Lake Okanagan
Airplane
How in the world did we get to the point that filling out the long form census is just too much to ask? I frankly cannot remember if I, personally, have ever had to do the long form. I’m old enough that I probably did and I hate forms enough that I may have blocked it from memory – but it simply cannot be too great a price to pay for being a Canadian citizen and helping to ensure that all citizens share in its benefits. And my guess – the majority of Canadians would agree, even if, like me, they hate the questions.
I want to take this opportunity to comment on a technical statistical issue which has become the subject of media discussion. This relates to the question of whether a voluntary survey can become a substitute for a mandatory census.
It can not.
Under the circumstances, I have tendered my resignation to the Prime Minister.
To turn statistical methodology into a political controversy, a government has to really screw up. But to make statisticians shriek and flap their arms like wounded albatrosses, to cause policy wonks to turn purple with rage, to compel retired civil servants to dispense with a lifetime of discretion and denounce the government’s gobsmacking jackassery to reporters … Well, that’s something special.
Then we will see an economic life closer to our biological environment: smaller firms and no leverage - a world in which entrepreneurs, not bankers, take the risks, and in which companies are born and die every day without making the news.
MP Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister, says that the trial will be the first of a child soldier in modern history and that such a trial is prohibited under international humanitarian law. Any thought that something like this might cause the Harper government to reconsider is, of course, risible. These honourable men rebuff their own high court verdicts. They rebuff the will of Parliament – when not shutting it down – on Afghan detainee documents. For them, international law is of trifling concern.
In the matter of Omar Khadr, shame on us - The Globe and Mail (via Instapaper)
So, no new tax; no money flowing back to government to spend; no vast new bureaucracy springing up to burden the taxpayer (Stewardship Ontario was, until about a year ago, a virtual organization, and now has all of 20 staff), and really, a pretty smart program that is the first of its kind in Canada.
From the shock of ‘eco fees’ comes eco consciousness - The Globe and Mail (via Instapaper)
A staple of collective self-awareness, the census is our national mirror. Arbitrarily and without debate or justification, Conservatives are blurring Canada’s reflected image by poking a stick in the eye of knowledge.
Travers: Census change latest move in PM’s dumbing down of Canada - thestar.com (via Instapaper)
Rice Krispies
“Keeping the Bees” on CBC’s Quirks and Quarks
So what we have is a federal government that keeps asserting assumptions that almost all experts think are wrong, that says its critics in the PBO are wrong without providing alternative information, that backs a policy that those who know about such matters are almost unanimous in saying will not work, and that will be spending money on it when most other programs will be cut – all in the politically popular name of being “tough on crime.”
Haircuts
It became known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect — our incompetence masks our ability to recognize our incompetence. But just how prevalent is this effect?
The Anosognosic’s Dilemma: Something’s Wrong but You’ll Never Know What It Is (Part 1) - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com (via Instapaper)
Although centralized control of messaging has been a growing feature of federal governments – indeed, governments in many democracies – nothing in Canada has come close to the attention, time and effort the Harper government puts into managing and manipulating information and image-making.
Bee swarm
Public service vs. Academics
I recently participated in a panel discussion at the University of Toronto on the career transition from academic research to public service. I really enjoyed the discussion and there were many great questions from the audience. Here’s just a brief summary of some of the main points I tried to make about the differences between academics and public service.
The major difference I’ve experienced involves a trade-off between control and influence.
As a grad student and post-doctoral researcher I had almost complete control over my work. I could decide what was interesting, how to pursue questions, who to talk to, and when to work on specific components of my research. I believe that I made some important contributions to my field of study. But, to be honest, this work had very little influence beyond a small group of colleagues who are also interested in the evolution of floral form.
Now I want to be clear about this: in no way should this be interpreted to mean that scientific research is not important. This is how scientific progress is made – many scientists working on particular, specific questions that are aggregated into general knowledge. This work is important and deserves support. Plus, it was incredibly interesting and rewarding.
However, the comparison of the influence of my academic research with my work on infrastructure policy is revealing. Roads, bridges, transit, hospitals, schools, courthouses, and jails all have significant impacts on the day-to-day experience of millions of people. Every day I am involved in decisions that determine where, when, and how the government will invest scarce resources into these important services.
Of course, this is where the control-influence trade-off kicks in. As an individual public servant, I have very little control over these decisions or how my work will be used. Almost everything I do involves medium-sized teams with members from many departments and ministries. This requires extensive collaboration, often under very tight time constraints with high profile outcomes.
For example, in my first week as a public servant I started a year-long process to integrate and enhance decision-making processes across 20 ministries and 2 agencies. The project team included engineers, policy analysts, accountants, lawyers, economists, and external consultants from all of the major government sectors. The (rather long) document produced by this process is now used to inform every infrastructure decision made by the province.
Governments contend with really interesting and complicated problems that no one else can or will consider. Businesses generally take on the easy and profitable issues, while NGOs are able to focus on specific aspects of issues. Consequently, working on government policy provides a seemingly endless supply of challenges and puzzles to solve, or at least mitigate. I find this very rewarding.
None of this is to suggest that either option is better than the other. I’ve been lucky to have had two very interesting careers so far, which have been at the opposite ends of this control-influence trade-off. Nonetheless, my experience suggests that an actual academic career is incredibly challenging to obtain and may require significant compromises. Public service can offer many of the same intellectual challenges with better job prospects and work-life balance. But, you need to be comfortable with the diminished control.
Thanks to my colleague Andrew Miller for creating the panel and inviting me to participate. The experience led me to think more clearly about my career choices and I think the panel was helpful to some University of Toronto grad students.
Emma’s new Ariel doll
