Annualreport2015.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR WORK “The Mowat Centre is leading the way on researching nudging and its effectiveness” Derek Sankey in The Calgary Herald, December 13 2014 On Public Service Transformed “Excellent primer on past and new Canadian infrastructure directions. The Mowat Centre continues on its excellent work” The Wilson Centre Canada Institute’s Beyond the Border Observer, August 6 2014 On Rebuilding Canada “A masterful survey of the fundamental economic issues of the corporate income tax” Alan Macnaughton (University of Waterloo) in The Canadian Tax Journal, Summer 2014 On Corporate Tax Reform “Particularly timely and well worth reading” Stephen Tapp (Research Director at the Institute for Research on Public Policy) in the Policy Options blog, February 18 2015 On Policymaking for the Sharing Economy “An important paper” The Governor General of Canada His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, in a keynote address at the Great Lakes Economic Forum, April 28 2015 On The Vital Commons: A Policy Agenda for the Great Lakes Century Contents Mowat’s Impact Methodology 1 2014-15 By the Numbers 4 Publications 6 INTERGOvernmental ECONOMIC ANd SOCIAl POlicy 6 GOvERNMENT TRANSformation 13 Mowat NfP 16 Mowat energy 18 TldR 20 Public and Stakeholder Engagement 21 PUBlIC presentations 21 knowlEdGE TRANSfER activITIES 22 stakeholdER CONSUltations 23 Who is Using Our Work? 24 Year-End financial Statement 26 Mowat People (fellows, Advisory Board, Editorial Board) 27 director’s message In the following pages we present our 2014-15 annual report. We marked our sixth year with several accomplishments including some important policy wins, successful new initiatives, and impressive growth in our reach and recognition among stakeholders and the public. Mowat continued to solidify its reputation as Ontario’s leading evidence-based voice on intergovernmental social and economic policy. That role was underscored when the federal government amended its proposed income splitting plan following a Mowat analysis that revealed it would have a significant adverse impact on provincial government budgets. A wide national chorus of voices echoed our concerns and the problematic features we flagged were eliminated from the federal government’s final Family Tax Cut proposal. The quality and relevance of our work was recognized by media, the public, and our peers in the research community. Nearly all of our publications this year received media coverage, with one report receiving over 100 media mentions. We nearly doubled our research references compared with 2013-14, and were cited in the work of researchers from seven Canadian provinces and 15 countries on five continents. Both the C.D. Howe Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives cited our work in their alternative federal budgets for 2015. And we grew our social media following significantly. In 2014-15 we introduced two new knowledge transfer initiatives. Our accessible and shareable policy blog TLDR was launched last summer and has exceeded our expectations for success. As of April 2015, we have published 32 TLDR posts providing research-based policy insight in an easily accessible — and sometimes light-hearted — format. Our first two Policy in a Pub events have proved very popular within the policy community. The events provide policy professionals with panel discussions on policy topics of the day in an informal setting conducive to interaction and the exchange of ideas. This year showed once again that our research remains in the policy conversation, continuing to have relevance and value, long after the initial publication. Fourteen of our reports published before this year earned 116 media mentions. Eighteen were cited in policy research work from other think tanks and research organizations, and fourteen were cited in academic work. We want to express our continuing gratitude to the University of Toronto and to the School of Public Policy & Governance for their ongoing support and encouragement. The School and the administration have provided a nurturing intellectual environment that both enriches our work and enables us to have a meaningful impact on Canada’s public policy conversation. We are proud of our progress in 2014-15, and look forward to doing even better next year. WIllIAM Forward Acting Director Mowat’s Impact Methodology What impact are we having? To what extent has the Mowat Centre influenced public debate and government policy? These are not easy questions for a think tank to answer. In tracking and analyzing the impact of our own work, we are committed to the same high standard that we apply to all of our research. It is an evidence-based and rigorous evaluation of what we think we have achieved. We analyze our impact in three performance categories derived from our three