Prescriptions for Health Reform was a one-day health care forum in Vancouver on September 10, 2024.
The conference featured international and domestic speakers and examined policies that improve the public system, give patients more choice and achieve better outcomes for patients in Canada.
Join us for a one-day health care forum in Vancouver on September 10, 2024.
The conference will feature international and domestic speakers and will examine policies that can improve outcomes for patients in Canada.
Event Videos
Event Details
Prescriptions for Health Reform was a one-day event in Vancouver hosted by SecondStreet.org, MEI, and the Canadian Constitution Foundation. Taking place September 10th, the conference fell on the eve of a provincial election in a province where health care challenges have been particularly acute.
The conference featured both international and domestic speakers that addressed why other countries with universal health care systems produce better outcomes, what practical policy solutions can be implemented now and how we get over the hump of bridging widespread public support for change against gatekeepers that stick steadfastly to the failing status quo.
Event Speakers
Note: these biographies were accurate for speakers as of September 10, 2024.
Director of Research, MEI
Krystle Wittevrongel
Krystle Wittevrongel holds a BA, BSc, Master of Public Policy, and Master of Science, all from the University of Calgary. With a deep commitment to rigorous research and effective policy, she has made significant contributions to the field of health policy. Prior to joining the MEI team, Krystle worked in the Health Policy division of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, among other notable positions.
Krystle has an extensive publication record, including articles in various specialized peer-reviewed journals and chapters for several e-books related to health care in Canada. She contributes regularly to public discourse and is frequently featured in Canadian media through interviews, columns, and op-eds.
Litigation director, Canadian Constitution Foundation
Christine Van Geyn
Christine Van Geyn is a Canadian lawyer and bestselling author. She is the litigation director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation and host of the national broadcast television program Canadian Justice. She is a YouTuber, Podcaster, and professional speaker. Christine earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Ethics, Society and Law at the University of Toronto, Trinity College. Christine earned her JD at Osgoode Hall Law school, and also studied at New York University School of Law. She was called to the bar in Ontario in 2012. Before joining the CCF, Christine practiced commercial litigation, and then was the Ontario Director of a national non-profit where she was involved in several high profile constitutional challenges.
Editor at Large
Sean Speer
Sean Speer is the editor at large at The Hub. He is also a senior fellow at the Public Policy Forum and the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Sean previously served as a senior adviser to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Founder, Synaps (Sweden)
Gustaf Drougge
Gustaf Drougge is the CEO of Synaps, a Swedish think tank comprised of doctors and nurses dedicated to advancing patient rights in health care. Synaps develops new health care policies with increased private collaboration within a universal health care system.
Drougge’s background includes over 10 years as a senior political executive in Region Stockholm, Sweden.
Associated Researcher, MEI
Fred Roeder
Fred Roeder is a health economist from Germany and has worked in health care reform in North America and Europe. He has both worked on improving hospital systems and bringing innovative medicines to emerging markets. He has spoken on health policy issues in the US Congress, the European Parliament, and the German Bundestag.
Fred has traveled to 100 countries and is looking forward to visiting the other half of the world’s countries.
Among many op-eds and media appearances, he has been published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Wirtschaftswoche, Die Welt, the BBC, BILD, ABC Portland News, Montreal Gazette, Daily Mail, Handelsblatt, Huffington Post Germany, CityAM. L’Agefi, and The Guardian.
He has served as an associated researcher at the Montreal Economic Institute since 2012.
Advisor, Protaea
Amee Barber
Amee Barber earned her doctorate from the University of Alberta in 2014, receiving several scholarships and teaching awards. After her academic career, she transitioned to provincial politics and government before moving into the private sector. There, she led public engagement strategies for large multinationals, building consensus on politically sensitive issues.
Amee is dedicated to creating new markets that give Canadians a greater range of choices while protecting their health and safety. Doing so often requires challenging traditional ways of thinking and motivating pragmatic deliberation across multiple stakeholders. Her diverse work spans the topic of pipelines, sex work, biotechnology, crop protection, nuclear fusion, and sports betting. Currently, she advocates for health care practitioners and the inclusion of new technologies in Alberta and BC.
Amee remains active in provincial politics and serves on the Board of Directors for the Fusion Energy Council of Canada.
President, SecondStreet.org
Colin Craig
Colin Craig has worked in the field of public policy for two decades and has helped shape government decisions at the municipal, provincial and federal level.
