Paul Thomas is a scholar, teacher, researcher, and mentor in the field of public administration and has been for over 40 years. Over his long and distinguished career, he has encouraged an ethical standard for public service in Manitoba. Paul is currently the Professor Emeritus for the Faculty of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba and is still very active in the METRO Region community. 

Why you should care?

Do you ever think that the challenges of Manitoba would raise to the level of complexity of a world hotspot like the Middle East? Former Premier Garry Doer once compared our provincial challenges and the skills of our guest today as both raising to that level.   He said that if Paul Thomas could solve the intransigency our systemic challenges, he would qualify to solve world peace or at least the challenges of the Middle East.   How could you not want to hear what he has to say about Manitoba today.  

Paul brings the perspective of a distinguished professor, researcher and expert in public administration.  In some cultures, we would revere this lifetime of perspective and call him an elder.   So listen up and pay attention to this installment.

On Today’s Podcast

On today’s podcast we talk with Paul Thomas a scholar, teacher, researcher, and mentor in the field of public administration for over 40 years. Over his long career he has encouraged an ethical standard for public service in Manitoba and raised the bar for public servants and elected officials alike. 

Since 2003 when Thomas and his team wrote and released A Partnership for the Future: Putting the Pieces Together, he had been thinking about the necessary elements to get the Region moving and one of them was exploring what makes a Metro Region Model work. 

In this episode, we have the chance to talk with Thomas and get his sage advice about what will get leaders to the table and keep them there. Upon reflection of his twenty plus years of seeing the regional issue tossed around in report after report, Thomas still believes that building a long-term plan is long over due and still a very worthy cause. 

Highlighted Quotes:

TC 3:00 There’s no silver bullet here, there’s nothing here that makes it easy, it’s just hard grinding work. It takes commitment, it takes patience and it takes perseverance.

TC 5:15 ­­­­­You've got to do something to force action by governments – and I tried it on two other occasions. 

TC 7:32 we’ve got to speed it up, we’ve got to make greater headway 

TC 7:34 other city regions are moving faster than us and their getting the advantage 

TC 8:22 We live in a global world now where economic activity people capital jobs moves all over the globe. We won’t get into the game unless we organize ourselves effectively. 

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