Episode 2.01 – Dr. Mike Moffatt

Mike Moffatt is the Senior Director of policy and innovation at the Smart Prosperity Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Business, Economics and Public Policy group at Ivey Business School, Western University. In 2017, Mike was the Chief Innovation Fellow for the Government of Canada, advising Deputy Ministers on innovation policy and emerging trends. His has also previously held the titles of Director (Interim) of the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management and Chief Economist for the Mowat Centre at the University of Toronto. 

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Episode

Topics of Discussion

• Who are you, what do you do for a living, what is your connection to SW Ontario? 
• How do you define SW Ontario? 
  • is the defining feature proximity to GTA or is it more regionalized with hub communities (London, Windsor etc) surrounded by rural communities? Are we seeing transition from one SW Ontario to another? 
• You have been doing alot of research on the movement of people from the GTA (and beyond) through SW Ontario and the impacts of that? What you found? What has surprised you?  
• I have had a number of conversations with municipal leaders, unanimously, housing affordability has been a concern. Based on your research on the movement of people, are we screwed? 
  • What are the economic consequences of housing being so and becoming so unaffordable? 
• Your work at (and more broadly the work of) Smart Prosperity has been looking at the pivots that need to occur to combat climate change and ensure ongoing prosperity in Canada. SW Ontario has traditionally been: very manufacturing focused, blue collar, agricultural focused region? 
  • When thinking about what future prosperity looks like how does that fit into SW Ontario economic make up? 
  • Is there a risk of a social disconnect? People/communities are left behind? 
• Provincial budget is released on March 24th, what are your thoughts on this budget? 
• If you could wave a policy magic wand and change a policy, what are you changing?