Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

News from Berkeley

• UC Berkeley grad student says Canada’s reversal on immigration is a problem for its economy

Upcoming Events

• Panel: Understanding Post-Trudeau Canadian Politics and Policies

External Events

• AURA at Grace Cathedral

• San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival

• Montreal Steppers at SF Dance Film Festival

NEWS FROM BERKELEY

UC Berkeley Grad Student Says Canada’s Reversal on Immigration is a Problem for Its Economy

A UC Berkeley graduate student weighed in on Canada’s ongoing immigration debate in an op-ed recently published in The Globe and Mail. Its author, Kevin Yin, is a second-year PhD student studying macroeconomics and international finance. Yin holds a BA from the University of Toronto, and an MA from Yale. He has been a contributing columnist to The Globe and Mail since 2023, where he shares his views on Canada’s economy, public policy, and global affairs.

In his most recent piece, “Canada doesn’t like immigration any more. This is a problem“, Yin evaluates the economic effects of the Canadian public’s recent turn against immigration. Recent polling suggests that most Canadians now believe that the country brings in too many newcomers, and many blame excess immigration for Canada’s mounting economic woes.

Yin concedes that recent surges in immigration may have worsened the housing crisis, and that people are right to be worried about affordability. At the same time, he argues that restricting immigration too much could hurt the country long-term, as shown in data and in case studies of other countries like Japan. Yin points to studies that show that immigration fuels economic growth and helps Canada stay competitive on the world stage. From filling labour gaps to driving innovation, newcomers make the economy stronger and more dynamic. Additionally, immigrants will be critical to supporting Canada’s aging population in coming decades.

Yin argues that the real issue isn’t immigration itself, but the country’s structural problems. High youth unemployment could be attributed to a weak economy strangled by tariffs and low productivity, while zoning restrictions and construction costs are key factors contributing to the housing crisis. If Canada wants to keep growing, both economically and geopolitically, he asserts that the country must address these issues while still welcoming people who want to build a future in Canada.

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 fully participate in this event, please let us know with as much advance notice as possible by emailing canada@berkeley.edu.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

AURA at Grace Cathedral

Through Dec. 31 | San Francisco | Tickets

Created by Moment Factory, a multimedia entertainment studio based in Quebec, and co-presented by Fever, Grace Cathedral is AURA’s third destination in the acclaimed series, and first edition to be presented in the United States. After captivating over two million visitors in Montreal and Paris, AURA arrives in San Francisco to transform Grace Cathedral into a canvas of light, music, and projection. AURA reimagines the cathedral’s stained-glass windows, soaring arches, and cultural symbols through orchestral music, vibrant projections, and luminous storytelling. Experience an immersive 360-degree seated show that celebrates the harmony between humanity and nature, as AURA invites you to feel deeply, reflect, and create lasting memories.

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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Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Canadian Studies News

• Happy Canadian Thanksgiving & Indigenous Peoples’ Day

• New faculty affiliate Cheryl Suzack studies Indigenous law and literature

News from Canada

• Statistics Canada podcast explains Canada’s ongoing tariff woes, and why Canadian tourists are avoiding the United States

Upcoming Events

• The 51st State? Canadian Resistance to American Annexationism Since 1775

PROGRAM NEWS

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Canadian Studies extends our warmest wishes to our friends across North America. As we gather around the proverbial table with our loved ones, we affirm the value of human connection at a time where it’s more important than ever. We are grateful to all of you for your continued support of the program, and were happy to see the strength of our Bay Area Canadian community at our party last week! (If you couldn’t attend, check out photos from our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner here!)

Image: Thanksgiving turkey designed by Freepik.

Today also marks Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the United States. This holiday, which started in Berkeley, celebrates the rich cultures, histories, and contributions of Indigenous communities across North America. It’s a time for recognition, reflection, and respect, as we listen to Indigenous voices and learn about the ongoing fight to assert their rights and sovereignty. May this day inspire meaningful conversations and a commitment to justice and reconciliation.