strategic roles. For each performance category, we identify several key performance indicators which are tracked throughout this report. These performance categories and indicators are explained in the impact methodology legend below. Impact Methodology legend POLICY POlicy MEdIA PUBlIC KnowlEdGE IMPACT Impacts MENTIONS Presentations TRANSfER activITIES GOvERNMENT RESEARCH StakeholdER Network ANd POlitical REfERENCES BRIEfINGS ANd Citations presentations OffICIAl ONlINE StakeholdER ACCESS PERfORMANCE CONSUltations IdEA GENERATOR dEvElOPING actionablE RECOMMENdations, THOUGHT lEAdERSHIP, ANd lONG- TERM agendA-SETTING To what extent are we influencing actual policymaking in the short and long-term? We analyze: POLICY POlicy Impacts IMPACT > demonstrated influence on policymaking GOvERNMENT ANd POlitical Citations > Citations in official government documents (legislation, policies and policy announcements, budget documents, official speeches, government and committee reports) > Citations in parliamentary proceedings (house debates and committee study) > Citations in political communication (communication from parties or individual politicians in press releases, op-eds and columns, blog posts etc.) OffICIAl Access > Presentations and submissions to legislative committees > Participation in stakeholder consultations > Briefings and presentations to government officials MOWAT CENTRE | 2015 ANNUAL REPORT | 1 COMMUNICATOR Sparking ANd INflUENCING PUBlIC discussion, ANd TRANSfERRING POlicy knowlEdGE to THE broadER PUBlIC To what extent are we part of the public policy conversation in our areas of research? Are we managing to shift the terms of public discourse or help clarify public policy conversations and put them on an evidence-based footing? How deep and wide is our public footprint and reach? We analyze: MEdIA MENTIONS > Mentions in print, electronic, and online media. We distinguish between major and non-major media outlets, as well as trade media (media outlets targeting specialized audiences, such as specific industries, cultural groups, interests, etc.). RESEARCH REfERENCES > References in the research-based work of other think tanks and in policy research produced by foundations, consultancies, and advocacy organizations. We distinguish between policy reports and other work (factsheets, reviews, keynotes, etc.). > References in academic work. We distinguish between peer-review published work (academic manuscripts, articles in academic journals, chapters in edited volumes) and other academic work (Phd dissertations, academic conference papers, publicly available working/discussion papers; we do not count privately circulated working/discussion papers, MA theses or undergraduate work). ONlINE PERfORMANCE > Website Activity (number of pageviews and users) > Social Networking (Twitter followers, YouTube video views, linkedIn followers, facebook likes) PUBlIC Presentations > Invited presentations and keynotes in public conferences and professional association meetings and AGMs. StakeholdER BRIEfINGS ANd presentations > Non-public invited briefings and presentations to stakeholders other than government. 2 | CONvENOR BUIldING RElationships ANd engaging A broad array Of stakeholdERS To what extent are we able to convene, collaborate and consult with a large and diverse universe of stakeholders? We analyze: StakeholdER CONSUltations > Mowat-organized consultations with other stakeholders. KnowlEdGE TRANSfER activITIES > Mowat-organized events to transfer cutting edge public policy research and insights, from both Mowat research and external experts, to invited stakeholders or the general public. Network > The breadth and spread of Mowat’s network. Analysis is forthcoming in the future. MOWAT CENTRE | 2015 ANNUAL REPORT | 3 2014-15 By the Numbers PUBLICATIONS TLDR POSTS 19 32 TOP 5 MOST POPULAR POSTS: 1 MOWAT CENTRE’S TRICK-OR-TREAT Income Splitting or INDEX Trojan Horse? The Federal Government’s Proposal and its Impact on Provincial Budgets 2 THE SPRINGFIELD MONORAIL: HOW NOT BY SUNIL JOHAL TO BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE 3 IMMIGRATION TO ONTARTIO HAS DECLINED 33% DUE TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RULE CHANGES MowatNOTE MOWAT RESEARCH #96 SEPTEMBER 2014 | MOWATCENTRE.CA 4 HOW ONTARIO LOST 300,000 MANUFACTURING JOBS 5 THAT FEDERAL BUDGET SURPLUS? IT’S COMING FROM YOUR EI PREMIUMS ONLINE MEDIA 63% PERFORMANCE MENTIONS IN MAJOR WEBSITE ACTIVITY OUTLETS 439 167,162 6% PAGEVIEWS TRADE/SECTOR OUTLETS 52,401 USERS SOCIAL NETWORKING .75% YUK 7% 2271 .5% INTERNATIONAL TWITTER NWT FOLLOWERS 24% 1275 3% NATIONAL VIDEO AB .25% VIEWS 4% NFLD BC 1% 5% MB 50% QC 1043 ON 3% .5% LINKEDIN NS FOLLOWERS SK 1% NB 397 FACEBOOK LIKES 4 | PUBLIC AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT POLICY POLICY IMPACT IMPACT 21 PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS