Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

Canadian Studies Welcomes Nicholas Fraser as New Sproul Research Fellow

Canadian Studies is pleased to announce that Dr. Nicholas A. R. Fraser will be joining our team as a John A. Sproul Research Fellow for Academic Year 2021-22, beginning September 1.

In his new role, Dr. Fraser will assist program director Irene Bloemraad in research measuring Canadians’ attitudes towards immigration. Friends of the program may remember him from a lecture he gave in March 2020, in which he explored variations in asylum recognition rates across several countries through the lens of bureaucratic culture.

Dr. Fraser received his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Toronto, with a specialty in comparative politics and public policy. He holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Calgary, as well as M.A.s in political science from the University of British Columbia and Waseda University in Japan. His research focuses on how states attempt to control and manage the long-term impacts of immigration; it also engages questions about how interest groups, agencies, and courts influence policy and public attitudes in these fields. He has received numerous previous research grants, including the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship.

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Fraser to Berkeley, and look forward to a productive partnership over the coming year.

Fall 2021 Events Calendar

Canadian Studies is pleased to announce our events schedule for the Fall 2021 semester. To address ongoing health concerns, ​all Fall events will be held virtually or in a hybrid in-person/virtual format using Zoom conferencing. Please note that campus policy requires all participants to have a Zoom account to join meetings. All times posted are Pacific. Event details are subject to change.

Elections Matter: The Politics of Coronavirus in Canada and the United States

September 14 | 12:30 pm | Online | RSVP here

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have wide-ranging consequences on North American politics. The effect of the virus on Joe Biden’s 2020 win remains debated; meanwhile, Justin Trudeau hopes to use the belated success of his vaccine procurement strategy to win his party a parliamentary majority in the September 20 federal elections. How has COVID-19 shaped electoral politics in Canada and the United States as it relates to crucial recent and ongoing policy choices? Political scientist Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, will address this question while discussing the potential political and policy consequences of the upcoming Canadian elections.

Canadian Family Thanksgiving

October 9 | Information pending

Subject to public health conditions, Canadian Studies and the Digital Moose Lounge hope to welcome friends back for a special Thanksgiving celebration with the Bay Area’s Canadian community. Stay turned for updates!

Book Talk: Making Middle-Class Multiculturalism: Immigration Bureaucrats and Policymaking in Postwar Canada

October 12 | 12:30 pm | Online | RSVP here

In the 1950s and 1960s, immigration bureaucrats played an important yet unacknowledged role in transforming Canada’s immigration policy. Their perceptions and judgements about the admissibility of individuals — in socioeconomic, racial, and moral terms — influenced the creation of formal admissions criteria for skilled workers and family immigrants that continue to shape immigration to Canada. Migration expert Jennifer Elrick (McGill University) will discuss insights gained from her forthcoming book on the topic.

Studying Religious Symbols and Bias in Court Proceedings

November 9 | 12:30 pm | Hybrid | RSVP here

Canadian Studies’ new Sproul Fellow Nicholas A. R. Fraser will discuss some of his own research that examines bias within Canadian judicial procedures against religious minorities. Using his own experimental data, Dr. Fraser will use the example of courtroom oaths as a window into how Canadian cultural expectations can subtly affect an immigrant’s experience of “integration.”

Hildebrand Graduate Research Colloquium

December 7 | 12:30 pm | Hybrid | RSVP here

Learn about the research Canadian Studies funds through our Edward Hildebrand Graduate Research Fellowships, as recipients present short overviews of their projects. Participating scholars to be announced soon.

IN THE NEWS

Trudeau Calls Snap Elections for September; Announces Resettlement Plans for Afghan Refugees

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Sunday that he had requested the Governor General to dissolve Parliament, triggering a snap election scheduled for September 20. The move is calculated to bolster Trudeau’s Liberal Party, with polls suggesting that the party may capture enough seats to win a majority government. For the past two years, Trudeau has relied on the support of the opposition to pass his agenda. Some opponents have questioned the wisdom of holding a vote while Canada faces a new wave of COVID; however, federal officials insist the election will be held safely.

Separately, Trudeau reacted Monday to Taliban’s lightning takeover of Afghanistan by announcing that his government would resettle thousands of Afghan refugees in Canada over the coming weeks. Trudeau admitted that his government was surprised by the speed of the Afghan government collapse; nevertheless, in spite of a chaotic situation on the ground, he insisted that Canada will help evacuated over 20,000 Afghans in coordination with the United States and other allies.

