Public Policy at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy | University of Toronto

SECTION I: Fall

Energy Policy

Course Description

Energy policy lies at the centre of economic development, environmental sustainability, First Nations reconciliation and retail politics.  It is complex and difficult.
Ontario’s current energy policy structure was implemented in the early 2000s.  It was based on a belief in markets and regulatory independence.  This was consistent with, and drew ideas from reforms in Europe and the United states.  Although, in practice, Ontario policy was inconsistent with its founding ideas, there has not been a fundamental reconsideration of these premises.
This course will examine the history and ideas informing energy policy in Ontario and other jurisdictions for the purpose of exploring new ways to conceive of and manage the challenges of regulating energy.  Specific issues to be addressed include:
– The federal and provincial frameworks for energy supply;
– Institutional governance in energy regulation;
– The role of different technologies in energy systems;
– The challenges posed by renewable power to electricity markets; and
– The rise of distributed generation and alternative technologies

Term
Fall (2nd year)

Instructors
TBA

SECTION I: Spring
Property Law and Cities

Course Description

This course explores the relationship between property law and policy in cities. There is a mutual dependence between owners and government in cities. Cities today lean on owners to support the provision of local public goods in a variety of ways, whether it is shovelling snow, maintaining POPs (privately owned public spaces) or financing public goods. Property owners rely on cities to provide the framework within which they use property, build communities, and maintain property values. The interaction between cities, owners and non-owners generates a variety of conflicts for decision-makers to resolve but also produces tools and opportunities for cities.
The object of the course is to introduce students to the fundamental building blocks of property law as it bears on how we live together in cities.  The course will begin with a survey of the basic structure of property rights, such as ownership, tenancies, easements, covenants, air-rights, etc. It will then introduce students to the legal concept of the city and in particular the powers of local government in relation to owners, including the powers to take, regulate and tax property in cities.
Building on this foundation, we will go on to consider how property law shapes policymaking on a range of issues relating to homelessness, access to public housing, aboriginal rights, and land use and urban development in general.  We will also study how the law relates to the financing of public goods and the allocation of benefits and burdens of membership in urban communities.

Term
Spring (2nd year)

Instructors
L. Katz

OR

SECTION II: Spring
Canadian Migration Policy

Course Description

Who gets in? Who is removed? And what are our conceptions and misconceptions of both groups? As national borders dissolve for trade, capital, communication and culture under globalization, these same borders acquire increasing salience in controlling the movement of people. Migration control thus emerges as the ‘last bastion of sovereignty’.

This course focuses on Canadian policy, law and practice designed to manage and regulate entry, residence and citizenship. The policy answers to the question ‘who gets in?’ will be analyzed in terms of history (who got in to Canada in the past?), current trends (upon what characteristics does Canada currently assess those that wish to get in?), and critical perspectives (how do class/race/ ethnicity/gender affect who gets in?).

The course will examine the role of international and constitutional arrangements in determining the role played by different levels of government (United Nations, federal, provincial and municipal) in immigration, as well as the division of labour between the legislator, the executive and the courts in making and interpreting the rules.

Students will become familiar with the structure of Canadian immigration policy, and the mechanism by which immigration law organizes people into a series of categories and sub-categories: legal/illegal; temporary/permanent; economic/family class; voluntary/coerced etc. Class discussions will be encouraged to critical examine Canadian immigration policy and current events.

The Immigration Refugee Protection Act, Regulations and online Immigration Manual provide the framework for categorizing potential entrants into legal vs. non-legal, visitors vs. permanent residents, and immigrants vs. refugees. These legal instruments set the terms of admission and exclusion, and the processes by which the state makes and implements these determinations.

Term
Spring (2nd year)

Instructors
TBA

Notes
*Prerequisite: Successful completion of at least 3.5 FCEs in MPP1 courses
Required of all second year students. Please note that courses offered under the “Integrating Seminar: Legal Analysis in Public Policy” seminar series are subject to change with each new academic year.