Doug McArthur, Professor at the School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University
IPAC Victoria & Vancouver Regional Chapter are pleased to announce the winner of the 2017 Lieutenant Governor's Silver Medal for Excellence in Public Administration, Doug McArthur, Professor at the School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University. As the 2018 winner of the prestigious Lieutenant Governor Silver Medal for Excellence in Public Administration, Doug McArthur, is being honoured for his outstanding contributions to policy and public administration for the past 40 years.
Doug McArthur grew up on a family farm near Watrous, Saskatchewan, spending his first three school years in a one room country school house. He attended the University of Saskatchewan, and continued his studies as a Rockefellor Foundation Fellow at the University of Chicago, and as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He started his public service career with the Government of Saskatchewan, where he became Deputy Minister of Agriculture and then Deputy Minister of Northern Saskatchewan, which was his introduction to a life-long commitment to work in support of indigenous people and communities. Soon after, he ran for office and was appointed Minister of Education in Saskatchewan. During that time, he was selected by provincial Ministers as Chair of the Canadian Council of Ministers of Education.
After teaching university for a brief time, he went on to become Deputy Minister of the Executive Council and Chief Land Claims negotiator for Yukon, playing an instrumental role in the negotiation of the Yukon Umbrella Agreement. He then joined the British Columbia Government as Deputy Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, where, among other achievements, he was responsible for negotiating the creation of the BC Treaty Commission. He subsequently served as Deputy Minister to the Premier from 1992 to 1998. One of his major achievements was leading the forest sector renewal strategy and the accompanying processes for the resolution of major land-use conflicts, including the 1996 softwood lumber agreement.
He has been Professor of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University’s highly regarded School of Public Policy since 2003, and continues to teach and advise on First Nations issues, including Treaty and related policy and self-government issues. He was a long-time participant in the successful Tsawwassen First Nation negotiations as a member of its Treaty negotiations team.
We are dedicated to promoting excellence in public administration.