Congratulations to Vasiliki (Vass) B. '12 on the release of The Big Fix! 🎉 It's inspiring to see how her work and passion for market regulation are taking shape. Excited for the upcoming lectures and discussions ahead!
Executive Director, Master of Public Policy (MPP) in Digital Society at McMaster University + Host of 'LATELY' from the Globe and Mail
Last year, McGill’s Christopher Ragan called Denise Hearn and me after a cryptic email, and he invited us to deliver the 2024 McGill Max Bell lecture - a book project coupled with three lectures. Um, what? My baby was 3 months old, asleep in the back of the car and totally oblivious to what we were signing up for. This was an incredible opportunity to deepen the past few years of our thinking, and present a recalibration of the competition conversation in Canada. A way to present a joyful and optimistic (and demure and mindful…) vision for market regulation in the country (it’s cool, I swear) and with the best thought partner a girl could ask for. Wow. Last week, the book came out. It’s called The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians. You can check out an excerpt in the The Globe and Mail https://lnkd.in/gUXVeUAj. It’s not AS good as holding your baby for the first time, but it feels close. Same category: mind-blowing. And in the category of “Government and Business” on Amazon.ca, it’s #1. On Thanksgiving Monday, Denise and I met up in Vancouver, ahead of a kick-off lecture and moderating conversation with Paul Haavardsrud. I had two special guests there - women that I have been friends with since the third grade, Brittany Ford and Stephanie Piano. I don’t have the vocabulary to express how meaningful it was for me to glance out from the podium and see them radiating joy back at me. Honestly, it felt like being in a dream. And it was so amazing to be with Denise IRL! We also enjoyed a policy chat with the ever-generous and thoughtful Kevin Milligan. Thanks to the generosity of another fabulous girlfriend, Jane Hilderman, Denise and I flew to Edmonton to chat with the inaugural Max Bell lecturer, Andrew Leach. I tried to get the wifi to work on the flight and noticed an ad for the Lately show I host (!). In Edmonton, we chatted at a gorgeous bookstore, Audrey’s, and got to speak to students the next day at the University of Alberta. Plus bonus coffee with Don Iveson, ICD.D and a Chris Ellis catch up. Jane chauffeured us from the airport, gave us a mini-Edmonton history lesson, and even had cookies. Thank you, Andrew and Jane, for your attentiveness and amplification of our thinking. And the pizza! We’ve got more lectures coming up: in Montreal at the OMNI hotel (my toddler is coming!) Oct. 24, hosted by Justin Ling and in Toronto at TIFF hosted by Nam Kiwanuka Oct. 29. Karim Bardeesy is hosting us at The Dais for a spooky Hallowe’en talk Oct. 31. PS. There’s more on the book in this week’s episode of CBC’s The Cost of Living (“Mind the Prosperity Gap.”) https://lnkd.in/gKqHyMsn. PPS. I’m a part of this CBC Marketplace story on Rogers sneakily increasing prices on a component of their ‘package’ for consumers https://lnkd.in/gF9Fs_V2
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