Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-24hb2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T21:32:48.708Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Dynamics of Policy Change: A Longitudinal Analysis of Emergency Management in Ontario, 1950–2010

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2011

Daniel Henstra*
Affiliation:
University of Windsor

Abstract

Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Donald Critchlow and Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

NOTES

1. Sabatier, Paul A., “Policy Change over a Decade or More,” in Policy Change and Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Approach, ed. Sabatier, Paul A. and Jenkins-Smith, Hank C. (Boulder, 1993)Google Scholar; Sabatier, Paul A., “The Need for Better Theories,” in Theories of the Policy Process, 2nd ed., ed. Sabatier, Paul A. (Boulder, 2007), 3.Google Scholar

2. Howlett, Michael and Rayner, Jeremy, “Understanding the Historical Turn in the Policy Sciences: A Critique of Stochastic, Narrative, Path Dependency, and Process-Sequencing Models of Policy-Making over Time,” Policy Sciences 39, no. 1 (2006): 118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3. Howlett, Michael, “Process Sequencing Policy Dynamics: Beyond Homeostasis and Path Dependency,” Journal of Public Policy 29, no. 3 (2009): 244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

4. Cashore, Benjamin and Howlett, Michael, “Punctuating Which Equilibrium? Understanding Thermostatic Policy Dynamics in Pacific Northwest Forestry,” American Journal of Political Science 51, no. 3 (2007): 532–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Mortensen, Peter B., “Stability and Change in Public Policy: A Longitudinal Study of Comparative Subsystem Dynamics,” Policy Studies Journal 35, no. 3 (2007): 373–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5. Haddow, George D., Bullock, Jane A., and Coppola, Damon P., Introduction to Emergency Management, 3rd ed. (Oxford, 2008), 4.Google Scholar See also Britton, Neil R., “National Planning and Response: National Systems,” in Handbook of Disaster Research, ed. Rodriguez, Havidan, Quarantelli, Enrico L., and Dynes, Russell R. (New York, 2007)Google Scholar; Porfiriev, Boris, Disaster Policy and Emergency Management in Russia (Commack, N.Y., 1998).Google Scholar

6. May, Peter J. and Williams, Walter, Disaster Policy Implementation: Managing Programs Under Shared Governance (New York, 1986): 25CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Waugh, William L. Jr., Living with Hazards, Dealing with Disasters: An Introduction to Emergency Management (Armonk, N.Y., 2000), 154.Google Scholar

7. For example, Rossi, Peter H., Wright, James D., and Weber-Burdin, Eleanor, Natural Hazards and Public Choice: The State and Local Politics of Hazard Mitigation (New York, 1982)Google Scholar; Waugh, William L. Jr. and John Hy, Ronald, “Introduction to Emergency Management,” in Handbook of Emergency Management, ed. Waugh, William L. Jr. and John Hy, Ronald (Westport, Conn., 1990).Google Scholar

8. Cigler, Beverly A., “Emergency Management and Public Administration,” in Crisis Management: A Casebook, ed. Charles, Michael T. and Kim, John Choon K. (Springfield, Ill., 1988)Google Scholar; Depoorter, Ben, “Horizontal Political Externalities: The Supply and Demand of Disaster Management,” Duke Law Journal 56, no. 1 (2006): 121–22.Google Scholar

9. May, Peter J., “Reconsidering Policy Design: Policies and Publics,” Journal of Public Policy 11, no. 2 (1991): 187206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10. Birkland, Thomas A., “Focusing Events, Mobilization, and Agenda Setting,” Journal of Public Policy 18, no. 1 (1998): 67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11. These ideas and terminology are rooted in the “punctuated equilibrium theory” of policy stability and change, developed chiefly by Baumgartner and Jones. See Baumgartner, Frank R. and Jones, Bryan D., Agendas and Instability in American Politics (Chicago, 1993)Google Scholar; True, James L., Jones, Bryan D., and Baumgartner, Frank R., “Punctuated Equilibrium Theory: Explaining Stability and Change in Public Policymaking,” in Theories of the Policy Process, 2nd ed., ed. Sabatier, Paul A. (Boulder, 2007), 155–88.Google Scholar

12. Real-Dato, José, “Mechanisms of Policy Change: A Proposal for a Synthetic Explanatory Framework,” Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis 11, no. 1 (2009): 135–36.Google Scholar

