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Joining Nexus
I travel to the US fairly frequently and, as a result of the lengthy delays after the foiled terrorist incident last December 25, I decided to join the Nexus program. Nexus is a voluntary program in which travelers who are qualified and willing to provide an iris scan can avoid lineups at both Canada and…
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Who is an Ideal Juror?
One of the questions we discussed in yesterday’s narratives and management class is what would constitute an ideal juror and whether the protagonists of A Trial by Jury (Graham Burnett) and Twelve Angry Men (juror number 8, portrayed by Henry Fonda) meet that definition. Burnett came off well in the discussion, with the conclusion that,…
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The Narratives Around Us
This week I was on the lookout for compelling narratives out there in the zeitgeist and found two worth discussing, both focusing on automobile safety (or the lack thereof). The anchor story on the front page of last Monday’s (Feb. 1, 2010) New York Times was headlined “Toyota’s Slow Awakening to a Deadly Problem.” The…
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The Canada Revenue Agency: A Hotbed of Innovation?
For the skeptics who claim that innovation in government is an oxymoron, the notion that a tax collection agency could be innovative seems even more oxymoronic. Yet my intuition tells me that the Canada Revenue Agency indeed has bragging rights to such a claim. Historically, it has been a rapid adopter of information technology, using…
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A Look Back at the Final Exam in Management and Narrative
I see a final exam as an opportunity to challenge students to demonstrate what they have learned by applying the course material to situations they have not encountered in the course. But because the examinations are never returned, the learning loop is not completed. To rectify this, today’s post will be about the final exam…
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Highway 407 Revisited
Just as Highway 61 (running from New Orleans to Duluth, Minnesota) kept reappearing in Bob Dylan’s life, Highway 407 ETR keeps reappearing in mine. I co-authored a book about it six years ago (If You Build it … at www.407etrbook.com), and I get asked to comment on its ongoing controversies. I was just on Goldhawk…
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In the Loop? Not Really
The movie In the Loop, released last summer in the cinemas and on DVD last week, is the successor to Armando Ianucci’s 2005 television series The Thick of It (the subject of my post last March 13). The series received considerable recognition when initially released, then was cancelled after its costar, Chris Langham, who played…
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The TTC Fare Increase: How Technological Backwardness Begets Operational Stupidity
Toronto transit riders are facing a fare increase at year-end and, because tokens are undated, the TTC has reduced their availability, thereby generating long queues and consternation on the part of riders. By way of personal disclosure, I should say that I’ve seen this scenario played out often enough to know what was coming, so…
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Two Winning Economic Stimulus Projects
As the Government of Canada rolls out its Economic Action Plan, I have two projects that, as far as I can tell, are not under consideration for funding. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I’ve visited both several times with my children, and we’ve talked about how to improve these two…
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The Master of Motivation
With the sequel to Wall Street currently in production, I want to look back at one of the most memorable scenes in the original. Not the famous “greed is good” speech, but rather a scene early in the movie (33 minutes in, chapter 7 on DVD) in which corporate raider Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) convinces…
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Charlie Wilson’s War: The Book
After seeing the movie Charlie Wilson’s War, I took the time this week to read George Crile’s 535 page history by the same title – the book from which the movie was adapted. The book was eminently readable and entirely enjoyable, though the story that emerged was very complex, incorporating quite a few subplots. The…
- I am Professor of Public Management Emeritus at the University of Toronto, having retired in July 2020 after a 45-year academic career.
- My latest book, Public Representations: Screen Stories, Narrative, and the Public Sphere, co-authored with Beth Herst, was published in April 2026 by University of Toronto Press (open access).
- On this website I post blogs about politics, narrative, and my life experiences.
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