The Administrators' Colloquium

welcome to the

In Partnership with the University of Ottawa Centre on Governance

A public policy forum dedicated to exploring
evolving ideas in public policy and public administration

Designed for Public Servants

The Administrators’ Colloquium is a discussion forum where books on public policy and guest experts and speakers have been selected to stimulate thought and generate dialogue to explore evolving ideas in public policy and public administration. Designed for public servants, and others interested in public policy issues, the Colloquium provides an excellent informal setting to discuss subjects of mutual interest with peers and experts. Some of the policy issues discussed by the Colloquium include:

defence procurement
health policy
immigration issues
voting behaviour
security and intelligence problems
Aboriginal and northern matters
international politics

Due to the pandemic, the programs for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons were held exclusively online. Subject to University of Ottawa protocols and public health rules, we hope to return to face-to-face sessions for the 2022-23 season at the University of Ottawa – Social Sciences Building (FSS) at 120 University Private. Even if we can make this transition, we will try to continue to offer limited access through Zoom for those who are unable to attend. As we receive more information from the university about whether our meeting room will be equipped for Zoom, we will provide registrants with updates.

Under the traditional Administrators’ Colloquium format, each in-person session begins at 6:00 p.m. with a reception. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. The guest speaker is introduced at about 7:45 p.m., and by 8:00 p.m. the participants are engaged in an open, lively exchange. Evenings under the in-person format usually end by 9:15 p.m. We will return to this format as soon as it is safe to do so.

To encourage open discussion, all sessions, whether in person or online, will continue to be conducted under the Chatham House rule: participants are free to use information from the discussion, but are not allowed to reveal who made any comment.

Registrants are encouraged to check this website occasionally for updates on the format, resources persons, and dates for featured books.

COVID 19 - University of Ottawa guidelines

The requirement to be fully vaccinated to be on campus has been suspended. We continue to strongly encourage you to get fully vaccinated and to get booster doses as soon as you become eligible, in order to protect yourself and the people around you.

Considering the continued improvement of the COVID-19 situation in Ontario and in Ottawa-Gatineau,the University of Ottawa has suspended masking requirements on campus effective June 1. As it is difficult to predict the evolution of the pandemic and the emergence of new variants, this decision could be reversed at any point in the future depending on public health directives or the recommendations of experts.

Recent News

Is the government picking the wrong place to start regulating algorithms?

In preparation for our October 26th evening we’ve here republished discussion leader Sara Bannerman’s article Is the government picking the wrong place to start regulating algorithms? Originally published on Policy Options May 31, 2021. Bill C-10 – the current proposed revision to Canada’s Broadcasting Act – proposes to regulate the discoverability of Canadian content (CanCon) online. Discoverability is a key feature of online platforms like Netflix, YouTube or Spotify. These services make it easy to

Robert Calderisi, author of Quebec in a Global Light, will be the Discussion leader for the May 25 meeting discussion

Robert Calderisi, author of Quebec in a Global Light, will be replacing Michael Behiels as Discussion Leader, Tuesday May 25, 2021. Here is a brief profile of Mr. Calderisi – An economist, writer, and Rhodes Scholar, Robert Calderisi studied at the Universities of Montreal, Oxford, Sussex and London. He worked at the Department of Finance and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in Ottawa, as well as at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development