Stewart Macintosh
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Stewart Macintosh, Policy Analyst, Stratford, P.E.I.
Born and raised in Ontario, Stewart Macintosh is an Islander by choice since 1992. “They will have to take me off the Island in a box,” he says with a laugh.
Armed with a master’s in political economy from Dalhousie University, Stewart spent 25 years with Veterans Affairs – doing everything from research, direct client service, corporate planning, HR and finance, to escorting veterans to Dieppe in France – before joining ACOA, where he now works as a policy analyst. “I have been assigned the labour and skills file, to work with colleagues across the Agency to better understand how we can assist with this critical issue. As part of this role, I have been assigned a few client files and it is giving me a much greater appreciation for the work we do at ACOA.”
Stewart’s policy role also enables him to appreciate the bigger picture. “The nature of our work allows us to have a very broad and deep perspective of the regional economy.” Information gathering is central. “We need to understand what is happening on the ground and the implications,” explains Stewart. “We anticipate future needs and trends.”
He points to work he did recently with the lobster sector in Prince Edward Island and with Springboard Atlantic, a network designed to grow Atlantic Canada’s innovation economy through collaboration among post-secondary institutions and industry. “This was an exploration of opportunities. We were looking at, among other things, new methods for storing and processing lobster.”
The team element of that specific project, and the policy work he does at ACOA generally, has helped Stewart understand the importance of the support – financial and otherwise – that ACOA offers to the regional economy. “We are part of the region. We have grown hand in hand with our economy and our communities.”
What has not, unfortunately, shrunk with time despite a lot of hard work: Stewart’s golf handicap.
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