Canadian Studies Faculty Affiliate Alison Gopnik Wins Prize for Science Popularization

Berkeley News announced last week that Canadian Studies affiliate Alison Gopnik, a research psychologist specializing in child development, has won the 2021 Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization. The prize recognizes researchers who have made a significant contribution to the public’s understanding of science.

Professor Gopnik is the author of several popular books, including The Scientist in the Crib and The Philosophical Baby. Her research explores how young children come to know about the world around them, using the framework that children are constantly testing theories about the world in much the way that scientists do.

Professor Gopnik was born in Philadelphia and raised in Montreal. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from McGill University, and her Ph.D. at Oxford. She taught at the University of Toronto before joining the Berkeley faculty in 1988.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Meet the Artists: The Chaos Conversation x Primal Impacto

August 19 | 10 am | Webcast | RSVP here

The Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco invites you to attend a Connecting Perspectives “Meet the Artists” virtual event on Thursday, August 19, at 10 am PT.

Connecting Perspectives is a cross-border art initiative produced by the Toronto-based Social Distancing Festival and the Consulate General of Canada in New York. Drawing inspiration from the theme “Art Today,” 26 exceptional artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Colour in Canada and the U.S. were paired and funded to create 13 new, interdisciplinary, collaborative art.

This event will feature artist pairs Kimmy Katarja (Cleveland, OH) and Chancz Perry (Regina, SK), co-creators of The Chaos Conversation, and Deb Leal (Oakland, CA), and Josefina Rodriguez (Calgary, AB), co-creators of Primal Impacto. The event will be moderated by Tawhida Tanya Evanson, with remarks by representatives from the Consulates General of Canada in Detroit and San Francisco.

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 90th Anniversary Picnic

August 21 | 12 pm | Richmond, CA | RSVP here

After almost 18 months of virtual events, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, representing the San Francisco Bay Area, is hosting a picnic to celebrate their 90th anniversary. Chartered on 12 August 1931, the San Francisco Branch is the sole remaining branch of the 13 branches that once formed the Northern Zone of the Western United States Command of the Royal Canadian Legion.

The picnic will be held at the Marsh Hawk picnic area in the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline Park. Attendees are asked to bring their own food. The branch will provide beverages for everyone, as well as something sweet and celebratory.

The picnic is open to the public, but guests are asked register in advance. For more information, please visit Branch 25’s website.

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Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

Happy “August Long Weekend?”

Today, people across Canada are enjoying a well-deserved day off. But what holiday are they actually celebrating? The answer, as with many things Canadian, depends on which province you’re in.

Some provinces, including British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan, mark this day as an official celebration of the province. In Alberta, it’s celebrated as “Heritage Day”, recognizing Albertans’ diverse cultural backgrounds. Manitoba honors cancer research activist Terry Fox, while the cities of Toronto and Ottawa commemorate city founders John Graves Simcoe and John By. (And Quebec, Newfoundland, and the Yukon don’t celebrate at all!)

Whatever the official name, most Canadians are just glad to have a long weekend to relax and spend time with the family.

Image: Campsite at Mystic Beach, Vancouver Island. (Michal Klajban, Wikimedia Commons.)

Meet Canadian Studies: Board Member Kathleen Thompson Hill

A Berkeley native, Kathleen Thompson Hill received degrees from U.C. Berkeley and the Sorbonne, followed by a Fellowship in Public Affairs with the Coro Foundation in San Francisco. Eventually, she earned an M.A. in political psychology at Sonoma State University. Kathleen served as executive coordinator of the 25th Anniversary of the United Nations, worked for the Peace Corps and in the White House, and with her husband co-authored three political dictionaries, four law dictionaries, and an Encyclopedia of Federal Agencies and Commissions. She is currently Food and Wine Editor of the Sonoma Index-Tribune. Kathleen collects antique kitchen implements; an exhibition of her collection opens at the Napa Valley Museum later this month.

Excerpts from our interview with Kathleen are below: click here to read the full piece.

What is your connection to Canada?

I am not Canadian, but my husband Gerald and I had a home and lived in Victoria for 15 years and taught at Canadian universities. Out of deep interest in Canada, we researched and wrote papers comparing Canadian and US governmental approaches to environmental, justice, medical, and political systems.

What has your career been like in the US and Canada?

My husband and I taught American politics and government at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and Sonoma State University. Simultaneously, we were writing guidebooks to wine regions of the west coast of North America. We were awarded UBC prizes for our books on Victoria, Vancouver Island, and the Northwest Wine Country, and received UBC’s Just Desserts Award for “exceptional service to the students.”

How did you get involved with Canadian Studies?