Canadian Studies is proud to support research promoting a deeper understanding of Indigenous issues, both historical and contemporary. Recent Hildebrand Fellows working on Indigenous topics include:

• Hannah Jasper, who is revealing how theater advertising for Nanook of the North profoundly shaped perceptions of Inuit people and culture
• Jessica Jiang, who is uncovering the surprising connections between Indigenous communities and Chinese migrants in the 19th century Pacific Northwest
• Luis Amaya Madrid, who is exploring the history of Indigenous identity among Pacific Coast Native peoples from British Columbia to Mexico
• Andrew Zhao, who is measuring the political legacy of Canada’s residential schools and their impact on persistent, localized anti-Indigenous beliefs

We are also pleased to announce an exciting new faculty affiliate specializing in Indigenous studies – see below!

New Faculty Affiliate Cheryl Suzack Studies Indigenous Law and Literature

The Canadian Studies Program is pleased to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day with a warm welcome to Cheryl Suzack, our newest faculty affiliate.

Professor Suzack joined the UC Berkeley faculty this year as a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies. A member of the Batchewana First Nation (Ojibwe), her teaching and research focus on Indigenous law and literature, with a particular emphasis on writing by Indigenous women. She comes to Berkeley from the University of Toronto, where she held joint appointments in English, Indigenous Studies, and Law.

Professor Suzack received her PhD from the University of Alberta and has held visiting fellowships at the University of Naples, Smith College, and McGill University. In 2018, she was a Fulbright Fellow at Georgetown University, and she served as a research collaborator with the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape and the Jackman Humanities Institute at the University of Toronto.

Professor Suzack employs interdisciplinary frameworks informed by race, gender, and sexuality studies to examine how Indigenous communities are located and politically contained through multi-levelled practices of gender and racialization. Through literary and legal analysis, she highlights topics such as tribal membership discrimination; the removal of Indigenous children; imposed blood quantum categories; and colonial forms of land dispossession as issues of injustice entangled with Indigenous self-determination. Her monograph Indigenous Women’s Writing and the Cultural Study of Law analyzed these issues as portrayed in Indigenous women’s storytelling. Professor Suzack also collaborated with Canadian Studies affiliate, Shari Huhndorf, as a co-editor and contributor to the award-winning collection, Indigenous Women and Feminism: Politics, Activism, Culture (UBC, 2010).

Professor Suzack’s current research is forthcoming in Law & Critique and in Ravens Talking: Indigenous Feminist Legal Studies (University of Toronto Press). Her interdisciplinary research on Indigenous law has appeared in the Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Law and Literature as well as numerous journals.

Statistics Canada Podcast Explains Canada’s Ongoing Tariff Woes, and Why Canadian Tourists are Avoiding the United States

Statistics Canada’s Eh Sayers podcast has recently published two episodes that shed new light on how the tensions between Canada and the United States are affecting the economies of both countries.

In Episode 26: A Tariff on Both Your Houses!, Statistics Canada Chief Economic Advisor Guy Gellatly explores what’s going on with trade between the US and Canada, what the early numbers suggest about the conflict, and what impact it might have on Canada’s economy.

Then, in Episode 27: Canadians Just Aren’t California Dreamin’ These Days, Jane Lin, of the Tourism Statistics Program at Statistics Canada, digs into StatCan’s tourism data to talk about how travel is different these days, as more Canadians reconsider their plans to vacation in the United States.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The 51st State? Canadian Resistance to American Annexationism Since 1775

Tues., Oct. 14 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

Since their founding era, Americans have periodically tried to convince their northern neighbors to join them in a continental union, sometimes by force. This talk will offer a sweeping survey of the prospect – or threat – of the American annexation of Canada (and its colonial antecedents) over the past 250 years. It will highlight major turning points in the cross-border relationship and the responses of government officials, the press, and Canadians more broadly. Extending the focus through the 2025 Canadian federal election, it will examine how generations of politicians and opinion-makers have harnessed opposition to annexation for political purposes.

About the Speaker

Dr. Gregory Wigmore is an associate teaching professor in the Department of History at Santa Clara University, where he teaches early US and Canada history. He received his bachelor’s in journalism and history from Carleton University, and his PhD in history from UC Davis. His research and teaching focus on the intersection of social and political history and foreign relations in North America, especially the role of frontiers and borders. He is currently working on a book manuscript based on his dissertation, “The Limits of Empire: Allegiance, Opportunity, and Imperial Rivalry in the Canadian-American Borderland.” His op-ed articles have appeared in The Globe and Mail and the National Post.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

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