About Rick

I graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1974 with a Master’s Degree. I found a junior research job with the Government of Saskatchewan, working my way up to policy roles in the Social Services Department. Working inside an organization that ran, among other services, a traditional welfare program gave me the opportunity to think at length about what was wrong with this approach to income support, and how it might be transformed into something better.

In the early 1990s Saskatchewan faced extreme budget pressures, but there was also appetite in some quarters for better social value from income support programs. I was tasked with work on welfare alternatives, which eventually led to a role in negotiating the National Child Benefit and a design role in provincial companion programs. These were mainly aimed at changing parents’ work behaviour, and were credited with a role in a precipitous and very welcome decline in single parent dependency.

By this time I understood that the behavioural principles at play in child benefit reform were more widely applicable. Through most of the 2000s myself and my colleagues developed active social policy applications in housing, employment services, disability and other areas. Some of these ideas became policy, but the political will for reform was waning. Since a change of government in 2007, Saskatchewan has unfortunately reverted to passive program models, especially in welfare and disability policy.

Canada’s social policy is a very mixed bag, with some good elements, and others that are misconceived. A great deal of money is being spent, much of it, in my view, quite badly. My interest is to contribute analysis that might, over the long term, build support for positive change. If you can help me do this, or I can help you, get in touch!