What makes a for a good piece of legislation? How does a policy or law solve a problem? Time to find out!

Select a policy – at the local, provincial or federal level – and research the history of the decision.

Answer the following questions:

  1. What is the policy?
  2. What problem did it seek to address?
  3. Who initially proposed the policy (a stakeholder, a politician or the government)?
  4. Was there a pressure campaign that pushed the issue onto the government’s agenda? Did the campaign help or hurt the policy outcome?
  5. Who were the stakeholders?
  6. Were the stakeholders properly consulted?
  7. How long did it take for a decision to be made?
  8. Were all stakeholders happy with the outcome? Was there dissent?
  9. Did the political opposition support or oppose the policy? Why?
  10. Why did the policy ultimately pass?
  11. Is the policy impactful enough to solve the problem for good, or is it a stop-gap measure/compromise that still requires more work?
  12. Is the policy widely supported to this day or is it still controversial? Why?
  13. What can you learn from this decision-making result?

Resources:

Policies, regulations and laws by department or agency (federal)

Provincial policies across Canada

Municipal policies across Canada