The master of public service (MPS) program is welcoming John Milloy to the program. Milloy, who comes with extensive government experience, will officially be a lecturer in the MPS program. In addition to his duties as lecturer, Milloy will oversee a mentorship program and organize enrichment opportunities outside the regular course work.</p>
“His experience as a minister and government house leader will give students invaluable perspective and knowledge on how governments function and implement policies that are critical for societal well-being and progress,” said program director Anindya Sen in welcoming Milloy on the arts website.
“I’m going to be doing three things. The first is at the end of the program, after they’ve done their academic work, after they have done their co-op term, they pull it all together in a major research paper that they write in teams. I will be helping to co-ordinate and oversee that program,” said Milloy. “The second thing is a mentorship program, where a certain number of students — it is applications-based — are linked up with senior public servants at all levels — the political level, those in the non-profit and advocacy groups, things like that. I will be helping to co-ordinate that program and link some of the students with various people in the public service.… Third and not as formal is to be a resource to the program. That so far has involved doing some workshops and guest lectures, bringing in guest speakers, and being available to students.”
Milloy comes to UW after having served as the MPP for Kitchener Centre from 2003 to 2014, during which he held various cabinet positions. These include minister of research and innovation; minister of community and social services; minister of training, colleges, and universities; minister of government services; and government house leader. At the federal level he also served as legislative assistant to former prime minister Jean Chrétien. Before entering politics, Milloy earned an MA in international history from the London School of Economics and a PhD in modern history from Oxford University.
According to Milloy, the MPS is a strong program, which is the reason he was happy to become part of it.
“I was very impressed with the program in terms of the academic background. They provide, I think, future public servants with a very good academic grounding. They are not afraid to tackle things like economics, cost-benefit analysis … The political science side of things prepares students for how governments function, how politics works. It is a good academic grounding and then you combine that with the co-op term and I think you got a great group of student who have a good shot at getting a job in the public service.”
Milloy hopes the experience he brings will allow him to educate students on how government works, such as the culture in government and the relationship between public servants and the politicians. He believes that understanding the pressures and priorities of ministers and government are key to successfully serving the government as part of the public service.
For Milloy, a return to the academic world is a welcome step after leaving politics in 2014.
“It’s great — I love it. Students are great, it is nice to be able to look at government from a different perspective,” said Milloy. “I’ve enjoyed the time to read up a bit on what various folks are saying and start to enter into some pretty serious and important discussions.”
