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

Hugh Segal argues that the challenge of complexity is not to eliminate it, but to “reduce it, simplify it and manage it so that the complexity itself does not destroy the efficacy of public institutions”.

Hugh Segal, Master of Massey College, is a former associate secretary of cabinet (Federal/Provincial relations) in Ontario, chief of staff to the prime minister and president of the Institute for Research on Public Policy.

This article is part of a Globe and Mail series on the role of Canadian institutions in partnership with The Walter Gordon Symposium – a two-day public policy conference co-hosted by the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance and Massey College.

This year’s symposium, titled Confronting Complexity: Better Ways Of Addressing Our Toughest Policy Problems, will explore how the media, private sector, governments, and supranational organizations factor into the policymaking process in our increasingly complex and changing society.