Mansell Award winner forgoes ‘Ottawa bubble’ for UCalgary to better understand public policy in Canada

Growing up in Ottawa, Ben Harford was always intensely interested in politics. He decided, however, to leave the national capital and come to Calgary to study public policy. 

Counterintuitive? Perhaps, but Harford saw the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy as a place where he could better understand Canada and how the country’s diversity impacts public policy while learning from some of the country's leading academics.

"I was drawn to going out West, and one thing you hear when you are in the Ottawa circle is that you've got to break out of that 'Ottawa bubble'," he said. "The best way to understand the country is to actually live in other parts of the country and experience it."

Harford is back in Ontario, working as a government relations associate with Temple Scott Associates, a government and public relations firm. Still, he arrived in Calgary in the fall of 2023 with all his possessions crammed into a Mini Cooper and a goal to earn his Master of Public Policy (MPP) in a year.

He also arrived at the school with a clear idea for his capstone project, which is the centrepiece of the 12-month MPP program, a piece of advice he would offer every student entering the intense graduate program.

Harford's idea would become a 67-page research paper titled Free Market or Government Control? A Comparative Analysis of the Productive Capacity in Australia and Canada's Dairy Industries. It was awarded The Dr. Robert Mansell Capstone of the Year Award from the class of 2024. 

"I was really surprised to win," he said. "I knew I had written a good paper but there are a lot of really brilliant people in our class, and it was stiff competition."

Supply management in dairy has been a political issue in Canada for decades, and Harford's interest in the subject runs deep. His great-uncle had been a dairy farmer in the Ottawa Valley, but the family gave up the dairy herd, just before supply management took effect in 1971, to raise beef cattle. 

They weren't alone in leaving the industry. Harford's research showed in 1971, there were 113,008 registered dairy farms in Canada, but close to 92 per cent of those have now left the sector. The original goal of protecting family farms didn't work out.

"I have always been interested in agriculture policy and dairy farming in particular," said Harford, who previously studied public sector management at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Part of the allure of the School of Public Policy for Harford was the quality of the faculty and fellows. His focus on a better understanding of supply management in Canada brought him into contact with two leading experts on the subject: Jack Mintz, the school's founder, and Martha Hall Findlay, the current director.

"This might sound geeky, but my family always got the National Post, and I've been reading Jack Mintz since I was 13 years old.  He was incredible to work with," Harford said of his academic supervisor on his capstone. "To be able to bounce ideas off of Jack and Martha was such a treat."

The political pressure to alter supply management in Canada’s dairy industry has been the focal point of trade talks for decades. It is likely to be prominent in the next round of negotiations for the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).  

Given the pressure routinely applied to Canada's trade negotiations over our supply-managed systems, Harford's capstone asks, "Should Canada pursue Australian-style deregulation in its dairy industry?" 

The paper assesses the dynamic milk market that has emerged in Australia and examines if the deregulation of Canada's dairy industry would provide relief to consumers and greater market access to efficient Canadian dairy farmers.  

"I don't think there will be enough political pressure in the CUSMA negotiations to change it," he said. "But if you are looking for policy options to see if there is a way to get out from underneath supply management without harming the Canadian dairy farmer, there is an avenue and an example out there."

His time at SPP reinforced Harford's interest in the interconnection between business and government and how public policy affecting business reverberates across the country. He credits the intense focus, real-world timelines, and collaborative environment at SPP for preparing him to make an impact in the business and policy world. 

"Incredible profs and an amazing learning environment with 35 to 40 people who go through the program with you," he said. "You become really close with your classmates, and because it's one year, it's just 'Get after it' and start learning about all these new subjects. Everybody is there for a reason and dialed in to get going."