Former head of Statistics Canada coming to campus
Posted: November 24, 2015 6:00 a.m.
Munir Sheikh is Executive Fellow at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary. Photo courtesy of the University of Calgary.
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Munir Sheikh is a numbers man. As former Chief Statistician of Statistics Canada, Sheikh says for institutions to make good policy decisions, they need good credible evidence.
Sheikh has been invited by the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy to speak at a public lecture at the U of R on November 27.
Sheikh made national headlines when he quit his job as head of Statistics Canada in 2010 over the federal government’s cancellation of the mandatory long form census.
The current government has promised to bring it back.
“I am hoping people would conclude it is really important to use evidence in decision-making, including the development of public policy,” says Sheikh, who is now Executive Fellow at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary. “In this context, the restoration of the long form census is a really important decision.”
Sheikh says there’s a critical need for evidence in developing good public policies.
“I hope people would get a feeling that there is a right way to use evidence and there is a wrong way, and be able to distinguish between the two.”
Sheikh has been published extensively in academic journals in the areas of international economics, macroeconomics and public finance.
He also has broad and varied experience in government, having held many senior level positions including Deputy Minister of Labour and Associate Deputy Minister at Health Canada and then at Finance Canada.
As director of research at Finance, he played a key role in the reform of the Canada Pension Plan and put it on a sound footing.
Sheikh will share his experience with an audience at the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan.
The public is invited to attend the lecture Friday, November 27, 12:30 pm – 2 pm at 2 Research Drive (room 210) at the U of R campus and will be available via video conferencing at the U of S Campus in the Prairie Room, of the Diefenbaker Building
You are encouraged to register online. Please visit here for details.
The Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS) offers students and faculty an opportunity to make a difference in today’s world.
For information on the programming offered at the U of R and U of S please visit here.
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