Health

How to accelerate people-centred reform now

Serving the public and global good

What needs to happen following the Expert Advisory Group’s Final Report

Getting Canadians immunized against COVID-19 has been a complicated process in a country that has neither the capabilities to produce its own vaccine nor a centralized healthcare system to administer it.

As COVID-19 surged through Canada’s population, the country’s genomics community came together in an ambitious national consortium to sequence the genomes of the virus and Canadians exposed or affected. Its challenging work didn’t stop there. Mary Gooderham recounts how it was done.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a crisis that mobilized organizations and economies – one that tested both the operational assumptions and preparedness of every public sector organization in Canada. Given the adage, “never let a good crisis go to waste”, this paper takes the opportunity to consider digital transformation in the time of pandemic and to offer recommendations to organizations as they consider how best to approach digital transformation, security, and workers, post-pandemic.

Past Event

PPF’s annual Fall Dinner will showcase two case studies, a keynote speaker, and a panel that will explore the topic of collaboration between different levels of government and other sectors during a global crisis.

Members of Canada’s political class should on balance receive at least a passing grade for their management of the pandemic, and Canadians should be both proud and worried about policymakers’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The three areas in which they could have done better include: keeping schools open, using technology to combat the pandemic, and prioritizing vaccine targeting.

Following PPF's 2020 report, Science Disinformation in a Time of Pandemic, PPF renews the project to continue the conversation with 2021's new initiative, Responding to Science Disinformation. In this report, fellow Peter Loewen and Eric Merkley consider the ways in which technology has impacted the spread of misinformation throughout the public, and how and in what ways policy makers can challenge misinformation without stifling free speech and freedom of expression.

As the supply and availability of vaccines continue to increase across Canada, the only limiting factor on vaccination rates will soon be the willingness of otherwise-reluctant individuals to be vaccinated. Examining data from the Media Ecosystem Observatory, Dr. Peter Loewen provides a real-time view of the vaccine hesitant in Canada. Who are these people? Where do they live? How informed are they about COVID-19?

News headlines emphasize non-compliance and dissatisfaction with the COVID-19 response. Yet a COVID-19 consensus has emerged, and Canadians are as supportive of governments’ response to the virus as they were 10 months ago. Examining data from the Media Ecosystem Observatory, Dr. Peter Loewen finds that Canadians broadly agree on the risks of the disease, what measures should be taken to fight it and how much income support individuals and businesses should receive.

Canada has approved four COVID-19 vaccines for use and secured access to more vaccine doses per person than any other country. With such a wide array of vaccines likely to be made available to them, Canadians’ preferences on which vaccine they receive could have a big impact on the vaccination campaign. With data from the Media Ecosystem Observatory, Dr. Peter Loewen breaks down what Canadians consider most important in a vaccine, and which vaccines they prefer.

Past Event