Browsing by Author "Rayner, Jeremy"

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Open Access
Assessing the Effectiveness of Results-Based Reulations in Fostering Innovation and Social Learning: A Focus on the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2019-12) Akpan, Jane Christopher; Hurlbert, Margot; McNutt, Kathleen; Rayner, Jeremy; Phommavong, Outhong; Street, Christopher
Results-Based Regulation (RBR) is a hybrid regulation that incorporates some features of a prescriptive regulation, outcome-based regulation, and co-regulation. Traditionally, the environmental activities in Saskatchewan were administered through prescriptive regulation. In 2015, RBR was introduced to substitute the prescriptive regulation. When RBR was introduced, some notable changes were made, and some expected outcomes were stipulated. The core changes that shaped this thesis include the introduction of ‘alternative solutions’ when complying with the regulation, reliance on qualified persons (QP) to certify alternative solutions, and a focus on results. The emphasis on results and the provision of alternative solutions were expected to give room for in-depth research and development, which may induce firms’ innovation activities. This thesis assessed if RBR had led to innovation, especially where a firm decides to follow an alternative solution in achieving the regulatory outcomes. To advance innovation, stakeholders’ interaction was deemed necessary. However, the level of interaction required for advancing innovation should be one that instigates a form of learning where assumptions are questioned, and alternative options considered, creating an avenue for social learning. Thus, the thesis assessed if innovation and social learning have been fostered by RBR? To achieve this objective, it employed a mixed-method approach; primary data were sourced between July and November 2018 through an online survey and semi-structured interviews. Fifty respondents completed the survey. To analyze the survey results, the researcher computed descriptive statistics, conducted a Chi-square test of independence and Spearman’s ranked correlation. For the interview, twenty-two stakeholders participated, and a thematic network analysis was employed to interpret the transcripts. After reviewing related literature and analyzing the survey and interview results, it was discovered that RBR had fostered some firms’ innovation activities. For social learning, some stakeholders’ interactions existed; however, the need to advance social learning through stakeholders’ collaboration was evident. Thus, the researcher recommended the formation of a collaborative risk management committee (CRMC) comprised of stakeholders within related environmental activities. The CRMC may deliberate on collaborative risk management processes (CRMP) with the objective of enhancing environmental protection, reducing non-compliance, advancing social learning and encouraging innovation. The research findings and recommendations may inform future policy decisions for regulating environmental resources in Saskatchewan and other jurisdictions that are currently implementing or proposing to implement the RBR.
Open Access
Blurring Divisions in a Fuzzy World: Climate Change, Nuclear Power, Public Engagement, and Energy Justice
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2020-08) Shasko, Larissa Loi; Hurlbert, Margot; Arbuthnott, Katherine; Hussein, Esam; Rayner, Jeremy; Farney, Jim
This study addresses the lack of trust, stakeholder conflict and binary ways of thinking that are creating barriers to the implementation of policy solutions to climate change. The divisive nature of the public debate over nuclear energy was explored through the inclusion of participants who held a diversity of opinions on the role of nuclear energy in climate change mitigation. This study uses a method of public engagement called deliberative mapping (Stirling and Davies 2004b) to bring citizens and specialists together to assess options for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in small, remote or off-grid communities, including assessment of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) as one option. Instead of oversimplifying complexities, multiple realities were brought together to expand understandings of what options are available and what the risks and benefits might be under different scenarios or according to different perspectives. Through qualitative analysis of the data collected, the theories of critical realism and queer ecology (Sandilands 2016) allowed for an investigation into binary constructions of knowledge that emerged in the study. Critical realism allows multiple ways of knowing to be combined, while queer ecology recognizes that the lines between society and nature must be necessarily blurred to ensure survival of all species, including the human species. Key findings from the study highlight that transforming energy systems to address climate change is dependent on transforming ourselves as humans as part of nature. Addressing climate change is not just about GHG reduction, it is also about understanding that human health and ecological health are linked. Fostering energy justice requires encouraging diversity in solutions. Leaving every available option on the table and allowing communities to decide for themselves is a less polarizing approach and enables the incorporation of local knowledge in those decisions. To foster procedural justice alongside distributional and recognition justice, the public policy debate needs to be opened up before it can be narrowed down. This includes opening up discussions on climate change to explore pathways to include community within our definition of nature and nature within our definition of community.
