SFU courts Roy Romanow
Tyler Hopson, The Peak

Roy Romanow, former premier of Saskatchewan, has recently been asked to serve as chair to a proposed post-graduate program in public policy at SFU.

The program, called the master's in public policy management (MPPM), would accommodate up to 25 students per year. Currently, there is no such program in place in the Lower Mainland and interested students must attend the University of Victoria.

Professor Mike Howlett, who has been key in setting up the new post-graduate program, describes Romanow as a "very intellectual politician."

Romanow has a long history with the New Democratic Party in Saskatchewan, and was named leader of the party in 1987. The prairie native was also a key player in the federal-provincial negotiations which resulted in the Constitutional Accord of November 1981. Romanow stepped down from his premier's position earlier this year.

Howlett says a senior-level politician would well-serve SFU's new program insofar as the program will give students the chance to acquire the upper-level managerial skills needed in the civil service-these skills are in particularly high demand as baby boomers begin to retire.

The idea for the new post-graduate program, which is still undergoing approval at this time, began approximately 10 years ago.

According to Howlett, "It's one of these initiatives that everybody says is a good idea but when it actually comes to establishing something, it's hard to do."

After being put on hold for several years due to a lack of funds, hope for the program was renewed in the summer of 2000 with the introduction of the federal government's Canada Research Chair program.

According to Howlett, this two billion-dollar program allows for approximately 2000 new faculty positions to be created throughout Canada, with around 50 of those being at SFU. If the public policy program is approved by January 2002, it will officially begin in September of the same year.

While the proposal was made to Romanow at the beginning of February, the former Saskatchewan premier has still not given SFU a firm answer.

"He is not in any hurry [to make a decision] and he's just entertaining all offers," says Peter Moroz, special advisor to the Cabinet in Saskatchewan.

Romanow has also received offers for ambassadorships from the prime minister, as well as an offer from Queen's University, which he has declined.

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