Last month, I wrote a blog post about how our plans to look at the Northern Gateway pipeline were brought to a halt by the daily news. In that particular case, Obama's decision to nix the Keystone XL pipeline rendered a pre-taped interview with Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver unusable.

Here at The Agenda, we call this being "Obama'd."

A similar situation occurred this week. From the Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services (a.k.a. "The Drummond Report") to the 3 Cubed Report, the dialogue around Ontario's universities has changed since we pre-taped tonight's program.

There are two things that make tonight's program different from an "Obama'd" situation:

1. This time it's Don Drummond whose announcement has changed the conversation.

Drummond recommended Ontario hold increases in post-secondary funding to 1.5 per cent per year, compared with just 1 per cent for schools. For more on Drummond's post-secondary recommendations, see the highlights captured by the Toronto Star's Louise Brown.

The other report I mentioned, 3 Cubed: PSE institutions as centres of creativity, competency and citizenship equipped for the 21st century, recommends that Ontario universities cut undergraduate degrees from four to three years, offer classes year-round, and allow students to earn more than half their credits online. This report, in combination with the Drummond report, have made post-secondary institution reform top-of-mind.

Since the Drummond report is something we'll be talking about in Ontario for quite some time, I've decided this probably won't be the last time the report's recommendations influence our in-depth treatment of a story. I've decided in these instances, we should call it: "The Drummond Effect."  

2. Tonight's show remains relevant.

Unlike the interview with Joe Oliver, which was no longer fit for air, tonight's conversation serves to underline the importance these two commissions have placed on post-secondary education, the costs involved, and what these institutions should set out to do.

Tune in tonight at 8:00 or 11:00 p.m. for a discussion on the purpose of universities, but be sure to check out the developments that have occurred since the conversation was taped: Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services and 3 Cubed: PSE institutions as centres of creativity, competency and citizenship equipped for the 21st century.

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