Open Access
Climate Change: The policy options and implicaitons for Saskatchewan
(2017-11) Rayner, Jeremy; Hurlbert, Margot; Eisler, Dale; Marshall, Jim
The Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy has issued an in-depth policy paper on climate change. It examines the policy instruments being used to reduce carbon emissions, and the projected economic impact of each on the province of Saskatchewan. The study sets out the geopolitical, social, economic, environmental and fiscal challenges that are central to the climate change policy debate. It also explores the legal arguments likely to frame an expected constitutional challenge by the Saskatchewan government of a federally imposed carbon price.
Open Access
The Influence of Knowledge Acquisition on Attitudes Towards Radiation and Nuclear Technologies Among Non-Experts in Saskatchewan
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2020-03) Robinson, Shawn RIley; McNutt, Kathleen; Rayner, Jeremy; Hurlbert, Margot; Hussein, Esam; Root, John
The information deficit model attempts to explain the difference in attitudes that are held between experts and the lay public towards the use and application of matters of science. This model suggests that a paucity of scientific understanding and knowledge can lead to skepticism regarding a particular matter of science, and rejection of its use in a societal context. For example, in the case of radiation, non-experts view nuclear power plants and nuclear waste as riskier than do scientific experts on radiation, while the opposite is true when radiation is being applied in a medical context. The information deficit model is critiqued by opponents who point out that by focusing on the difference in knowledge between experts and non-experts, other elements that shape attitudes are not considered (such as ideology, political affiliations, religion, and valuebased identities). Direct testing of the information deficit model through application of an experimental approach is a gap in the existing literature. This research addressed this gap by performing a test of the information deficit model used a controlled experimental method. Random digit dialing was used to query 500 residents of Saskatchewan on their attitudes and knowledge about radiation. Subsequently, 80 of those individuals were separated into an education group (n = 43) and control group (n = 37). The education group received an education booklet and viewed educational videos on radiation. Both groups were then queried again on their attitudes and knowledge on radiation using the same questionnaire. A regression model of the responses from all 500 participants indicated a significant relationship between knowledge about radiation and attitudes towards radiation. Within the experimental treatment, the education group saw a significant increase in radiation knowledge along with an increase in overall radiation attitudes and specific radiation attitudes pertaining to nuclear power and societal approaches to radiation. This resulted in a lower risk assessment for some aspects of radiation among the education group, including nuclear power plants. When medical radiation was considered, the education group had a significantly higher attitude following the educational intervention when initial attitudes were low, and a significantly lower postintervention attitude when the initial attitude was the highest possible score. In a similar vein, CT scans were rated as riskier by education participants than the control group following the intervention. Pearson’s correlation indicated that, within the education group, the change in knowledge scores was correlated with a change in radiation attitude scores, with the exception of medical radiation. While not precluding the role of other factors, the results here indicate a role for knowledge in the formation of attitudes towards radiation. This understanding allows for a more robust prediction towards how the general public may participate in public policy processes, such as deliberative engagement.
Open Access
Liberal Value Pluralism: A Study of the Political Ideas of Michael Ignatieff
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2012-03) Mazenc, Ryan; Drury, Shadia; Rayner, Jeremy; Onder, Nilgun; Elliott, David; Glezos, Simon
This thesis looks at the writings of Michael Ignatieff to try to answer whether the value pluralist philosophy he espouses is compatible with his doctrine of human rights. Value pluralism is a political and ethical philosophy first developed by Isaiah Berlin that believes the values we hold to be plural. This plurality of values is fundamentally irreducible or incommmensurable. In other words, there is no common measure by which we can reliably compare values. A further aspect of value pluralism is that values change and people value different things. That is, values are social and historical. And since values are incommensurable, so too are the different combinations of the things people value. Taken together, this set of beliefs would seem to be something akin to relativism. The difficulty is that Ignatieff also wants to commit to the moral universalism of human rights. He is a strong supporter of military interventions on human rights grounds. Answering this question is important for several reasons. If it does offer a better theoretical model for understanding our moral reality then its implications are broad and fundamental—touching on every question of ethics and politics we make. There are compelling reasons to think this theory is the best available. At the very least, it needs to be properly considered and evaluated. This thesis does not attempt to consider every implication or assumption of value pluralism, but rather to consider the most obvious one: whether value pluralism can be compatible with the ethical universals. This thesis relies primarily on the ideas of Ignatieff because he is considering this problem throughout his writings and offers one of the strongest cases for value pluralism and human rights. When necessary, this thesis also looks directly at the writings of Berlin to supplement its analysis of value pluralism. The first chapter introduces the issue. The second chapter looks at Ignatieff's "lesser evil" argument to both explore what value pluralism is and to show that Ignatieff is a value pluralist. The third chapter considers Ignatieff's argument that values are social and historical. It explores the importance of this view and his belief in the importance of belonging. The fourth chapter considers whether value pluralism can be compatible with the moral universalism of humanitarian intervention. Finally the fifth chapter applies this discussion to the context of the multicultural state. This thesis concludes that despite its seemingly disparate elements, Ignatieff’s writings are not contradictory, but coherent. It will show that value pluralism, with its strong emphasis on incommensurability of cultures and values can still maintain a commitment to universal values. Indeed, it aims to show that when properly understood, value pluralism implies liberalism.
