Law and Public Policy

D11(b) - Policy Process and Change

Date: Jun 4 | Time: 10:15am to 11:45am | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Jenna Quelch (University of Toronto)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Katherine Boothe (McMaster University)

A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians at 50: Population Health and Climate Change: Daniel Cohn (York University)
Abstract: 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians. The report explicitly tried to set a new course for health policy, arguing that improvements in health would come not from spending more on health care but through preventing illness. It further argued that good health was difficult to achieve without social action because many of the threats to health were inexplicably tied to economic development. In short, the report argued for a two-pronged change of direction in policymaking. First the emphasis on curative health care in policymaking needed to be reduced, by giving greater consideration to maintaining health. Second, there needed to be an acknowledgement that good health is a complex product of biology, lifestyle and the environment (with the latter two heavily influenced by societal factors). Therefore promoting population health requires a whole-of-government response. Institutions and social systems tend to change gradually through incremental steps that can only be appreciated over time. Therefore, now that a half century has passed since the publication of A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians, it seems a fitting time to assess what success, if any, has been achieved in reorienting Canadian policymaking along the two avenues highlighted in the report. Climate change (a product of economic development with clear dangers for the population’s health) presents an ideal issue to test this by asking; to what degree the issue is being treated as a health priority, and framed as a health matter by Canadian governments?

A Punctuated Equilibrium Approach to Understanding Economic Policy Making in Ghana: The Case of Electronic Transaction Levy Policy: Belinda Dentu (Brock University), Charles Conteh (Brock University)
Abstract: While substantial research exists on economic policies globally, there remains a notable gap in applying theoretical frameworks to understand how these policies are developed, particularly in the context of developing countries like those in Africa. Most existing theories have been primarily utilized in developed nations, and the same cannot be said of the developing world. This provides a fertile ground for new research. The study addresses this gap by applying Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) to analyze digital tax policies in Africa, specifically Ghana. Ghana is chosen as the case study for this research due to its recent adoption of the Electronic Levy (E-Levy) policy, which serves as an illustrative case for PET. The PET is thus employed here to explain the policy process that led to the development of this policy. According to PET, policy frameworks tend to remain stable over long periods (equilibrium) but can undergo rapid changes when significant disruptions, or “punctuations,” occur. By applying this theory to the E-levy policy, my study argues that the E-levy policy emerged after a prolonged period of stability within Ghana's tax policy framework, driven by significant pressures that caused punctuations in the policy process, ultimately leading to a policy change. The research is chiefly qualitative, and makes use of a diachronic case study research design. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in demonstrating PET’s relevance in a developing world context, thereby expanding its applicability globally. Additionally, it provides a practical framework for understanding policy changes in diverse political and economic environments.

Making the First Move: The Learning Dynamics of Policy Innovation in Nascent Policy Issues: Adrienne Davidson (McMaster University), Anwar Sheluchin (McMaster University)
Abstract: How influential are first movers in policy design? Do they narrow the range of policy options for policymakers in other jurisdictions or do they provide the foundation for new or expanded action? To date, the study of policy innovation and subsequent diffusion dynamics has highlighted the independent influence of policy entrepreneurs, political ideology, and the relative complexity of the policy issue area in shaping the dynamics of policy learning (Pachecho and Boushey 2014; Adams 2020). This literature has largely investigated well-established policy issue areas where interest groups are entrenched and there is often clear partisan alignment on different policy design options – both of which shape the nature of policy emulation and learning processes (Volden 2006; Parinandi 2020). In this paper, we examine the learning dynamics that emerge in the context of qualitatively new policy issue areas that lack existing policy frameworks or an established policy community. We investigate these dynamics in two nascent policy issues areas with very different embedded dynamics: (1) cyberbullying (morality policy), and (2) cryptocurrency (regulatory policy). We rely on a database of 376 separate pieces of legislation and use automated textual analysis to construct a measure of legislative similarity through which to explore learning and diffusion dynamics across three separate federal systems.

Navigating an Arctic Crossroads: Historical Insights into Canada’s Policy for the Northwest Passage: Caleb Duffield (McMaster University), Adrienne Davidson (McMaster University), Ryan Dorsman (McMaster University)
Abstract: Extended melt seasons have significantly diminished the Northwest Passage’s (NWP) ice coverage, heightening Canadian and international interests in the NWP as a potential shipping corridor and future area for resource extraction. Void of sufficient policy strategies, such potential economic activities may engender profoundly negative consequences, both to the environmental integrity of the area, as well as towards local Indigenous communities. In this paper, we ask: what can be learned by drawing parallels between past Canadian government experiences in the NWP and concurrent and future challenges facing Canadian policymakers in this area? By examining past Canadian Arctic policies through geopolitical and domestic lenses, we extract critical insights to inform future governance strategies. We apply a novel “forwards-looking-backwards,” methodological approach that combines the systematic analysis of historical institutionalism with lesson-drawing policy learning. We argue that the trajectory of Canadian policymaking in the Arctic, marked by a series of ambitious yet inconsistently implemented declarations and policies, prompts a cautious examination of the 2019 Arctic and Northern Policy Framework (ANPF). Our methodological framework allows us to critique the aspirational language of the ANPF, showing clear examples of path dependence, while also offering actionable strategies to bridge the gap between policy formulation and implementation. We contribute both to a dearth in the literature which, until now, has given limited treatment to the NWP as a policymaking area – and specifically to the future challenges it faces because of climate change – as well as to the broader discourse on reimagining governance in turbulent times.