Queen's social policy conference 2020, under the overarching theme Building Back Better: Forging a Post-Pandemic Social Contract That Works For All, will explore how Canada and other Organisations for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries can rethink and reset critical building blocks of social policy in light of the fault lines exposed by the current crisis.
As Canada’s premiere social policy conference, for two and a half decades we have probed the most pressing social policy issues facing Canada and other OECD countries.
The 2020 crisis has forced governments to intervene in their economies and societies in unprecedented ways, with stay-at-home orders on the one hand and massive infusions of liquidity on the other. The crisis has raised questions about the responsibilities of companies to their workers. Over the past 6 months, it has led to strong feelings of social solidarity. Overall, it has raised questions about what societies really value; what citizens, families, communities and businesses owe each other; and what role government should play in the economy and society. Join our speaker panel in discussing these topics and questions, and whether this be temporary or will it lead to a rethinking of the social contract.
Speaker Panel:
- Keith Banting, Stauffer-Dunning Fellow and Professor Emeritus, Queen’s University (Moderator)
- Irene Bloemraad, Thomas Garden Barnes Chair of Canadian Studies & Director of the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, University of California, Berkeley
- Hugh Segal, Matthews Fellow in Global Public Policy, Queen’s University
- Debra Thompson, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, McGill University
