Employment Insurance Task Force

The Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto announces the formation of a Task Force on modernizing Employment Insurance. The Task Force will bring together a wide cross-section of Canadian leaders and researchers to propose a new, modern support system for the unemployed that works for Canada and responds to the challenges confronting our economy.

The Advisory Committee of the Mowat Centre Employment Insurance Task Force will be Co-Chaired by Roy Romanow, former Premier of Saskatchewan, and Ratna Omidvar, President of the Maytree Foundation. Professor Keith Banting of Queen’s University, will serve 
                                                                              as Research Director.


Statement of Principles

 

About the Research Director and Our Advisory Committee Co-Chairs

Keith Banting is a Professor in the Department of Political Studies and the School of Policy Studies, and holder of the Queen’s Research Chair in Public Policy. He earned his BA(Hon) from Queen’s University and a doctorate from Oxford University. He taught for thirteen years in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, and moved to Queen’s in 1986. He has been a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics, the Brookings Institution, Harvard University, Oxford University and the European University Institute.

His research focuses on public policy, the welfare state, and ethnic diversity in Canada and other states. He is the author of several books including Poverty, Politics and Policy, The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism.

Dr. Banting was appointed as Member of the Order of Canada in 2004.

 

Ratna Omidvar is President of The Maytree Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to accelerating the settlement of immigrants and refugees. Under Ms. Omidvar’s leadership, Maytree has gained international recognition for its expertise in developing, testing, and implementing programs and policy solutions related to immigration, integration and diversity. Ms. Omidvar also serves as a director of the Toronto City Summit Alliance, and is a member of the board of the Tamarack Institute. She was the first executive director of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council and is currently the chair of its Board of Directors.

Additionally, Ms. Omidvar is a Fellow of Centennial College, and is the recipient of an honorary diploma from George Brown College. In 2006, she was appointed to the Order of Ontario.

 

Roy Romanow was born, raised, and educated in Saskatoon and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with degrees in Arts and Law.

He was first elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature in 1967. From 1971 to 1982, he served as Deputy Premier of Saskatchewan. He was elected Premier of Saskatchewan in November 1991, a position he held until the spring of 2001.

Mr. Romanow served as the Commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada from 2001-2002.

In early 2003, he received the Economic Justice Award from the Atkinson Charitable Foundation of Toronto. He holds honourary degrees from the University of Ottawa and Brock University and was appointed to the Privy Council of Canada in 2003.

Currently, Mr. Romanow holds the positions of Senior Fellow in Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina, and Visiting Fellow at the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University.