Open Access
Policy issue networks: Social network analysis case studies
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2023-07) Katchuck, Michelle Lisa; McNutt, Kathleen; Longo, Justin; Rayner, Jeremy; Childs, Jason; Stoddart, Mark CJ
This research demonstrates that Social Network Analysis (SNA) can be a powerful, proactive tool for policy makers to understand the online policy networks in which they operate. It does so by undertaking SNA at two points in time to quantify the actor nodes of three Canadian public policy networks, comparing the network evolution over time, and visualizing their structure and relationships with related policy issues. The three Canadian policy case study subjects are cannabis legalization, nuclear energy development, and the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project (TMX). The cases were selected for their current social importance and national concern, and complexity as socio-technical systems. Cannabis legalization represents a social policy shift, while the other two policy issues involve highly technical infrastructure projects to provide the energy that drives modern society at a time when energy solutions and needs are shifting. The research was undertaken to answer three main questions: Does a network structure consist of multiple clusters of subnetworks primarily concerned with tangential issues but bridged together to form a network for this policy issue? Is there any evidence of network effects that affect the network’s evolution over time? Finally, is there evidence that regional or international networks are present? The study’s findings provide significant evidence that addresses these questions. For example, for question one, the cannabis legalization network shows an isolated online community primarily interested in the research and use of cannabis as a medical treatment, an issue tangential to the primary policy focus but connected to the policy issues. For question two, Canada’s stated nuclear policy shift toward small modular reactors reveals an online issue network dominated by industry rather than government actors. Finally, regarding question three, the study found that regional clusters were especially apparent in the cannabis legalization and TMX networks. This research provides insight into the policy networks of the specific cases, which contributes to the literature on these policy topics and network analysis in terms of network structure and evolution. It also validates the use of SNA in a policy analysis toolkit. Where existing literature has examined Internet-age government, it has found that governments often replicate routine procedures and processes in new, virtual forms rather than innovate or reimagine their capabilities. Government actors have improved their responsiveness, but they also need to fundamentally change their behaviour, particularly in engaging stakeholders in meaningful public policy analysis. SNA is a novel use afforded by technology that has gone unexplored to innovate government performance. This dissertation adds to the lengthy body of research in SNA by experimenting with a practical application of its theories and methods. The critical conceptual approach underpinning this thesis is complexity theory, which provides the framework to situate the dynamic environment of policy making and stakeholder engagement. It is hoped that this research will help policy makers by providing a toolkit that enables visualizing how issue patterns emerge in real-time, patterns that can represent the “unknown unknowns” — the voices not yet heard, the unanticipated concerns, and the opportunities not yet discovered to reach out to broader or underrepresented communities in the policy arena.
Open Access
Policy Networks: Policy Change and Causal Factors, A Uranium Mining Case Study
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2015-03) Muldoon, Joseph Anthony; McNutt, Kathleen; Rasmussen, Kenneth A.; Rayner, Jeremy; Hurlbert, Margot; Bratt, Duane
Policy networks have been studied for decades with the intent of understanding the interrelationships between policy actors, the policy regimes within which they are found and the exogenous and endogenous events that can impact policy making and change. Policy network theory has developed established relationships that can be used for policy research into the mechanisms that drive policy change. Howlett (2002, 2009) and Howlett and Cashore (2007) have developed analytical tools that form a model which first organizes policies into two broad categories –firstly, the components of the policy associated with its overall aims or policy goals; and secondly, the instruments or means required to deliver the policy. These two broad categories are separated into three sub-categories of: firstly, policy aims or instrument preference; secondly, policy objectives or specific policy tool, and thirdly, a specific on-the-ground target or policy tool setting (calibration). This policy categorization results in six component categories. Secondly, the model can distinguish policy network type by examining the relationships between actors and ideas that move within a policy network and thirdly, determines the pace, direction and type of policy change. When this model is applied to a policy sector that can be studied over a long period of time, causal relationships between policy actors, ideas, network type and policy outputs can be determined. The identification and analysis of these causal relationships will demonstrate the value of policy networks and their important role in the study of policy systems and change. A case study covering six decades (1942-2007) of evolving Saskatchewan uranium mine policy will be presented. There has been a rekindled global interest in nuclear power which includes the uranium mining policy sector. New uranium mine exploration is continuing at a high rate in northern Saskatchewan driven by expected high future demands for uranium. Saskatchewan is currently the second largest producer of uranium in the world. Understanding the complex relationships involved in this policy sector can result in better policy decision making processes and societal outcomes. The key research questions associated with this case study are: What kind of policy networks were in place? What types of changes took place and what were the drivers of change? What are the causal factors related to policy actors, their regimes and policy instruments? Were the changes sustainable and why or why not? What were the successes and failures of the policy initiatives and reasons? How effective are the analytical tools that were used? Answering these questions will provide another source of data and analysis to policy network study and provide some potential tools for policy practitioners to improve policy derivation within their fields of practice.