One of the organizations that expressed interest in our papers was the Canadian Studies Program at my alma mater, Berkeley. We got to know {Program founder Tom Barnes} professionally and personally. I was most grateful to have been invited to join the Advisory Board, as I always learn from the many experts who attend and present at our colloquia.

What are your goals as an advisory board member?

I would like to help develop a program to study and present a forum to create greater understanding among the countries of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico about what the three might do to work together on problems we share in these fast-changing times. I would also like to help create programs that attract Canadians and Americans around the Bay Area to participate in what we do and what we offer. To that end, I helped organize Canadian Studies’ first ever wine tasting of Canadian wines this year.

IN THE NEWS

Cal at the Olympics: Mom’s Example Lifts Canadian Camryn Rogers to Her Athletic Dreams

People from Vancouver to Berkeley are cheering on Camryn Rogers, the student athlete representing Canada in women’s hammer throw at the Tokyo Olympics. Born in British Columbia, Camryn swept Canada’s youth circuit before coming to Berkeley for university and joining the Cal Golden Bears. With the assistance of Cal coach Mo Saatara, she broke a collegiate record this spring. And tomorrow, she’ll be trying for a medal in the hammer throw finals after coming in an impressive fourth in yesterday’s qualifying round.

Sports Illustrated’s FanNation profiled Camryn on the eve of the qualifiers Sunday. In a touching joint interview with her mother Shari, Camryn reflects on her mother’s influence on her life and athletic career. She credits her mother, a single parent, with making her the woman she is today. “Watching her make sacrifices, do everything she could… so I could try and achieve everything that I wanted to. I don’t know if I could ever give her enough thanks for that,” says Camryn.

Image: Camryn Rogers ’22. (Cal Athletics Track & Field roster.)

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Meet the Artists: The Chaos Conversation x Primal Impacto

August 19 | 10 am | Webcast | RSVP here

The Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco invites you to attend a Connecting Perspectives “Meet the Artists” virtual event on Thursday, August 19, at 10 am PT.

Connecting Perspectives is a cross-border art initiative produced by the Toronto-based Social Distancing Festival and the Consulate General of Canada in New York. Drawing inspiration from the theme “Art Today,” 26 exceptional artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Colour in Canada and the U.S. were paired and funded to create 13 new, interdisciplinary, collaborative art.

This event will feature artist pairs Kimmy Katarja (Cleveland, OH) and Chancz Perry (Regina, SK), co-creators of The Chaos Conversation, and Deb Leal (Oakland, CA), and Josefina Rodriguez (Calgary, AB), co-creators of Primal Impacto. The event will be moderated by Tawhida Tanya Evanson, with remarks by representatives from the Consulates General of Canada in Detroit and San Francisco.

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 90th Anniversary Picnic

August 21 | 12 pm | Richmond, CA | RSVP here

After almost 18 months of virtual events, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, representing the San Francisco Bay Area, is hosting a picnic to celebrate their 90th anniversary. Chartered on 12 August 1931, the San Francisco Branch is the sole remaining branch of the 13 branches that once formed the Northern Zone of the Western United States Command of the Royal Canadian Legion.

The picnic will be held at the Marsh Hawk picnic area in the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline Park. Attendees are asked to bring their own food. The branch will provide beverages for everyone, as well as something sweet and celebratory.

The picnic is open to the public, but guests are asked register in advance. For more information, please visit Branch 25’s website.

Canadian Studies Program

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Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

Former Program Director Nelson Graburn Recalls Meeting Mary Simon, Canada’s First Indigenous Governor General

Earlier this month, the Inuk leader and diplomat Mary Simon was announced as the 30th governor general of Canada. When she officially takes up the position next week, she will be the first Indigenous person to serve in the role. But while her appointment marked Ms. Simon’s introduction to a larger public, for former Canadian Studies Program Nelson Graburn it was more like hearing the name of an old friend.

A trained anthropologist, Dr. Graburn (called ᐊᐱᖁ  ᓂᓕᓯ, “Apirqu Nilisi” in Inuit) is an expert on Inuit culture and conducted his fieldwork in the Canadian Arctic. In the early ’60s, his research took him to Nunavik, the Inuit territory of northern Quebec, where he first met the future governor-general.

“I used to know Mary Simon and her family quite well,” Dr. Graburn explains. “When I lived I Kujjuak (then known as Fort Chimo) from 1963-64, she was a high school student, very bright, rather shy. I employed her as a translator, particularly for the rather long and technical questionnaires on the project for which I was working.”

