Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

General News

• Happy Halloween from Canadian Studies!

• Opinion: North America is experiencing two crises of federalism

• International film & TV database Telescope adds dedicated page for Quebec

Upcoming Events

• Panel: Understanding Post-Trudeau Canadian Politics and Policies

External Events

• San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival

• Montreal Steppers at SF Dance Film Festival

GENERAL NEWS

Happy Halloween from Canadian Studies!

When children (and adults!) go out to celebrate Halloween this weekend, they will participate in one of North America’s most beloved holiday traditions. Americans are expected to spend record amounts on the holiday in 2025, and in Canada, Halloween spending is only surpassed by Christmas.

While Halloween draws on ancient Celtic and European harvest traditions, the modern holiday is distinctively North American. But while many people around the world associate Halloween most strongly with the United States, many iconic traditions were first reported in Canada!

• The first report of pumpkin jack-o’-lanterns was in Kingston, Ontario in 1886
• The record of Halloween costumes was in Vancouver in 1898
• And the first recorded use of “trick-or-treat” was in Lethbridge, Alberta in 1927!

So when you’re celebrating Halloween, you may be participating in a genuine Canadian tradition. We wish you a night of delightfully spooky fun! Image from Freepik.com

Opinion: North America is Experiencing Two Crises of Federalism

The political crises currently gripping the United States and Canada are the result of ineffective central institutions. That’s the argument Professor Alasdair Roberts makes in an article published last week in The Walrus, adapted from a longer Substack post published earlier this month. Professor Roberts, who will participate in next week’s Canadian Studies panel, teaches public policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He argues that both the US and Canada need strategic reform of their federal institutions to emerge successfully at this critical juncture.

Professor Roberts argues that the systemic failings in the United States and Canada are related but opposite. In the United States, too much power has concentrated in the Presidency, the result of a decades-long bipartisan trend towards centralization. The increase in Federal power makes national elections more consequential; at the same time, polarization produces congressional gridlock, allowing the President to unilaterally bypass the legislature – with unpredictable results.

In Canada, Professor Roberts argues, the opposite is true. In facing the political breakdown of the US, Canada must confront the limitations of its own decentralized structure, which makes it difficult to respond effectively to the threat. Canada’s provinces retain significantly greater power than US states. And in contrast to the trends in the US, over the past decades Canada’s Federal government has only further devolved its authority to the provincial legislatures, Indigenous groups, and other sub-national bodies. But such decentralization makes it hard for Canadians to agree on a coherent national vision. Meanwhile, the current structure of Parliament incentivizes short-term political wins over long-term strategy. Canada must work to build a sense of common purpose and central institutions that serve a nationwide vision.

International Film & TV Database Telescope Adds Dedicated Page for Quebec

The international media database Telescope now has a dedicated page for film and TV from Quebec! Created in partnership with the Government of Quebec, the site includes over 800 titles from Quebec with information about US streaming availability, as well as curated themed selections and expert recommendations. This is a unique resource for anyone interested in Quebecois film and TV!

Telescope Film promotes international film and TV to American audiences. Their database indexes content made outside the US, searchable by actor, language, genre, and more. Don’t forget to check out their main Canadian media page!

Looking for a movie for Halloween?

Celebrate spooky season with a curated list of Quebec horror films! We recommend the dark comedy Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant). With a 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this deadpan coming-of-age dramedy follows a young vampire who is too sensitive to kill. Her problems seem solved when she meets a lonely teenage boy who is willing to sacrifice his life for her – but their friendly arrangement soon turns into something deeper. Availble now on Amazon and Apple TV.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Panel: Understanding Post-Trudeau Canadian Politics and Policies

Tues., Nov. 4 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

Since 2024, Canadian politics has entered a new era of uncertainty. The result of the US presidential election raised diplomatic and economic tensions between Canada and the United States to a level unprecedented in modern times. Domestically, the election of Mark Carney as the Canadian prime minister initiated a new era of Canadian politics after Justin Trudeau’s 10-year premiership. What do we need to know to better understand Canadian politics and public policy in this age of changes and challenges? In this event, two experts will share their thoughts on the major issues at stake in Canada today.

About the Panelists

Dr. Evert Lindquist is a professor of public administration at the University of Victoria and editor of Canadian Public Administration, the journal of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. His research interests include the evolving role of federal agencies, public sector reform, and how governments address complex policy challenges.

Professor Lindquist is a recipient of the BC Lieutenant Governor’s Silver Medal Award for Excellence in Public Administration. He holds a BA from Carleton University; an MA from Western University; and a PhD from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley.

Dr. Alasdair Roberts is a professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was the inaugural director of the university’s School of Public Policy. He has received numerous awards for his writing on problems of governance.

Professor Roberts is the first non-US citizen elected as a Fellow of the US National Academy of Public Administration. In 2022, he received the Riggs Award for Lifetime Achievement in International and Comparative Public Administration from the American Political Science Association (APSA). He received his BA from Queen’s University; his JD from the University of Toronto; and his MPP and PhD in public policy from Harvard.

This event is cosponsored by the Institute of Governmental Studies.

This event will have a remote attendance option via Zoom. Please select the “virtual attendance” in the RSVP form to receive the link.

If you require an accommodation to participate fully in this event, please let us know with as much advance notice as possible by emailing canada@berkeley.edu.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival

Nov. 3-8 | San Francisco | Tickets

The San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival returns next month! Hosted by San Francisco’s Conspiracy of Beards, a choir of men that sing the songs of Leonard Cohen, the festival is a multi-artist, multi-event celebration of the poetry, literature, and music of the late Canadian singer, songwriter, author, and poet.

Learn more about the festival and its origins in this 2024 piece from PBS Newshour.

Montreal Steppers at the SF Dance Film Festival

Sat., Nov. 8 | 6:00 pm | San Francisco | Tickets

The 2025 San Francisco Dance Film Festival will take place from October 24 to November 9 at theaters across San Francisco. The festival will include a screening of the short documentary The Steppers Visit South Africa, which follows the Montreal Steppers as they reconnect with the ancestral roots of street dance in its native country. The screening will be followed by a performance from the Montreal Steppers, who will join the festival from Canada.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

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