Open Access
Risks Governance of Innovative Power Generation Technologies in Saskatchewan: Pathways to a Sustainable Energy Future
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2020-03) Osazuwa-Peters, Mac Osa; Hurlbert, Margot; McNutt, Kathleen; Rayner, Jeremy; Gamtessa, Samuel; Bratt, Duane
Literature on socio-technical transitions acknowledge that negative risk perception is important to socio-technical transitions. However, beyond acknowledging risk as a potential barrier to the deployment of innovative technologies, this study points out that the acceptance or rejection of innovative technologies due to their associated risks can be a predictor of the socio-technical transition pathway that will be followed. This dissertation uses socio-technical transitions in the electric power generation sector of Saskatchewan as a case study. It finds that existing literature in the field of energy systems transitions fail to fully map the relationship between risk analysis and socio-technical transition pathways. This, the dissertation argues could be a function of the multidimensional and multidisciplinary nature of the concept of risk. This dissertation applies the risk governance framework to understand the multidimensional nature of risk and then map the findings on the multilevel perspective through which it showed how the outcome of citizen’s risk analysis may result in several transition pathways. The analysis in this dissertation is based on data collected from six citizen’s juries held in Saskatchewan in 2017. Through the discussions from these citizen’s jury sessions, this study identified how citizens apply heuristic devices as they analyse their perceived risks in two baseload power generation sources, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). This dissertation finds that in Saskatchewan, familiarity, experiential knowledge of a technology based on a history of usage and consumption, rather than cost or technical risk, are the strongest factors influencing people’s perception and attitude toward the risk in innovative technologies in the energy sector. These factors are most potent when CCS and SMRs are compared directly. But when compared as part of a portfolio of options including renewable resources such as solar and wind, citizens seem to balance the risks they associate with SMRs with the gains from having renewable resources as part of the grid. Hence, there is a chance that Saskatchewan can advance its energy system transition through either a reproduction, substitution, or a transformation pathway. Clearly, this study not only maps the way risk analysis influence transition pathways, it also provides insight into the difference in the tools experts deploy in analysing risks compared to those that unspecialized citizens use. Through the use of expert witnesses in the citizen’s jury sessions, this dissertation challenges the knowledge deficit model of citizen engagement as it revealed that citizens are more likely to develop confirmation biases when they are exposed to new information that deviates from their previous understanding of a phenomenon based on their lived experience, especially when they do not have full trust in the information sources.
Open Access
SaskTel: How Ownership Impacts Behaviour in a Competitive Market
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2015-03) Sipple, Benjamin L. J.; Rasmussen, Kenneth A.; Rayner, Jeremy; Kryvoruchko, Iryna; McIntosh, Thomas A.