“Her father was an American entrepreneur and pilot who set up a hunting camp for rich people down the George River, and his HQ was Kujjuak. His clients flew in from Montreal on First Air, and he flew them out to camp and back. He was married to a local Inuk woman and had four children, the oldest of whom I knew best – Johnny May, a tall red-headed boy who was sent out to stay with his uncle in Colorado to earn his pilot’s license. He returned and worked for his father. Later he became a pilot for First Air when it was bought up by Air Inuit with the proceeds of the (CA$83 million) James Bay Treaty,” (which Ms. Simon had helped negotiate.) “When he flew into communities in the North he was cheerily welcomed as the ‘first Inuit pilot’!”

“Since then I have met Mary Simon on many occasions, usually big conferences where we still exchange words (she’s still bilingual). I really admire her career in Canada and internationally.”

Canadian Immigrants in the US: Older, Wealthier, and Highly Educated?

A spotlight article published by the Migration Policy Institute last week profiles the Canadian immigrant population in the United States. Based on census and immigration data, US-resident Canadians are both older and more successful on a number of metrics than both native-born US citizens and other immigrant populations. However, do these sources fully capture the diversity of the Canadian community in the United States?

Census data shows that the Canadian-born population in the US tends to be older than other foreign-born populations, and significantly older the US native-born population, with a median age of 54 (compare 46 for other immigrants and 37 for US natives). Contributing to this high average is the presence of a large population of Canadian retirees. These Canadians are also better-educated than both groups, with 51% possessing a bachelor’s degree (18% more than US-born citizens or other immigrants) and 23% possessing a graduate degree (10% more than either group).

These demographics are reflected in the cities with the highest percentages of Canadian-born residents, which include both business centers and known retirement destinations: a quarter live in the five metro areas of New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, and Seattle. 16% of all Canadian immigrants to the US live in California. These factors also contribute to Canadians’ high median household income of $89,000, much more than the $66,000 of US-born householders.

However, Canadian Studies Program director Irene Bloemraad, a noted migration research expert, cautions that identifying Canadians in the United States is difficult. The data do not include US-born Canadians, since they are not immigrants. Also, depending on the data source, naturalized Canadians born outside of North America might or might not be counted. Data from the US Census Bureau tend to rely on place of birth to identify immigrants, a strategy that excludes naturalized Canadians like herself. In contrast, data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, such as the number of Canadians holding H1-B visas, tend to focus on an applicant’s nationality, not birthplace. Bloemraad says, “The actual Canadian immigrant population in the United States is undoubtedly larger and more diverse. We certainly see this on the Berkeley campus among our Canadian international students and faculty.”

IN THE NEWS

Canada to Re-Open to Vaccinated US Visitors Aug. 9

The Canadian government announced today a dramatic scaling back of its COVID travel restrictions – at least for US residents. Beginning August 9, fully-vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents will no longer need to quarantine for two weeks when visiting Canada. The government is also expanding the number of airports authorized to receive international fights. Adults entering the country will need to provide proof of vaccination, and are still required to complete a COVID-test before arriving in Canada.

Restrictions on travellers from all other countries will to continue through September 7.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership

July 23 | 1:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. PT) | Webcast | RSVP here

President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau agreed on a “Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership” on February 23, 2021 at their first “virtual bilateral” meeting. The Roadmap includes a range of action items in six broad areas of cooperation including trade, climate change, COVID-19 response and recovery, and global and regional security issues.

In May, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken sent veteran diplomat Ambassador Arnold Chacón to Ottawa to serve as Chargé d’Affaires and lead US efforts to advance the Roadmap. The Wilson Center will host Ambassador Chacón and Canada’s Ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman for a conversation about the Roadmap agenda and the route ahead for US-Canada relations. The program will be moderated by Canada Institute director and Canadian Studies Program board member, Christopher Sands.

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Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

New Hildebrand Fellow Aaron Gregory Studies Indigenous-led Energy Projects

Canadian Studies is pleased to introduce Aaron Gregory as the latest recipient of an Edward Hildebrand Graduate Research Fellowship. Aaron is a Ph.D. student in regional planning, with an emphasis on Indigenous energy sovereignty.

Aaron’s research explores the social, technical, and regulatory impacts of a renewable energy system developed by a First Nations community in Beecher Bay (British Columbia). He examines this project as an emergent approach to Indigenous environmental governance, an infrastructural solution responding to the problem of Indigenous energy sovereignty, and a regulatory provocation designed to challenge a provincial monopoly on energy production and distribution. His Hildebrand Fellowship will provide funding for fieldwork analyzing new ‘kinship infrastructures’ articulated through the social, technological, and environmental elements of Indigenous energy sovereignty, anticipating the decolonization and decarbonization of energy production and distribution in British Columbia.

