Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

News from Canada

• Former prime minister Brian Mulroney dies at 84

Program News

• One week to Big Give! (March 14)

Upcoming Events

• Come from Away: Newfoundland and Labrador’s Food Security Dilemma

Academic Opportunities

• Call for papers: Florence Piron Day: Bridging Open Science and Local Knowledge
• Summer Hildebrand Graduate Fellowship applications now open

External Events

• Critical Understanding of Canada in the World: Breaking Through

NEWS FROM CANADA

Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney Dies at 84

Brian Mulroney, who served as Canada’s 18th prime minister from 1984 to 1993, died Thursday after a fall at his Florida home. He was 84 years old. Prime Minister Trudeau announced that the premier will have a state funeral, as tributes poured in from leaders across Canada and around the world.

Mulroney’s tenure was marked by strong personal leadership and a tenacity that led him to great political highs and lows. The Globe and Mail eulogized him as Canada’s “last great prime minister“, noting that while the scope of his ambitions sometimes outran his abilities, he was nevertheless one of few leaders with a genuinely historic legacy. Mulroney oversaw a significant restructuring of the Canadian economy. A native of Quebec, Mulroney attempted to bridge the divide between French and English Canada at a time of heightened tension, expending significant political capital on failed constitutional reforms that ultimately brought down his government.

Among Mulroney’s most significant legislative accomplishments were his economic liberalisation programme and efforts to increase ties with the United States. He negotiated and passed bills that promoted free trade with the US, most importantly NAFTA. He also privatized major crown corporations such as Air Canada and Petro-Canada, and introduced the national goods and services tax.

Mulroney’s other successes include his strong environmental record. He passed national laws and secured international treaties to curb pollution, and created eight new national parks. He also advocated for strict international sanctions against South Africa’s Apartheid government. And in one of his final acts as Prime Minister, he signed the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, establishing a separate Inuit territory in the largest Indigenous land claim settlement in Canadian history.

The latter part of Mulroney’s premiership was consumed by his unsuccessful attempts to resolve long-simmering questions about Canadian federalism. When the Canadian Constitution was Patriated in 1982, the government of Quebec refused to sign, arguing that the Federal government did not address the province’s concerns. Mulroney attempted to resolve this standoff with the Meech Lake Accord of 1987, specifically addressing key Québécois objections. However, he failed to obtain unanimous approval from the other provinces before the ratification deadline. This rejection only increased Québécois separatism, and damaged Mulroney’s political standing.

Mulroney attempted to rectify this failure with the more comprehensive Charlottetown Accord in 1992, which would also have established Indigenous self-government and reformed the Senate. However, despite having this time obtaining unanimous provincial agreement on the proposal, Mulroney decided to hold a national referendum on the Accord, where it was soundly defeated by Canadian voters. This defeat marked the end of Mulroney’s political career.

Mulroney’s grand visions were reflected in his party’s political fortunes under his tenure. He led the Progressive Conservatives to a landslide victory in 1984, winning three-quarters of seats in Parliament, the second largest in Canadian history. He was also the first Conservative prime minister since John Macdonald to win a second majority government. However, the failure of his constitutional reforms and general economic malaise destroyed his popularity, which reached a record low of 12% by the end of his term. Mulroney resigned as prime minister just before a historic rout of his Progressive Conservatives in the 1993 election. The party suffered one of the worst electoral losses in history, keeping only two of the 169 seats they had won in 1988.

Nevertheless, while Mulroney’s legacy is mixed, it was inarguably transformative; and while subsequent governments were often keen to distance themselves from his policies, his most significant legislative accomplishments remain in place today.

PROGRAM NEWS

Big Give is Next Thursday, March 14!

In just ten days, the Cal community will come together for the 10th annual big Give, Berkeley’s annual fundraising extravaganza! Help us mark this milestone by showing your support for Canadian Studies. We’re a donor-supported program, which means your generosity will help fund our public lectures, undergraduate student research, and community events – even this newsletter! So if you believe in the value of Canadian Studies, mark your calendars to pledge your support next week!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Come from Away: Newfoundland and Labrador’s Food Security Dilemma

Tues., March 12 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

This presentation illuminates past and current complexities of Newfoundland and Labrador’s unique food system. Following confederation with Canada in 1949, the province’s once-abundant fisheries fed North America to the point of over-exploitation, creating both cultural and food system disruption. Currently, most food is imported into the province and transported by ferry, including produce from California’s Central Valley. Though hunting is prevalent in rural communities, high priced, pre-packaged, and processed food, rather than fish, are the dietary mainstay. Recent efforts to expand agricultural production within the province would improve local control over the food system. This would ostensibly be more expensive than most imported foods, given the province’s short growing season and relatively small, diffusely located population. Yet financially supporting such endeavors might be justifiable to facilitate a basic human right to access and produce food.

Note: The speaker will also share Newfoundland and Labrador artwork and handicrafts at the in-person presentation.

About the Speaker

Dr. Catherine Keske is a professor of management of complex systems in the School of Engineering at UC Merced. She is an agricultural economist and social scientist who studies sustainable food, energy, and waste systems. Prior to joining UC Merced in 2017, she was associate professor of environmental studies (economics) in the School of Science and the Environment at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research on food security and Newfoundland and Labrador includes an edited book, Food Futures: Growing a Sustainable Food System for Newfoundland and Labrador, and “Economic feasibility of biochar and agriculture coproduction from Canadian black spruce forest” published in Food and Energy Security.

This event is cosponsored by the Berkeley Food Institute.

If you require an accommodation to fully participate in an event, please let us know at least 7 days in advance.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Submission deadline: March 15, 2024

Nukskahtowin at the Athabasca University, in partnership with the Association science et bien commun and the UNESCO Decade for Indigenous Languages, invites paper submissions to celebrate the 3rd annual “Florence Piron Day” on April 26.

This interdisciplinary conference will examine the intellectual and scientific heritage of Florence Piron (1966-2021) between question of (i) ethics, (ii) Open Science and Open Access, (iii) participative research and collaboration with local communities, (iv) critical pedagogy, (v) local knowledge and their potential to contribute to local sustainable development, (vi) cognitive justice, (vii) the métissage of knowledge, democracy, decolonial studies, citizen science and participatory research, etc.

Submissions should include an abstract of no more than 500 words and a 100-word biography identifying key institutional affiliations and key scholarly contributions. For the conference terms of reference and to make a submission, please click here.

Deadline: April 1, 2024

Are you a graduate student interested in doing research in Canada? Make the most of your summer break by applying for a Summer 2024 Edward E. Hildebrand Graduate Research Fellowship! Applications are open to UC Berkeley graduate students in any discipline whose work focuses primarily or comparatively on Canada. This fellowship is meant to cover travel and research costs, with an award maximum of $5,000.

Friends of the program are asked to help forward this information with your networks. Please visit our website for more information and full eligibility criteria.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Tuesday, March 5 | 11:30 am PT | Online | RSVP

Brock University (Ontario) is hosting a free online panel discussing Canada’s contemporary foreign policy. Speakers will include Aaron Ettinger (Carleton University), on “Diversity, Pedagogy, Canadian Foreign Policy”‘; Breanna Kubat (Carleton University), on “Pearsonian Nostalgia: Rethinking the Rhetoric of Canadian Internationalism Under the Trudeau Liberals”; and Rebekah K. Pullen (McMaster University), “Do you Hear What I Hear? Considering the Dissonance of Canada’s Silence on Nuclear Disarmament and its Character on the World Stage”. The panel will be moderated by Liam Midzain-Gobin (Brock University).

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

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