13. Waugh Jr., Living with Hazards, Dealing with Disasters, 51–52.

14. Gerston, Larry N., Public Policy Making: Process and Principles, 2nd ed. (Armonk, N.Y., 2004), 2249.Google Scholar

15. Kingdon, John W., Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (New York, 2003), 9495 and 166.Google Scholar

16. Ibid., 122–23.

17. Birkland, Thomas A., After Disaster: Agenda Setting, Public Policy, and Focusing Events (Washington, D.C., 1997).Google Scholar

18. For example, Johnson, Clare L., Tunstall, Sylvia M., and Penning-Rowsell, Edmund C., “Floods as Catalysts for Policy Change: Historical Lessons from England and Wales,” International Journal of Water Resources Development 21, no. 4 (2005): 561–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Stuart Olson, Richard, Olson, Robert A., and Gawronski, Vincent T., “Night and Day: Mitigation Policymaking in Oakland, California, Before and After the Loma Prieta Disaster,” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 16, no. 2 (1998): 145–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

19. Solecki, William D. and Michaels, Sarah, “Looking Through the Post-Disaster Policy Window,” Environmental Management 18, no. 4 (1994): 587–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

20. Birkland, Thomas A., “Natural Disasters as Focusing Events: Policy Communities and Political Response,” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 14, no. 2 (1996): 223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

21. Ibid., 221.

22. Birkland, After Disaster, 135.

23. Busenberg, George J., “Innovation, Learning, and Policy Evolution in Hazardous Systems,” American Behavioral Scientist 44, no. 4 (2000): 678–89CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Busenberg, George J., “Learning in Organizations and Public Policy,” Journal of Public Policy 21, no. 2 (2001): 173–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

24. Sabatier, Paul A., “An Advocacy Coalition Framework of Policy Change and the Role of Policy-Oriented Learning Therein,” Policy Sciences 21, no. 2/3 (1988): 133CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hall, Peter A., “Policy Paradigms, Social Learning, and the State: The Case of Economic Policymaking in Britain,” Comparative Politics 25, no. 3 (1993): 278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

25. May, Peter J., “Policy Learning and Failure,” Journal of Public Policy 12, no. 4 (1992): 331–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

26. Ibid., 332.

27. Birkland, Thomas A., Lessons of Disaster: Policy Change After Catastrophic Events (Washington, D.C., 2006), 165–72.Google Scholar

28. Ibid., 22.

29. Brody, Samuel D., Zahran, Sammy, Highfield, Wesley E., Bernhardt, Sarah P., and Vedlitz, Arnold, “Policy Learning for Flood Mitigation: A Longitudinal Assessment of the Community Rating System in Florida,” Risk Analysis 29, no. 6 (2009): 912–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

30. Rose, Richard, Lesson-Drawing in Public Policy (Chatham, N.J., 1993).Google Scholar

31. Howlett, Michael and Cashore, Benjamin, “The Dependent Variable Problem in the Study of Policy Change: Understanding Policy Change as a Methodological Problem,” Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis 11, no. 1 (2009): 3346.Google Scholar

32. McConnell, David, Plan for Tomorrow, Today! The Story of Emergency Preparedness Canada, 1948–98 (Ottawa, 1998), 19.Google Scholar

33. Scanlon, Joseph, “The Roller Coaster Story of Civil Defence Planning in Canada,” Emergency Preparedness Digest 9, no. 2 (1982): 2.Google Scholar

34. Timmerman, Peter, Emergency Planning in Ontario: A Critical History and Analysis (Toronto, 1980), 8.Google Scholar

35. Ontario, Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1950, chap. 243, sec. 387.

36. Gifford, Jim, Hurricane Hazel: Canada’s Storm of the Century (Toronto, 2004), 13.Google Scholar

37. Public Safety Canada, “Hurricane Hazel: Toronto, Southern ON, 1954.” Canadian Disaster Database. Available at: http://ww5.ps-sp.gc.ca/res/em/cdd/search-en.asp (accessed 28 May 2009).

38. Robinson, Danielle and Cruikshank, Ken, “Hurricane Hazel: Disaster Relief, Politics, and Society in Canada, 1954–55,” Journal of Canadian Studies 40, no. 1 (2006): 3770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

39. Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Volume 95, 26th Parliament, 1st session, 4 April 1960, 190. The office was moved to the Department of the Attorney General following a cabinet shuffle in 1961. See “Department Offices Switched Among Ministries,” Globe and Mail, 9 November 1961, 29.

