In the spring of 2014, the University of Victoria (UVic) European Union Centre of Excellence (EUCE) and the Department of Political Science organized a series of workshops comparing Canadian and European Union (EU) approaches to social policy coordination across their different political systems. The Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue (CETD), the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations (IIGR), the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC), and the European Social Observatory (OSE) were key partners in the initiative.
The workshops started in Vancouver on April 14, 2014 (employment and pension policy) and finished in Halifax on May 16 (health care). In between, they were held in Edmonton on April 16 (research and postsecondary education), Montreal on May 9 (civil society participation), Toronto on May 12 (the market for coordination), and Ottawa on May 13, 2014 (policy learning).
The workshops provided an invaluable opportunity to have a practical conversation about the challenges of managing multilevel governance in Canada today. Using the EU as a mirror, workshop participants were able to reflect on ways to improve how social policy is managed in the Canadian federation.
The different outputs from these events are now available, and can be viewed on the Canada-EU workshops website. These include:
- A summary report on what was heard in Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax
- PowerPoint slides from some of the 30 expert presenters
- Commentaries written for and sent to the media
Bart Vanhercke from the European Social Observatory (OSE) in Brussels presented at the Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa workshops on the Open Method of Coordination as ‘Laboratory Federalism’. On June 4, 2014, Dr. Verdun presented at the OSE on Towards EU Unemployment Insurance? Comparing Canadian and EU Social Policy. This demonstrates that policy learning can travel both ways across the Atlantic. The different outputs of this event (including a short video, podcast, summary, and Working Paper) can be downloaded from the OSE website here.
In the fall, a synthesis report will be prepared, drawing out recommendations based on the research and what was heard at the Canadian workshops.