Thomas Shoyama

Thomas Kunito Shoyama (September 24, 1916 – December 22, 2006) was a prominent Canadian public servant who was instrumental in designing social services in Canada, especially Medicare.

Shoyama was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, the son of a shop owner. He graduated from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Commerce (with Honours) degree. Rejected for training as a chartered accountant, Shoyama was hired as a reporter for the Vancouver-based Japanese-Canadian newspaper The New Canadian, serving as editor from 1939 to 1945.^[1]

The New Canadian was the sole Japanese-Canadian newspaper to be allowed to continue publishing after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1942, Shoyama was forced to move the offices of the 8-page weekly to an internment camp in Kaslo. As editor, Shoyama was a spokesman for the rights of the Japanese Canadian community and an important community leader during the wartime evacuation and resettlement.^[2] Shoyama continued to edit the newspaper until the spring of 1945 when he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Canadian Army's Intelligence Corps.

Shoyama left the military in 1946, taking a job in the Saskatchewan public service until 1964, first as a research economist, then as economic adviser to Premier Tommy Douglas and Premier Woodrow Lloyd, where he was one of the architects of the provincial medicare system.

Leaving the Saskatchewan public service shortly after the election of 1964, Shoyama became a Senior Research Economist with Economic Council of Canada. In 1968, he became Assistant Deputy Minister of Finance, and by 1975, after a term as Deputy Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, was appointed Deputy Minister of Finance. During his final year in Ottawa, he served as Adviser to the Privy Council on the Constitution, and as Chairman of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.

Retiring from the public service in 1979, Shoyama moved to Victoria, British Columbia and joined the School of Public Administration and the Department of Pacific and Asian Studies at the University of Victoria.

Shoyama fue nombrado Oficial de la Orden de Canadá en 1978. En 1979, el Sr. Shoyama fue honrado con el Premio a la Trayectoria Sobresaliente del Servicio Público de Canadá. La mención decía, en parte: «Su fortaleza de carácter, energía inagotable y dedicación absoluta a los intereses canadienses… le valieron el reconocimiento nacional e internacional como un servidor público sobresaliente de su país». ^{[ 3 ]} En 1982, recibió la Medalla Vanier del Instituto de Administración Pública de Canadá. ^{[ 4 ]} En 1992, el gobierno de Japón le otorgó la Orden del Tesoro Sagrado (estrella de oro y plata) en reconocimiento a sus contribuciones a la comunidad canadiense de origen japonés.

En 2007, el Departamento de Finanzas creó el Premio Thomas K. Shoyama para reconocer los logros sobresalientes de un empleado de Finanzas. ^{[ 5 ]} El departamento también estableció la Conferencia Anual de Políticas Públicas Thomas Shoyama, que invita a expertos reconocidos internacionalmente a hablar sobre ideas innovadoras en el análisis de políticas públicas. ^{[ 6 ]}

En junio de 2007, la Escuela de Posgrado de Políticas Públicas Johnson Shoyama (JSGS) se estableció conjuntamente entre la Universidad de Regina y la Universidad de Saskatchewan . Recibió su nombre en honor a Shoyama y Albert Wesley Johnson .