Political heavyweights headline Laurier’s Political Science 2023 Policy Dialogue

March 16, 2023
For Immediate Release

Wilfrid Laurier University’s Department of Political Science will host a lineup of political heavyweights for its 2023 Policy Dialogue.

The event, taking place Thursday, March 30 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., will be moderated by renowned author and journalist Paul Wells. Wells will guide a conversation between former federal cabinet minister Lisa Raitt; former chief of staff to former prime minister Stephen Harper Ian Brodie; and Sabreena Delhon, executive director of the Samara Centre for Democracy.

The 2023 Policy Dialogue will be held in the chapel at Martin Luther University College on Laurier’s Waterloo campus and is open to the public. Questions the panel will explore include: Has the centralization of power in Canadian politics gone too far? Is the Prime Minister’s Office too powerful? Do unelected advisers wield too much power in government? Are these factors undermining democracy and adding to polarization and incivility in Canadian politics?

“Over the last several decades, Canadians have watched the increasing centralization of power in the Prime Minister’s Office,” says John Milloy, assistant professor of Public Ethics at Martin Luther University College, director for the Centre for Public Ethics and practitioner-in-residence with Laurier’s Department of Political Science who previously spent five years as a senior staff member to former prime minister Jean Chrétien. “I believe many Canadians want to know whether there may be practical solutions to give our elected representatives more of a voice in decision-making. We’ve assembled a strong panel with varied political experiences to tackle and unpack some of these very complex questions.”

Register to attend the 2023 Policy Dialogue by emailing polisci@wlu.ca.