In 2018, he was hired as president of SecondStreet.org and played an instrumental role in launching the organization. Colin oversees the organization’s groundbreaking research and storytelling activities, and is the host of their television show – On Second Street (you can find it on The News Forum channel).
Prior to launching SecondStreet.org, Colin worked for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). During his time with there, he led the organization’s efforts to convince the federal government to draft and pass the First Nations Financial Transparency Act. Colin was also instrumental in exposing corruption during the construction of the City of Winnipeg’s police headquarters. He later exposed and helped reform the City of Calgary’s golden retirement bonus scheme, council’s pension, and helped the CTF convince Calgarians to vote “no” during the city's Olympic bid plebiscite.
Colin has an MBA and a degree in economics from the University of Manitoba. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee medal in 2022 by the Premier of Alberta. Colin is the author of “The Government Wears Prada” and contributed several chapters to the eBook Life After COVID.
Former B.C. Premier
Gordon Campbell
Gordon Campbell was the mayor of Vancouver from 1986 to 1993, leader of the B.C. Liberal Party from 1993 to 2011, premier of British Columbia from 2001 to 2011, and high commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2016.
During his tenure as premier, Campbell reduced taxes, restrained spending, revolutionized the measurement and management of regulations, and markedly improved the economy of the province.
Premier Campbell completed a BA from Dartmouth University and MBA from Simon Fraser University. Prior to entering politics, he was active in real estate development.
He received the Champion’s Award from the Canadian Council on Public Private partnerships in 2008; was named Builder of the Decade by BC Road Builders and Heavy Construction Industry in 2011.
He was presented an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Thompson Rivers University. He was awarded both the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and the Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) for his contributions to the province and country.
He received The Makers of Modern Canada Award for Excellence from the Institute of Governance in recognition of his significant contribution in shaping and modernizing Canada in the 21st century, was awarded the Freedom of the City of London, the Canadian Olympic Order and Corporate Knights Award of Distinction that “recognizes leaders in Canadian society who have had a catalytic impact on advancing a more positive relationship between business, government and sustainable development.”
The Ahousaht First Nation bestowed him with the name Chamatook and the Haida First Nation bestowed him with the name Nang Kaadlljuu.
He’s also received the Simon Fraser University Distinguished Alumni Award.
Executive vice president, Leger
Steve Mossop
Steve Mossop is the executive vice-president of Leger’s Western Canada team and leads a team of 20+ researchers serving public and private sector clients with full-service market research solutions.
Most recently, Steve was the president of Insights West, which Leger acquired in late 2021. Insights West offered insights-driven solutions via leading-edge tools and normative databases and had 15+ employees and $3M+ in billings annually in the 10 years it operated. Prior to this, Steve was at Ipsos for 17 years and managed 30+ client service staff in multiple cities after starting his career at the Angus Reid Group and TNS.
Steve has publicly released 1,000+ different opinion polls on diverse topics, including politics; economic confidence; support or opposition to various environmental, social, and economic policy issues; consumer trends; social media habits; healthcare issues; COVID-19’s impact, interest rates/inflation, and, more recently, AI trends.
His accomplishments include launching Insights West to be the fastest-growing B.C. market research company and selling the business to Leger in 2021, winning Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40 award in 2006, and winning BCAMA’s 2001 Marketer of the Year Award. Steve was chair of the BCAMA’s Senior Executive Program for 4 years and was a member of Vancouver EO for 5 years.
Steve is a frequent public speaker and media personality in British Columbia, making regular appearances on a wide variety of media outlets as the spokesperson for Leger and in the past for Insights West and Ipsos. Steve holds a BBA degree from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in marketing.
Litigator, Fasken
Geoffrey Cowper
Geoff Cowper, KC is a leading general litigator. Geoff has served as counsel in leading private and public cases in Canada and internationally. These have included leading decisions with national and international dimensions respecting commercial law, public law and human rights.
Geoff has served the community in leadership roles in law reform, legal aid, housing services to the homeless, and international economic development and conservation.
President and CEO, MEI
Daniel Dufort
Daniel Dufort is a seasoned public policy professional. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from Laval University, and has worked in federal politics in the office of the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada as a speechwriter, issues manager, and stakeholder relations and strategic planification advisor. He has also been the Director of Issues Management and a policy advisor to the Minister of Infrastructure and the Prime Minister’s political lieutenant for Quebec. He has worked for major Canadian public relations firms, where he focused on government relations, crisis management, and the public positioning of corporations. He joined the MEI first as Senior Director of External Relations, Communications and Development, from June 2018 to October 2020, and then served as Vice President of Operations from July 2022 to April 2023.
