This presentation will attempt to demonstrate the utility of theory as an interpretive tool for understanding policy change in Ontario. Public health renewal in Ontario will be used to discuss a melded framework combining John Kingdon's Streams approach (ie. "Garbage Can model") and the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory. More specifically, this presentation will describe two seemingly distinct public health communities in Ontario, the role of policy entrepreneurs, and the influence of public health events, the public and the Médias on non-incremental, punctuated policy change.

Speaker: Alex Price