A trip to Ottawa for MPA and PMPA students.

Trade Policy for a Fragmenting World Economy

International trade is in a period of upheaval. The demand shocks and supply disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the (re)emergence of geopolitical fault lines in the wake of the US-China trade war and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the urgency of the climate crisis have deeply marked the way many businesses and government officials think about the global economy. Trade policy is affected in four major and closely interrelated ways.

Jonathan Malloy is a professor of Canadian parliamentary democracy at Carleton University. Prof. Malloy will speak on his new book, The Paradox of Parliament, which argues that Parliament labours under two different "logics" of its purpose and primary role: one based on governance and decision-making and one based on representation and voice.

Please join us to welcome Krishna Pendakur, Distinguished SFU Professor and Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University to be the W. Edmond Clark Lecture speaker for 2023.

Thursday October 19, 2023

4:00 PM ET

Dupuis Hall, 217

What Should We Do About Rising Inequality? 

Krishna Pendakur is Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University, Canada. From 2007 to 2013 he was Co-Director of Metropolis British Columbia (MBC), Center of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Diversity, an interdisciplinary policy research center which connects academic researchers with policy-makers in government and NGO communities. His research focuses on consumer demand econometrics, with an emphasis on the measurement of the cost-of-living, inequality, discrimination and poverty, in a variety of international contexts. He has made major contributions in four areas: work on structural semi- and nonparametric econometric models; research on consumer demand analysis; work on unobserved heterogeneity; and papers on inequality and poverty.

Lt-General (retired) the Honourable Andrew Leslie will discuss Russia's War in Ukraine - why it started, how it's going, what does it mean for the rest of us, Canada's role in comparison to others, and what might happen next.

The Department of Political Studies, the Electoral Integrity Project, the Institute for Intergovernmental Relations, and the School of Policy Studies present:

“Citizen Election Observers in Theory and Practice”

with Martyna Hoffman and Rebecca Wagner of the Electoral Integrity Project

Tuesday, March 21st, 12:00 – 1:30 pm

Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 202

*Light lunch provided

Abstract:

International election observation has become one of the key instruments of international democracy promotion. Less well known but equally widespread, however, are citizen observers. Yet the Copenhagen Document of 1990 and the Venice Commission of 2002 have affirmed that “the participating States consider that the presence of observers, both foreign and domestic, can enhance the electoral process in States where elections are held.” Against the backdrop of global democratic backsliding, this seminar will provide a historical overview of the origins of international and domestic election observation, as well as their fundamental norms and principles. Two empirical case studies will discuss recent developments and challenges in citizen election observation and its role in promoting citizen trust in elections. First, a case study will examine how citizen observers face restrictions and threats during elections, how they respond, and the role of trust in their ability to respond. Second, the case of Poland will be used to discuss the role that citizen observers can play in building trust in elections, and how their actions might be considered to have the opposite effect.

Biographies:

Rebecca Wagner is a doctoral researcher at the Peace Research Institute (PRIF) in Frankfurt where she conducts research on resistance and resilience, international democracy support, civil society and elections. Before joining PRIF, Rebecca gained more than seven years’ experience of international human rights and democracy support work, including participating in ODIHR /OSCE Election Observation Missions and serving as a civic observer. Her most recent election observation mission took her to the USA Midterm Elections in 2022. Rebecca Wagner is member of the research network External Democracy Promotion (EDP). She has degrees from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and the University of Konstanz, Germany.

Martyna Hoffman is a sociologist and PhD student at Nicolaus Copernicus University. Her research focuses on voting accessibility. She runs the research project "On the edge of democracy? Active suffrage practices of people in a situation of homelessness", funded by the Polish National Science Center. She collaborates with Political Accountability Foundation (Fundacja Odpowiedzialna Polityka) - a Polish NGO specialising in election observation. She completed her MA and BA in Sociology at Nicolaus Copernicus University.

Queen’s School of policy Studies is pleased to host its fourth expert panel discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over three years since the first session, and just over one since the third, our panelists will focus on what we didn't know, what we know and what we wished we had known, the expected and unexpected and policies and principles for next time.

Panelists:

Dr. Gerald Evans Professor of Medicine, Chair, division of Infectious Diseases, Queen’s University; director of infection prevention and control Kingston Health Sciences Centre.

Dr. Kieran Moore Chief Medical Officer of Health, Province of Ontario. Professor, Emergency Medicine and Family Medicine, Queen’s University.

Dr. Samantha Buttemer Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences and Policy Studies; advisor to Queen’s University on COVID-19.

Dr. David Walker Professor, Emergency Medicine and Policy Studies; Special advisor to the Principal on COVID-19; Former Board Chair, Public Health Ontario and chair, Ontario’s Expert Panel on SARS.