Passionate about public policy and proudly dedicated to advancing the cause of freedom in Quebec and across Canada, his writings have appeared in publications such as The Globe and Mail, the Financial Post, La Presse+, and Le Journal de Montréal.
Principal, Cormorant Policy Advice (Australia)
Terry Barnes
Terry Barnes has a strong personal and career interest in Australian social policy, especially in relation to health and aged care.
Terry worked in federal and state government politics and administration for over 20 years. He was a senior ministerial policy adviser to two federal health ministers including Tony Abbott, who later became Australia’s Prime Minister. He was also chief-of-staff to social portfolio state ministers in Victoria, and a senior public servant in the federal and Victorian governments. This included, as a senior federal government executive, being responsible for administering the federal government’s public hospital funding agreements with the states, and advising federal ministers on private health insurance regulation and policy. He also worked for a time with Australia’s largest private health insurer, Medibank Private.
Since 2008, Terry has been a public policy consultant, with an emphasis on healthcare and private health insurance. He is also a well-known media commentator on politics and policy issues for politics and policy issues for Australian radio, television and newspapers, and writes on Australian topics for leading British current affairs magazine, The Spectator.
Managing Principal, Navigator
Jason Hatcher
Jason Hatcher is the Managing Principal of Navigator and leads the Western Canadian operations from Calgary. He specializes in strategic communications, media relations, issues management, and government relations.
Before joining Navigator, Jason was the co-founder and president of a successful public relations firm in Calgary, emerging as one of Canada’s leading professionals in the field of strategic communications.
For over 20 years, he has worked at the provincial and federal levels of government advising Premiers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador. He has also advised Canadian Cabinet Ministers and political leaders and parties across the country in areas concerning campaign and election strategy, media relations and public policy.
As a media commentator on public policy, government and politics, Jason has appeared regularly on national and regional public affairs programming.
In his role as Managing Principal of Navigator’s Western Canadian operations, Jason leads business development for the region while also managing a team in three offices (Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver). He works with clients in the telecommunications, technology, health, agriculture, finance and energy sectors to enhance their public profiles through communication, stakeholder consultation, and government advocacy strategies.
Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Jason’s English and French bilingual education covered political science, business and law.
As a community leader and passionate volunteer, Jason believes it is important for people to be involved and give back to their community. He is current Board Chair of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce as well as Board Chair for United Way Centraide which comprises 80 community-based organizations and the National Office. Additionally, Jason is the past Board Chair at United Way of Calgary and a board member for three privately owned corporations.
Jason lives in Calgary with his wife and two children and their two Labrador retrievers, Mac and Brigus.
Executive Director, CCF
Joanna Baron
Joanna Baron has been the CCF’s Executive Director since 2019. Previous to that, Joanna was the founding Director of the Runnymede Society.
A native of Toronto, Joanna studied classical liberal arts at St. John’s College, MD, and earned civil and common law degrees at McGill University. She clerked at the Court of Appeal for Ontario and was called to the bar in Ontario in 2013.
Following her clerkship, Joanna worked in barrister’s chambers in London, UK as a Harold G. Fox Scholar. Following her return to Canada in 2014, Joanna practiced criminal law with the late Edward L. Greenspan, appearing at all levels of court in Ontario, including the Supreme Court of Canada.
Founder, Cambie Surgery Centre
Dr. Brian Day
Born in Liverpool, Brian Day graduated in medicine from the University of Manchester in 1970. After postgraduate studies in internal medicine and general surgery, a residency in orthopedics at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and trauma fellowships in Switzerland, England and Los Angeles, he set up practice at the Vancouver General Hospital and UBC where he developed an interest and expertise in orthopedic sports medicine and arthroscopy. He has lectured extensively and has written more than 100 articles and book chapters on orthopedics, arthroscopic surgery and sports medicine. His long-standing interest in technology and medicine led to his involvement in development of the world’s first surgical robot and the first-ever live satellite telemedicine broadcast between North America and mainland China.
Dr. Day founded the Cambie Surgery Centre, a private surgical facility, and is the founder and a past president of the Canadian Independent Medical Clinics Association. His long association with the Canadian Orthopaedic Association started in 1979 when he received its Edouard Samson Award for outstanding research by a young investigator. He has also served as vice-president of the Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation, on the executive of the Canadian Orthopaedic Research Society and as president of the Canadian Medical Association.
He is a former research committee chair and past president of the Arthroscopy Association of North America, the world’s leading academic society in his field of practice.
