Roy Romanow, Q.C. will deliver the annual Woodrow Lloyd Lecture, Health Care and Canada’s “Shared Destiny,” on Thurs. Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Education Auditorium at the University of Regina.

In his talk, Romanow will argue that Canada's evolution as a progressive nation has been the result of Canadians believing and practicing a philosophy of “shared destiny.”

“Medicare holds a central role in this narrative. Medicare is not just about basic Canadian values like equity and fairness for all citizens. It's not merely about effectiveness and efficiency. Medicare is not even simply about the irrefutable evidence showing that our single payer, public system delivers excellent outcomes, which it does,” said Romanow. “Yes, Medicare is about all these issues but it is also about much more. The future progress of our nation and respect for our legacy and values can be measured by how we deal with our social programs like Medicare.”

Born and raised in Saskatoon, Romanow entered politics in 1967 when he was elected to the Saskatchewan legislature. Prior to his retirement from an active political life in 2001, his career included 11 years of service as the province's attorney general and as intergovernmental affairs minister, four years as leader of the opposition, and a further 10 years as Saskatchewan's premier.

Romanow's participation in policy development continued with his Royal Commission report, "Building on Values," in 2003. Recommendations from his report continue to shape policy recommendations across the country.

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