How much of a role does ownership play when a public enterprise moves from a natural monopoly to a competitive market? Through comparing the market performance of SaskTel and Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) from 1995 to 2012 it will be possible to answer this question. The eighteen year time frame makes it possible to measure the ramifications of privatization because MTS operated as a public enterprise until its privatization in late 1996. The question of ownership and the corresponding analysis make it possible to isolate any unique advantages or significant consequences of operating a public enterprise within the competitive, market driven and ever evolving telecommunications industry. Chapter 1 lays out the question as well as the hypotheses being tested in this work. The value and unique capacities of a public enterprise can be determined by each firm's ability to perform the three policy roles traditionally played by public enterprise as described by Chandler (1982). The roles are: the capacity to augment the private sector, distribute economic outcomes more equitably, and promote regional and provincial goals over other jurisdictions (Chandler 1982). Each role outlines a potential purpose for operating a public enterprise and each serves as a basis to compare changes which took place as a result of both regulations and a highly competitive market place. Chapter 2 elaborates on the common justifications for creating as well as privatizing a public enterprise. The former section focuses on the market failure of a natural monopoly, and the later section discusses the regulatory and structural changes which have taken place in the telecommunications sector. Chapter 3 demonstrates that Manitoba and Saskatchewan are very similar provinces, which allow the consequences of privatizing a public enterprise to be picked out. This chapter also provides a modern history of MTS and its similarity with SaskTel. MTS is the most recently privatized provincial telecommunications firm in Canada. The geographic and economic similarities between Manitoba and Saskatchewan create a strong ground for comparison and discussion. Chapter 4 carefully analyzes the performance of both firms from 1995 to 2012 based on their respective annual reports using a number of shared reporting measurements. These findings are then interpreted through Chandler's (1982) three functions as described in Chapter 1. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses the results of this analysis. Ownership does alter firm behaviour. SaskTel plays a dominant role in terms of province-building when compared to the performance of MTS as illustrated by comparing the income tax payments of MTS to the dividends returned to the government by SaskTel as well as the debt levels of each firm. As a public enterprise SaskTel is able to avoid paying the same taxes as its private counterparts, provide a direct return to the province, and take on debt at lower rates with the backing of the provincial government. The unique abilities of a public enterprise allow SaskTel to concentrate the wealth it generates within Saskatchewan as well as shelter itself from the private market. Each of these advantages are due SaskTel's status as a public enterprise and afford this firm certain opportunities which are unavailable to private firms participating in the same competitive market. A public enterprise offers unique benefits when participating in a competitive market.
Open Access
The sustainability of Saskatchewan municipalities
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2024-11) Nadeau, Jean-Marc; McNutt, Kathleen; Farney, Jim; Rayner, Jeremy; Magnan, André; Rounce, Andrea
Although the municipal government is considered closest to the people, municipalities are not referenced in the Canadian constitution. Recognizing this gap, soon after joining the Confederation of Canada in 1905, Saskatchewan enacted a municipal act to regulate its rural and urban sectors. The province sought to ensure that citizens in urban municipalities were provided with municipal services such as water and sewage treatment, medical services, and recreation and that rural municipalities served agricultural land with roads, bridges, and other necessary infrastructure. The critical difference between urban and rural municipalities lies in population density, governance structure, and the types of services and infrastructure provided. Urban municipalities serve more densely populated areas with a range of services, while rural municipalities serve less populated, often agricultural regions focusing on maintaining roads and supporting agriculture. That said, in their role in supporting agriculture and industry, urban municipalities became regional economic hubs. With technological advancements in the agriculture industry and urbanization rates, the average farm size went from 160 acres under the 1872 Dominion Lands Claim Act to approximately 1,700 acres by 2021. The result has left many communities with shrinking populations. Roughly 166 of the existing 775 communities in Saskatchewan have more than 1,000 people, while 130 have less than 100 people. How sustainable are communities with such small populations? Given that the municipal legislative framework belongs to the provincial government, the research questions in this project seek to investigate why the provincial government refused to consolidate municipal governments despite data-supported arguments, including the recent Taskforce on Legislative Renewal led by Dr. Joe Garcea in 2000. This research aims to understand why the provincial government has forced the amalgamation of the school board system but has yet to restructure municipal governments despite previous attempts. This study develops a single case study using qualitative methods to analyze municipal governments in Saskatchewan. I collected and analyzed interviews with current and past municipal leaders, examining the data against the veto players' power theory developed by Dr. George Tsebelis, which employs historical institutionalism for its explanatory power to illustrate the resistance to change. The interview data are analyzed using the NVivo analytical platform, which allowed me to produce trend lines based on assigned attributes and codes. A total of 40 interviews were conducted and analyzed. During the data analysis phase of this project, several trends emerged. Veto players, such as the government of Saskatchewan and municipal leaders, have generally been far apart in their respective public policy positions regarding amalgamations. Municipal government leaders have historically demonstrated a strong status quo bias, resisted change, and, over time, produced path-dependent institutional processes. Municipal leaders have recognized that, eventually, there will be a need for amalgamations, but a bottom-up approach must drive this process. Three significant themes surfaced during the analysis of the data collected. First, the influence of historical institutional patterns leads decision-making processes down a path-dependent trajectory. A second theme based upon historical institutional introduced institutional change inertia by introducing status quo biases. Third, because municipal government leaders have varying opinions about amalgamation, MLAs are concerned about disturbing their voting base by forcing any modernization of the municipal sector. As the constitutional veto player governing the municipal sector, the provincial government will only foster sector modernization by incentivizing incremental change.