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Events and Outreach
Outreach is an integral part of the Canadian Studies Center's activities. For more information about the Center's outreach activities, please see our Events Calendar.
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May 2013
David R. Boyd - Environmental Law in Canada
by Todd Wildermuth, School of Law
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On April 8, scholar, lawyer, and author David R. Boyd visited the University of Washington School of Law as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Center for Canadian Studies. Dr. Boyd presented selections from his two latest books, both published in 2012 by the University of British Columbia Press.
Drawing from The Environmental Rights Revolution, he discussed the sudden and widespread human rights phenomenon of constitutional provisions to a healthy environmental across the globe. As of 1972, there were no constitutions in the world that incorporated environmental rights. Dr. Boyd’s extensive research demonstrates that today three-quarters of the world’s constitutions include explicit references to environmental rights and/or environmental responsibilities. And this has been a revolution of rights on more than paper alone, he added: Constitutional environmental protection is consistently correlated with superior environmental performance by a variety of metrics.
Contrary to the worldwide trend, however, both the United States and Canada are prominent among the countries missing such provisions in their constitutions. Boyd argues with equal parts reason and passion that the time has come for Canada to adopt a constitutional provision ensuring all Canadians a right to a healthy environment – hence the title of his other recent book, The Right to a Healthy Environment in Canada: Revitalizing Canada’s Constitution. In this emphasis he joins a long history in Canada of similar efforts – from Pierre Trudeau’s environmental leadership starting in the 1960s, to periodic efforts by Canadian activist lawyers since the 1970s, to a legislative effort in 2011 that resulted in a near-miss for a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights. Yes, Canada’s constitution is notoriously difficult to amend, Boyd admitted, and the debacles of Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord highlight that fact. But the Canadian constitution has been successfully amended at least 11 times since 1982. Constitutional change is distinctly possible, even if challenging.
Canada has - in Boyd’s terms, and right along with the U.S. - turned from an environmental leader to a disappointing environmental laggard. Establishing a constitutional right to a clean environment could turn this around. “By converting our highest ideals into constitutional rights and responsibilities,” he argues, “we can build the Canada we want” and lead once again.
Todd A. Wildermuth is Scholar in Residence at the University of Washington School of Law and recently joined the Canadian Studies Center as an Affiliated Faculty. He teaches courses in land use permitting and land conservation, and coordinates the environmental and natural resource law program of the law school. Todd is currently using the Alberatan oil sands controversies in a case study for a Spring 2013 the U.W. Program on the Environment honors seminar.
FLAS Announcement at NAFSA
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The director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS), Resat Kasaba, and Foreign Language and Area Studies Coordinator, Robyn Davis, presented on JSIS' eight Title VI National Resource Centers and the Foreign Language and Area Studies program at the annual National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA) conference. Robyn discussed the tremendous success of the FLAS program. In 2012-13, 122 UW students were awarded FLAS fellowships in a total of 41 foreign languages. The Canadian Studies Center awarded FLAS Fellowships in French, Tlingit and Anishinaabemowin – the first National Resource Center in the nation to award FLAS Fellowships in First Nations’ languages. Cheryl Gibbs and Timothy Duvall , from the U.S. Department of Education, also presented on the panel. The conference was held in Tacoma in early November.
Canada, the United States & the Arctic Council – Preparing for the Age of the Arctic
by Sophie Hubbell and Adam Akerblom, Arctic Initiative Interns, Canadian Studies Center & UW Freshman
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(Left to right) Arctic Initiative Interns Adam Akerblom and Sophie Hubbell, Arctic Consultant Terry Fenge, and Arctic Initiative task force students Zoë Cosford and Charlotte Dubiel. |
On Tuesday, November 13, key Arctic consultant Terry Fenge visited the UW campus and led a provocative roundtable discussion on the Arctic Council. Terry Fenge is an Ottawa-based consultant specializing in aboriginal, Arctic and environmental issues. Born and raised in the UK, he has degrees from the universities of Wales, Victoria and Waterloo. He has been both Research Director and Executive Director of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee and for eight years was Research Director and Senior Negotiator for the Inuit of Nunavut in negotiations with the Government of Canada that resulted in the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and the establishment of the Territory of Nunavut. From 1996 to 2006 he was Strategic Counsel to Nobel Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier, then President of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. He has authored or co-authored six books, including Northern Lights Against POPs: Combatting Toxic Threats in the Arctic, with David Downie of Columbia University, and more than 70 papers.
Canada assumes the chair of the eight-nation Arctic Council in 2013 for a two-year term to be followed by the United States in 2015. Mr. Fenge argues that cooperation between the United States and Canada has the potential to put a major stamp on the circumpolar world. The scope of this premiere and people-driven institution is expanding particularly in its environmental agenda. The conclusion of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) in 2004 made the Arctic our world’s climate change barometer. Persistent organic pollutants found in the blood of Inuit women gave rise to matters of health, culture and women’s issues in the Arctic Council. However Mr. Fenge argues that the indigenous people need an adequate spokesperson to gain much needed attention from civil servants. One of the main issues facing the circumpolar world is the interests other non-Arctic states now have in the region. These would-be observers in the Arctic Council include states like India, China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. In reviewing The Declaration on the Establishment of the Arctic Council, Mr. Fenge provocatively argues it is hopelessly outdated and is in desperate need of reform. Nonetheless, we have a council that is functioning well and we are seeing, Mr. Fenge argues, a significant increase in the effectiveness of the council as a high level forum. Ultimately, Mr. Fenge claims Canada and the U.S. need to push a “reset button” with the region. The age of the Arctic is almost upon us and it is in our interests to engage people.