40. Ontario, Emergency Measures Act, S.O. 1962–63, chap. 41.

41. Ibid., sess. 4, ss. 2.

42. Ontario, Department of Attorney General, Emergency Measures Review (Toronto, 1966), 17.

43. Ontario, Department of the Attorney General, Annual Report of the Emergency Measures Branch (Toronto, 1964), 1b.

44. Friedlander, Gordon D., “What Went Wrong: The Great Blackout of ‘65,” IEEE Spectrum October (1976): 8386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

45. Ontario, Emergency Measures Branch, Guide to Effective Planning for Peacetime Emergencies (Toronto, 1971).

46. For example, “EMO Wasteful, but Ottawa Pays, so Project Stays,” Globe and Mail, 5 May 1964, 43; “EMO Called Game for Ex-Generals,” Globe and Mail, 19 June 1965, 10.

47. John Best, “EMO Funds Cut in Half; Sharp Reaction Expected,” Globe and Mail, 11 October 1973, 3.

48. “New Structure is Planned to Cope with Civil Disasters,” Globe and Mail, 16 March 1974, 5.

49. Williamson, Robert, “Budget Forecasts $1.6 Billion Deficit,” Globe and Mail, 8 April 1975, 1.Google Scholar

50. Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Debates (Hansard), 29th Parliament, 5th session, 7 April 1975, 623.

51. “Liaison of Ministries Takes Place of EMO as Financing Cut Off,” Globe and Mail, 10 April 1975, 5.

52. Thomas Claridge, “Emergency Measures Officials Accept Blame, Say Phase-out Result of Failure to Sell Need,” Globe and Mail, 14 April 1975, 5.

53. Ontario, Ministry of the Solicitor-General, Annual Report 1975 (Toronto, 1975).

54. Ontario, Emergency Measures Repeal Act, R.S.O. 1976, chap. 13.

55. Cantelon, Philip L. and Williams, Robert C., Crisis Contained: The Department of Energy at Three Mile Island (Carbondale, Ill., 1982), 23.Google Scholar

56. Lancashire, David, “How Well Could Ontario Cope With Calamity?Globe and Mail, 4 April 1979, 7.Google Scholar

57. Clare Harvey, Mary, Dickie, Allan, and Allen, David, Derailment: The Mississauga Miracle (Toronto, 1979).Google Scholar

58. Joseph Scanlon, T., “Toxic Chemicals and Emergency Management: The Evacuation of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada,” in Coping with Crises: The Management of Disasters, Riots, and Terrorism, ed. Rosenthal, Uriel, Charles, Michael T., and Hart, Paul ’t (Springfield, Ill., 1989), 303–22.Google Scholar

59. Samuel, JusticeGrange, G. M., Report of the Mississauga Railway Accident Inquiry (Hull, QC, 1980).Google Scholar

60. “Ontario Sets up Emergency Planning Office,” Globe and Mail, 27 May 1980.

61. Ontario, Ministry of the Solicitor General, Annual Report 1980 (Toronto, 1980).

62. Ontario, Ministry of the Solicitor General, Discussion Paper on Proposed Emergency Planning Legislation (Toronto, 1981).

63. Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Response to the Discussion Paper on Proposed Emergency Planning Legislation, AMO Reports no. 63 (Toronto, 1981).

64. Ontario, Emergency Plans Act, S.O. 1983, chap. 30. (emphasis added).

65. Ontario, Ministry of the Solicitor General, Annual Report, 1985–1986 (Toronto, 1986).

66. Ontario, Emergency Planning Office, Guide to Municipal Nuclear Emergency Planning (Toronto, 1984).

67. Ontario, Ministry of the Solicitor General, Province of Ontario Nuclear Emergency Plan (Toronto, 1986).

68. United Nations Development Program, The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident (New York, 2002).

69. McQuaig, Linda, “Nuclear Emergency Planning Urged in Ontario,” Globe and Mail, 19 April 1988, A5.Google Scholar

70. Duguay, Joanne, “Public Safety and Nuclear Generating Stations: How Ontario Is Meeting the Challenges,” Emergency Preparedness Digest 21, no. 2 (1994): 2527.Google Scholar

71. Gupta, J. P., “The Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Could It Have Happened in a Developed Country?Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 15 (2002): 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

72. Shrivastava, Paul, Bhopal: Anatomy of a Crisis, 2nd ed. (London, 1992).Google Scholar

73. “Bhopal Disaster Has Governments Reviewing Plans,” Globe and Mail, 8 December 1984, B8.

