Case Studies

The Situation The global stage at Davos is almost as good a platform for gravitas as Maple Leaf Gardens, The Forum, Parliament, or the House of Commons — but the applause is more polite, more rare, and involves far fewer beer cups on the ice. That’s what made it impossible to ignore. When Prime Minister Mark Carney finished his speech, the room stood up. People at Davos don’t do standing ovations unless they have to — or unless they want  to. This wasn’t protocol. It wasn’t p

1. The Situation In early 2026, residents across Simcoe North and neighbouring rural communities opened LinkedIn to see a familiar kind of good news: a senior provincial minister celebrating over $78 million in infrastructure funding for water and wastewater systems. It was  good news. Clean drinking water matters. But at the same time, many of us were stepping over encampments, watching shelters overflow, and hearing from exhausted frontline workers trying to respond to hom

1. The Situation By the early 2000s, Canada had a problem hiding in plain sight. Cancer rates were rising as the population aged. Treatment was improving, but prevention, early detection, psychosocial care, and palliative supports were uneven and often neglected. Patients’ experiences depended heavily on where they lived and how well their province happened to be resourced. In 1999, more than 700 cancer experts, health professionals, and cancer survivors  came together to des

1. The Problem I was a single working mom, a grassroots cancer advocate, and the only Canadian attending a major U.S. breast cancer lobbying conference. I was tired, underfunded, and trying to change a system that didn’t notice us — let alone listen. At the same time, a small local group of survivors wanted to do more than share stories. We wanted policy change . But we didn’t have the money, reach, or political muscle to get there alone. 2. The Tension Patient advocates were