List of Panels:
A Blueprint for Sustainable Policy-making: Advancing green technology
Speakers in this panel will include a representative from an innovative and sustainable company to see how industry pushes policy, a policy expert, and a government official that has an interest in sustainable policy. With such a discussion, using green technology as an example, the audience will have a greater understanding of how to affect change within their own society, and how much that change is dependent on either the government, the industries, or members of the community.
Roger Gaudreault, Corporate director, Scientific Development & Innovation, Cascades Canada
Michel Lachance, Director, Industrial Bioproducts and Green Technologies, Centre québécois de valorisation des biotechnologies (CQVB)
Velma McColl, Principal, Earnscliffe Strategy Group ___________________
Paul Dufour (Moderator), Fellow, Institute for Science, Society and Policy, University of Ottawa
The 2014 Healthcare Reform: Solutions for a changing society
Everyone agrees that we should strive to improve access to healthcare and treatments while at the same time trying to minimize the costs. However, not everyone necessarily agrees on which policies to implement in order to achieve these goals. Given that during the coming two decades we will experience a substantial increase in the proportion of retirees, which will put further pressure on an already ailing healthcare system, one wonders how we will be able to afford the ever-expanding healthcare bill when fewer people will be part of the work-force. Contrary to what one might believe, the principal rise in the current costs of healthcare is not due to the increase in the numbers of the elderly, but rather due to various new and costly procedures and medications that have recently been developed. Procedures such as fMRIs can indeed be life-saving and there are few that would argue against their use, despite their relatively high costs. However, when it comes to novel medication, where a new compound is virtually identical to its predecessor and barely any more effective than the original, yet significantly more expensive, the answer is less clear-cut. The healthcare panel will address key issues such as the reality of a healthcare system already lacking in family doctors and nurses, sustainable potential reforms, and whether a combination of private and public care might be the answer to our current ailments.
Dr. Lee Soderstrom, Associate Professor (Retired), Department of Economics, McGill University
Louis Thériault, Director, Health Economics, The Conference Board of Canada
Dr. Astrid Brousselle, Associate Professor, Community Health Department, Université de Sherbrooke, and Canada Research Chair in Evaluation and Health Care System Improvement
Dr. Jennifer Raven (Moderator), Associate, Strategic Initiatives, CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity
Being science literate in the 21st century: Are Quebec’s policies in science education effective?
International indicators show Quebec’s success in science education despite global trends that undermine science literacy. In the name of balance and fairness, media portrayal of issues involving science often promotes pseudo-scientific claims and miscommunicates the scientific process [1]. In the US, doubt in evolution, vaccinations, and human contribution to global warming has persisted or increased in recent years [2, 3]. Although Canada performs well on OECD indicators of basic research funding and publications, translation of scientific knowledge into products and services and support for a strong R&D culture, a priority for Quebec, remains to be achieved [4]. In contrast, Quebec’s 15-year-olds have consistently ranked in the top 10 among participating countries in international assessments [5]. These countervailing facts necessitate reflection on how success in science education is being defined, what future goals do we want our science education to achieve in Quebec, and how effective are our current educational policies for science curriculum meeting these goals?
Dr. Gale Seiler, Associate Professor, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University
Prof. Tino Bordonaro, Secondary social sciences consultant at the English Montreal School Board and an Adjunct Professor at McGill University
Dr. Johanne Patry, Expert in education and pedagogical approaches in sciences
Dr. Silvia d’Apollonia, Researcher and teacher, Dawson College ___________
Dr. David Secko (Moderator), Associate Professor, Department of Journalism, Concordia University
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