The Honourable James A. Richardson Discovery Roundtables
Among the many civic contributions made by the Honourable James A. Richardson during his lifetime was his role as one of the four founders of the Canada West Foundation. In fact, it was a suggestion by Minister Richardson at the One Prairie Conference in 1970 that led to the creation of the Canada West Foundation as a registered charity on December 31, 1970.
Under the auspices of a generous donation to the Canada West Foundation’s Founder’s Endowment Fund by the Richardson family, the Canada West Foundation launched a new program called the Honourable James A. Richardson Discovery Roundtables in 2006.
Intended to be held on an annual basis in each Western province, the purpose of the Roundtables is to seek out new thinking to strengthen the voice of western Canadians. Informal but intense, the Roundtable discussions are designed to engage a small group of individuals with a background in, and a passion for, the topic under discussion. The intent of the Roundtables is less to enrich existing policy work than it is to look over the horizon and gain a sense of the policy challenges to come, and how today’s policy research agenda might be better positioned to address those challenges.
The Honourable James A. Richardson Discovery Roundtables are made possible for the Richardson family’s contribution to the Canada West Foundation Founder’s Endowment Fund. The Canada West Foundation expresses its sincere appreciation for this generous support.
Water: Wave of the Future.
The objective of the spring 2011 Richardson roundtables is to seek out new thinking on water policy in western Canada. The goal of these discussions is the development of new ideas on water policy that will centre on the tenets of increasing economic prosperity and enhancing quality of life in western Canada.
The themes and conclusions from each of the four Roundtables (held in Victoria, Lethbridge, Saskatoon and Winnipeg) will be synthesized in a summary report once all events have been completed. The synthesis report will be publicly available.
It is anticipated that the Roundtables will lead to additional public policy research that develops or builds on at least one key conclusion, idea or finding from the discussions.
For more information about our current water research, click here.