74. Jean-Paul Lacoursiere, P. E., “Bhopal and Its Effects on the Canadian Regulatory Framework,” Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 18, no. 4–6 (2005): 353–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

75. Major Industrial Accidents Council of Canada, Guiding Principles for Joint Municipal and Industrial Emergency Preparedness (Ottawa, 1993).

76. McLoughlin, David, “A Framework for Integrated Emergency Management,” Public Administration Review, Special Issue (1985): 165–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sylves, Richard T., “Adopting Integrated Emergency Management in the United States: Political and Organizational Challenges,” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 9, no. 3 (1991): 413–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

77. Canadian National Committee for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, Canadian National Report (Ottawa, Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering, 1994).Google Scholar

78. Ontario, Emergency Planning Ontario, Annual Report (Toronto, 1992), 10.

79. Harrison, Doug, “Partnerships Toward Safer Communities Program,” Canadian Chemical News 53, no. 8 (2001): 2829.Google Scholar

80. Newton, John, An Investigation of Efforts to Create Safer Communities: Experiences in Canada and the United States, Report prepared for the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (Ottawa, 2002), 1112.Google Scholar

81. Ontario, Emergency Plans Act, R.S.O. 1990, chap. E.9.

82. Kerry, Mara, Kelk, Greg, Etkin, David, Burton, Ian, and Kalhok, Sarah, “Glazed Over: Canada Copes with the Ice Storm of 1998,” Environment 41, no. 1 (1999): 611, 28–32.Google Scholar

83. Purcell, Mary and Fyfe, Stewart, Ice Storm 1998: Emergency Preparedness and Response Issues (Ottawa, 1998), 13.Google Scholar

84. Seguin, Rheal, “Planning Could Have Avoided Chaos, Experts Say,” Globe and Mail, 15 January 1998, A4.Google Scholar

85. Doug Harrison, former Deputy Chief, Emergency Management Ontario, telephone interview by author, 13 September 2006.

86. Graham, Katherine A. and Phillips, Susan D., “‘Who Does What’ in Ontario: The Process of Provincial-Municipal Disentanglement,” Canadian Public Administration 41, no. 2 (1998): 175209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

87. Gerry Richer, former Emergency Management Officer, Emergency Management Ontario, interview by author, 7 March 2006.

88. Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Debates (Hansard), 37th Parliament, 2nd session, 25 September 2001, 2094–95.

89. Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Debates (Hansard), 37th Parliament, 2nd session, 6 December 2001, 4309.

90. Ontario, Emergency Management Ontario, Emergency Management Doctrine for Ontario (Toronto, 2004).

91. Henstra, Daniel, “Federal Emergency Management in Canada and the United States After 11 September 2001,” Canadian Public Administration 46, no. 1 (2003): 103–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

92. Ontario, Emergency Management Ontario, Guidelines for Emergency Management Programs in Ontario Communities (Toronto, 2003).

93. National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health, Learning from SARS: Renewal of Public Health in Canada (Ottawa, 2003), 2628.Google Scholar

94. Murphy, Brenda L., Emergency Management and the August 14th, 2003 Blackout, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, Report No. 40 (Toronto, 2004).Google Scholar

95. Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Debates (Hansard), 38th Parliament, 1st session, 29 June 2004, 3285.

96. Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Standing Committee on Justice Policy, Report on the Review of Emergency Management Law in Ontario (Toronto, 2004).

97. Ontario, Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990, chap. E.9.

98. Ontario, Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Dr. James Young Named Commissioner of Emergency Management (Toronto, 2004).

99. Ontario, Office of the Premier, “Deputy Minister Appointments,” 19 December 2007. Available at: http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/news/event.php?ItemID=3669&Lang=EN (accessed 27 May 2010).

100. Ontario, Ministry of Health, Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic (Toronto, 2008).

101. Ontario, Emergency Management Ontario, Influenza Pandemic Guidelines for Municipal Emergency Management Programs (Toronto, 2006).

102. For example, see Henstra, Daniel, “Evaluating Local Government Emergency Management Programs: What Framework Should Public Managers Adopt?Public Administration Review 70, no. 2 (2010): 236–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

103. For example, McEntire, David A., “Triggering Agents, Vulnerabilities, and Disaster Reduction: Towards a Holistic Paradigm,” Disaster Prevention and Management 10, no. 3 (2001): 189–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Paton, Douglas and Johnston, David, “Disasters and Communities: Vulnerability, Resilience, and Preparedness,” Disaster Prevention and Management 10, no. 4 (2001): 270–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar