BUILDING BACK BETTER: Forging a post-pandemic social contract that works for all

A weekly series of on-line moderated discussions between August 25 and September 10, 2020

Queen’s International Institute on Social Policy is thrilled to celebrate 25 years of leading social policy discussions of national importance.  Under the overarching theme - Building Back Better: forging a post-pandemic social contract that works for all - the 2020 Queen’s social policy conference will explore how Canada and other OECD countries can rethink and reset critical building blocks of social policy in light of the fault lines exposed by the current crisis.

Session 1 - Taking stock

Heading into fall 2020, as Canada and other OECD countries work to re-open their economies, what do we know about the pandemic’s impact so far on different OECD economies, sectors, regions, citizens and generations? What have we learned about the enabling conditions and policy mix for resilient economies and societies? What can we glean about the effectiveness of different countries’ responses and approaches?  What actions has Canada taken and how does it compare? Are there early lessons to be learned?

Speakers:

• Stefano Scarpetta, Director, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD
• Kevin Milligan, Professor of Economics, Vancouver School of Economics, UBC

Moderator:  Catherine Adam, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, ESDC