Academic Consumer Interest Research (CIR) in Policy-Making: Strengthening a Canadian Network

Workshop: Invitation only

• Sunday, September 30, 2012
• Victoria University in the University of Toronto
• Toronto, ON

A Workshop report from Dr. Robert Kerton, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Waterloo.

The assistance of Amy Faria, M.Sc. Candidate, Department of Marketing & Consumer Studies, University of Guelph, and Matthew Armstrong, Candidate, Master of Applied Science, Environmental Applied Science and Management, Ryerson University, is gratefully acknowledged.

This Workshop was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Agenda

Opening Remarks: A look back at academic CIR

Panel A: Context-setting

1. A preliminary overview of academic CIR today in Canada; Michael Jenkin, Office of Consumer Affairs, Industry Canada
2. Defining academic CIR for policy-making purposes; Sue McGregor, Mount Saint Vincent University
3. Experiences and thoughts about Consumer Studies university training; Marie Lachance, University of Laval

Panel B: The Research User’s Perspective

1. The need for academic CIR: a consumer advocate’s point of view; Elizabeth Nielsen, Member, Board of Directors, Consumers Council of Canada (CCC)
2. Lessons learned: integrating academic research into policy-making initiatives; Marc-André Pigeon, Credit Union Central of Canada
3. Knowledge-based business management; Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada

Student Research Presentations

1. Word of mouth revisited: in 2012, how many people does a dissatisfied consumer complain to?Claudine Ouellet, University of Laval
2. The Outsourcing of Family: Consumers, Culture, and Marketplaces for Care; Aimee Huff, Richard Ivey School of Business

Panel C: Strengthening A CIR Network

Introductory remarks: Practical experiences from consumer law networking in Québec

Thierry Bourgoignie, Groupe de recherche en droit international et comparé de la consommation (GREDICC), Université du Québec à Montréal

Participants

• Kernaghan Webb, Ryerson University
• Michael Geist, University of Ottawa
• Geneviève Saumier, McGill University
• Ellen Goddard, University of Alberta

Biographical Notes, Participants

• Jeanne Bank, Canadian Standards Association
• Stephanie Ben-Ishai, York University
• Sami Bibi, Ph.D., Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
• Thierry Bourgoignie, University of Quebec at Montreal
• Diane J. Brisebois, Retail Council of Canada
• June Cotte, Western University
• Karen Duncan, University of Manitoba
• Patricia Galindo da Fonseca, University of Quebec at Montréal
• Vincent Gautrais, University of Montreal
• Michael Geist, University of Ottawa
• Ellen Goddard, University of Alberta
• Aimee Huff, Western University
• Derek Ireland, Carleton University
• Lesley Jacobs, York University
• Michael Jenkin, Industry Canada
• Robert Kerton, University of Waterloo
• Marie J. Lachance, University of Laval
• Simon Langlois, University of Laval
• Sue L. McGregor PhD, Mount Saint Vincent University
• Catherine Middleton, Ryerson University
• Maryanne Murphy, Industry Canada
• Elizabeth Nielsen, Consumers Council of Canada
• Claudine Ouellet, University of Laval
• Marina Pavlović, University of Ottawa
• Marc-André Pigeon, Credit Union Central of Canada
• Stéphanie Poulin, Option consommateurs
• Linda Routledge, Canadian Bankers Association
• Geneviève Saumier, McGill University
• Anindya Sen, University of Waterloo
• Martin Ship, Financial Services Commission of Ontario
• Kernaghan Webb, Ryerson University
• Anne Wilcock, University of Guelph