Aaron’s research builds upon his training in regional planning, political ecology, Indigenous studies, critical infrastructure studies, and science & technology studies (STS). His current project expands upon prior investigations of an Indigenous-led solar MicroGrid system in northern California, an Indigenous land restitution program in South Africa, and an Indigenous land rights program in Chile. Aaron received his interdisciplinary M.A. from Brandeis and Tufts University before joining the University of California, Berkeley, and has worked with a variety of Indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations, and community organizations to strengthen and support Indigenous and environmental interests.

Five Berkeley Women to Represent Canada at Tokyo Olympics

As reported by the Cal Alumni Association, two current Berkeley students and three alumnae will represent Canada at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics later this summer. The five women will join a large cohort of current and former Golden Bears competing for Olympic glory for a number of international teams at this year’s games.

One notable face in this intrepid group is two-time NCAA champion Camryn Rogers, class of ’22. The 22-year-old athlete is a native of British Columbia, and has previously represented Canada at numerous international youth events. She astonished the collegiate sports world earlier this year when she broke the collegiate women’s hammer throw record twice in one day and set a personal best of 75.52 m (247 ft 9 in). Rogers was profiled in a short film by California Magazine as an incoming student in 2019.

The other competitors with a Cal connection are:

Image: Camryn Rogers ’22. (Cal Athletics Track & Field roster.)

In the News

Mary Simon Appointed Canada’s First-Ever Indigenous Governor General

In what is being hailed as a landmark move, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week the appointment of Inuk leader and diplomat Mary Simon as the 30th governor general of Canada. Ms. Simon will be the first Indigenous person to serve in the role, which functions as the official representative of the Crown in Canada. Her appointment has been hailed by Indigenous leaders, and comes at a time where the country is reckoning with its treatment of its Native population.

Ms. Simon was born in a village in Nunavik, the Inuit territory in northern Quebec. A career civil servant and Indigenous rights advocate, she helped negotiate the landmark 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, considered Canada’s first modern treaty with an Indigenous group. In 1994, she was appointed Canada’s first-ever ambassador for circumpolar affairs, and was a key figure in the creation of the Arctic Council, an international forum promoting cooperation between Arctic governments and Indigenous peoples. Ms. Simon received the Order of Canada in 1991 in recognition of her advocacy for Indigenous rights, and was promoted to officer in 2005 for her diplomatic work.

Image: Mary Simon speaks following the announcement of her appointment. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press.)

San Francisco’s Canadian Consulate Launches New Tech Policy Podcast, Confluence

The Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco has announced the launch of Confluence, their first podcast. In each episode, Consul General Rana Sarkar, Canada’s Tech Envoy in Silicon Valley, will delve into the issues shaping technology, diplomacy, and economic recovery through the lenses of Silicon Valley, Canada, and the world. He will discuss pressing topics with subject matter experts to gain an unrestricted, deep dive into the tech policy issues shaping our times. Working at the intersections of big tech, public policy and change, Sarkar brings a unique perspective to these conversations and offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the global technological revolutions happening all around us.

Audiences can tune in for sharp, informative, and entertaining conversations in this limited series. Episodes are available now: Confluence (pod.link)

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Today, July 1, is Canada Day.

This year’s holiday comes at a difficult time for Canada, as the country is forced to reckon with a history that has fallen far short of its image and ideals. The recent painful revelations about Canada’s residential schools and its treatment of its Indigenous population have shocked and saddened the country. We know that this year, many Canadians are having mixed feelings about whether we should celebrate at all.

At the Canadian Studies Program, we believe it’s important to present a balanced view of the country: highlighting the good where we see it, while not being afraid to confront the darker side of Canadian history. In our colloquia over the past year, we presented many topics where we felt Canada could serve as a model for other countries, such as its national healthcare system. However, we also attempted to bring forward voices from marginalized communities, such as Canada’s Black and Indigenous populations, that have suffered historic and ongoing injustices and continue to fight for equity.

This Canada Day, I encourage all our friends to take some time to reflect on what kind of country we want Canada to be. Our vision of Canada is a truly multicultural nation, one that respects diversity and honors its First Peoples. It’s important to shine light on the ugliest chapters of Canadian history and ensure that we acknowledge that pain, because without doing so it is impossible to move forward together. I invite you to review the Final Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and to visit the new site of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Sincerely,

Irene Bloemraad

Director, Canadian Studies Program

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