Janice MacKinnon

Janice MacKinnon is a professor of public policy at the University of Saskatchewan, and a professor of fiscal policy at the School of Public Health. She is on the National Task Force on Financial Literacy, the Chair of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She has an honours B.A. from the University of Western Ontario and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Queen’s University. Between 1991 and 2001, she was a cabinet minister in Saskatchewan and held various portfolios including Minister of Finance, Minister of Social Services, Minister of Economic Development, and Government House leader. During her tenure as Finance Minister Saskatchewan became the first government in Canada to balance its budget in the 1990s. She is the author of three books, The Liberty We Seek published by Harvard University Press, While the Women Only Wept and Minding the Public Purse. She also sits on the board of directors of Canada West Foundation as well on private and public sector boards. She is a commentator on national political and policy issues, appearing on such programs as Cross Country Check-up and CBC TV’s national At Issue panel.