John Calvert

Simon Fraser University

Dr. Calvert is a political scientist with a specialization in public policy. After completing his BA and MA at the University of Western Ontario, he enrolled at the London School of Economics, where he obtained his PhD in the Government Department. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of Canadian public policy and health, the impact of international trade agreements on health policy, privatization and workers’ occupational health and safety. He has published a number of books and articles on Canadian and international public policy and economic issues. Prior to coming to Simon Fraser University, Dr. Calvert worked for a number of years in the BC government as a policy advisor in the trade policy area and in the Ministries of Labour, Employment and Investment and the Crown Corporations Secretariat.

Dr. Calvert is currently working on a project examining the effectiveness of workplace health and safety committees in reducing the incidence of occupational accidents in the construction industry. Another of his research interests is how international trade agreements are re-shaping domestic health policy in the countries which are signatories to them and, particularly, the GATS and TRIPS agreements. The implications of applying trade law to health issues is an area of increasing interest to students of public policy, as well as economists and political scientists and an important subject for multi-disciplinary research.

In his teaching, Dr Calvert focuses on the ongoing debate about the future of Canada’s public health care system, domestic and international pharmaceutical policy, labour relations in the Canadian health sector and the implications of trade agreements on health policy. He is particularly interested in encouraging students to examine some of the major public policy issues that are now shaping our health care system.