The most senior bureaucrat in Premier Gordon Campbell’s government is the speaker at the 16th annual Mel Smith Lecture.
D. Martyn Brown was the Chief of Staff to Campbell. Brown’s lecture, entitled Visions vs. Pipedreams: Beyond the Eyford Report, will address public policy issues at the intersection of resource development and Aboriginal affairs.
Each year Trinity Western University hosts the Mel Smith Lecture on significant public policy issues. This year’s lecture is at 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 and is open to the public. There is no admission cost.
Brown will speak on the Eyford Report, created by the prime minister’s special envoy on West Coast energy issues, Doug Eyford.
“Canada must take decisive steps to build trust with Aboriginal Canadians, to foster their inclusion into the economy, and to advance the reconciliation of Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people in Canadian society,†Eyford concluded.
Brown will discuss the report within the context of several specific resource development projects and related issues that all argue for new public policy responses aimed at building social licence and at enhancing certainty, transparency, confidence, accountability, and public engagement.
Drawing upon his long experience in B.C. public affairs and government, Brown will speak about the difficulty in converting broad public policy visions into workable policies, laws, and processes that are politically sustainable, legally sound, and economically viable.
The lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer period.
In addition to Brown’s lecture, the recipient of the 2014-15 Mel Smith Scholarship will be announced at the event. Each year, this scholarship is awarded to a TWU student of exceptional academic ability, majoring in Canadian history or political science.
The Mel Smith Special Collection – chronicling federal-provincial relations during the crucial period 1967 to 1992 – is housed in TWU’s archives and includes a comprehensive set of professional and personal constitutional papers. The collection provides a unique BC perspective on Canadian constitutional issues, and is available to students and researchers from all institutions at http://archives.twu.ca/.
The lecture is in the NorthwestBuilding Auditorium on the TWU campus. Directions will be provided at the campus entrance on Glover Road.