'm Sixty-four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them, published in May 2008 by Princeton University Press, investigates the effect of pension losses on older Americans. Her book Labor's Capital: The Economics and Politics of Employer Pensions, MIT Press, won an Association of American Publishers award in 1992. Ghilarducci has testified frequently before the US Congress, and is a regular commentator in the popular media on retirement and economic policy issues. Ghilarducci argues against the 401K retirement contribution system in the United States. While 401Ks are portable, they do not provide universal coverage, nor are they adequate. She points out that six per cent of 401K contributors receive 50 per cent of the tax breaks, and these earners would save for retirement anyway. Instead, Ghilarducci has proposed a universal retirement system where every worker contributes five per cent of his or her pay into a guaranteed retirement account.

Older and Wiser? The Future of Pension Policy
Presented by John H. Ilkiw, Senior Vice-President, CPPIB, Portfolio Design and Investment Research.
John Ilkiw is responsible for research supporting the development of investment policies and value-added strategies including risk management at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. He has over 30 years of experience in the pension field acquired through his work in Canada, the U.K. and the United States. Ilkiw's presentation focused on two solutions to solving the looming pension problem: raising the contributory base of the Canada Pension Plan, or introducing a Canada-wide defined contribution plan as supplementary to CPP. These solutions would address the problem of lower, less reliable and higher-cost income replacement rates for medium and high income earners.

Forces Shaping the Future of Voluntary Retirement Programs
Presented by Don Ireland
Don Ireland is Senior Vice-President with Aon Consulting in Calgary, where he is responsible for leading the company's Alberta retirement strategies team, among other responsibilities. Ireland specializes in assessing and advising on retirement and savings programs, on issues ranging from risk factors to governance and communication requirements. Ireland holds a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from the University of Alberta. He joined Aon in 1987, and has logged more than 22 years of pension consulting experience. He became an associate of the Society of Actuaries in 1988 and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries in 1993. Ireland outlined the various needs of governments, businesses and individuals within a pension system, and noted the many financial needs competing with pensions for funding. He said the future will bring a greater diversity in plan designs, which are now being widely discussed; but he advised that the pension debate should now move to levels of coverage, developing financial literacy, and broad-based diversity.

Private and Occupational Pensions Regulations: Comparative Lessons
Presented by Michael Kpessa
Michael Kpessa is a post-doctoral policy fellow at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan campus. He recently completed his PhD in political science at McMaster University. His dissertation was entitled Resistance, Continuity and Change: The Politics of Pension Reforms in English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. His current research projects focus on development, institutional change, pension reform, and the role of transnational actors in sub-Sahara Africa and beyond. Kpessa distinguishes between the ideologies of pension plan models in a variety of countries: the social democratic, social liberal, and neo-liberal models. Each tries to deal with issues such as public myopia (undervaluing pension security) and market volatility. The social democratic model, for instance, is focused on mandatory participation, while the social liberal model emphasizes automatic enrolment with opting out choices. The neo-liberal model relies more on consumer choice, and offers the least state intervention.  He has developed a table that allows for easy comparisons of each model within his presentation.

Pension Governance
Presented by Brian Smith
Brian Smith is the Assistant Deputy Minister, Saskatchewan Finance, for the Public Employees Benefits Agency (PEBA) division. PEBA administers 32 public sector pension and benefit plans in Saskatchewan. Brian has a Master's degree in environmental studies from York University and a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from the University of Saskatchewan. He joined PEBA in 1986, after 17 years with the Co-operators Life Insurance Company where he rose through several positions to senior management. Smith's presentation outlined some of the pension plans overseen by PEBA in Saskatchewan. From his knowledge of these plans, Smith offered several conclusions. For one, it is possible to govern a defined contribution (DC) plan as cost-effectively as a defined benefit (DB) plan; and it is never a good idea to spend DB surpluses on permanent benefit improvements. In addition, communications are key but difficult. Despite considerable efforts at communicating with pension plan members, very few will  read such information.

Older and Wiser: The Future of Pension Policy
Presented by Scott Sweatman, lawyer and Co-chair of the Alberta/B.C. Joint Expert Panel on Pension Standards
Scott Sweatman's expertise includes pensions, benefits, executive compensation and related tax law. Between October 2007 and November 2008, Sweatman and his partner, Chris Brown, served as co-chairs of the Alberta-British Columbia Joint Expert Panel on Pension Standards. With another partner, Michael Wolpert, Sweatman serves on the Alberta and British Columbia Joint Advisory Group, established to help the provincial governments implement  new pension standards legislation. Sweatman has recently co-founded Spectrum HR Law, a new firm specializing in pensions and other benefits. The focus of Sweatman's presentation is on the harmonization of pension legislation. In Canada, because of the Constitution Act, there are 10 pension jurisdictions, which lead to inconsistent laws, overlapping powers and uneven administration. Sweatman advocates developing identical, or at least similar-in-principle, pension legislation to support labour and mobility innovations.

January 2010 Download Report Improving the Education Outcomes of Aboriginal People Living Off-Reserve: A Discussion of Delivery Models Based on A Colloquium - Improving the Educational Outcomes of Aboriginal People Living Off-Reserve: A Discussion of Delivery Models. (This event was co-sponsored by the University of Saskatchewan College of Education, the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, the Office of the Federal Interlocutor, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Ministry of Education)  Click here For more information. 

October 13, 2009 Download Speech Policy Making in the 21st Century: New Challenges for Canada Presented by Wayne G. Wouters, Clerk of the Privy Council Office and Secretary to the Cabinet

November 13, 2009 Download Powerpoint Presentation Population Health and Health System Reform: The Challenge of Needs-Based Funding Models in Five Provinces Presented by Dr. Tom McIntosh, Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Regina (This event is in conjunction with the Western Regional Training Centre on Health Services Research)

November 30, 2009 Download Presentation from the 2009 Harry Toop Memorial Science for Saskatchewan Lecture Climate Policy Challenges and Technological Change: From Local to Global Presented by Mark Jaccard, Professor of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University (This presentations was co-sponsored by the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and the University of Saskatchewan School of Environment and Sustainability) 

April 16, 2009 Tansley Lecture If You Build It, Will They Come? Overcoming Unforeseen Obstacles to Program Effectiveness Presented by Dr. Kent Weaver, Professor of Public Policy and Government, Georgetown University and Senior Fellow in the Governance Studies Program, Brookings Institution.