UW Fulbright Visiting Chair in Innovation Addresses Local Business Leaders
by Yan Cimon, Ph.D., 2013 Fulbright Visiting Chair in Innovation
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Yan Cimon, Canada's Fulbright Visiting Chair in Innovation (l'Université Laval) with Wes Kovarik, Law & International Studies, and graduate affiliate of Canadian Studies. |
Yan Cimon, UW Fulbright Chair originally from Université Laval, provided a presentation on North American economic integration at the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle on 6 December 2012. The talk entitled, “America Bouncing Back: How Canada May be Key to a U.S. Economic Recovery” challenged conventional thinking that the U.S. would be better off if it implemented “buy American” provisions. Cimon argued that such a policy has likely cost the U.S. economy well over 175,000 jobs and has had a considerable, and negative, impact on the U.S. economy in general.
Cimon noted that while North American countries exports to one another were slowing down in recent years, the Canada-U.S. trade relationship remains very beneficial to the United States with the bulk of U.S. exports going to Canada. It is vital, therefore, that the United States do what it can to keep the Canada-U.S. relationship vibrant. Yet, the border has become more of an irritant than a facilitator of trade. In fact, the border may cost anywhere between three to 13% of our bilateral trade depending on the sectors examined and the methodology employed.
Cimon argued that competition between Canada and the United States also makes little sense when most products are built on both sides of the border and cross the border several times before they are complete. Firms are now part of global networks. Cimon urged that “our common discourse should move beyond “trade” and “value chains” to recognize that we operate in “sophisticated networks.”
Twenty members of the business community and the University of Washington enjoyed Cimon’s challenging insights into the North American economy.
Yan Cimon holds the Fulbright Visiting Chair in Innovation at the UW College of Engineering’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is Associate Professor of Strategy at Université Laval’s Faculty of Business Administration (Québec City, Canada) and is the Deputy Director of CIRRELT (Québec) – the Interuniversity Research Center on Logistics, Transportation and Enterprise Networks.
2012 Community College Master Teacher Institute – Global Education for a Sustainable Future
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Twenty community college educators, from as far away as Spokane Community College, participated in the 2012 Master Teacher Institute, Global Education for a Sustainable Future. (07/12) |
This is one of the best professional development opportunities I’ve ever participated in! Also terrific networking opportunities.
Thank you for organizing this amazing two-day workshop!
In early July 2012 The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, in partnership with the Northwest International Education Association (NIEA), offered the 9th annual Community College Master Teacher Institute (CCMTI) at the University of Washington (UW). Nineteen faculty, from as far away as Spokane, participated in an effort to increase international content in their courses. This year’s institute was entitled, Global Education for a Sustainable Future.
Representing a wide-range of disciplines from sociology to geography to biology, the faculty expressed a need to prepare college students to deal with the global challenge of sustainability. “How can we teach global studies when our students have little background to understand the issues?” “How do we make complex global issues relevant to our students?” “How do we make peace between the efficiencies of business and economics while attempting to live sustainably?” These were just some of the opening questions discussed by the group of community college educators.
David Fenner, former Assistant Vice Provost for International Education at the U.W., set the tone for the day with a keynote lecture that argued for the critical importance of integrating international content into all college courses and for study outside the U.S. David noted that it is only when students are introduced to course materials that are global in nature that they can begin to actually tackle critical international issues in an effective manner.
Presentations covered a broad range of climate change impacts focused on Indonesia, Darfur, Canada and the Arctic, Central Asia, China, and Japan. Celia Lowe, Anthropology and JSIS, discussed the conceptual differences between food security and food sovereignty and their relationship to climate change. Frederick Lorenz, JSIS and UW Law School, provided a presentation, The Environment as a Source of Conflict: Darfur Case Study. Nadine Fabbi, Canadian Studies Center, discussed how the Inuit in Canada have changed the way we understand climate change by presenting it as a human rights abuse. Brett Walton, Circle for Blue, provided an overview of the connection of water to food, energy and health particularly in Central Asia. Anu Taranath, UW Department of English, provided a thought-provoking discussion on an analysis of the language used in global studies and how language is infused with meaning and how we see the world. Dan Abramson, UW Urban Design and Planning, presented on International Service Learning for Resilient Communities: Field Studios in Urban Planning and Design, and outlined how he conducted studio-abroad courses in China and Japan and drew comparisons between community integrity in Chinatowns in Vancouver, Canada, and Washington State.
A focus on the Inuit of Canada and their role in the politics of climate change formed a key part of the Institute. Nadine introduced educators to the growing awareness of human induced climate change over the last 20 years and to the role of the Inuit in Canada in making a link between climate change and human rights. Nadine pointed out that in 2005 Canadian Inuk political activist, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, along with 62 Inuit hunters from Canada and Alaska, filed a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights charging the United States for human rights abuses. (The United States was singled out as it accounts for only 5% of the world’s population but produces about 25% of the world carbon emissions.) The petition effectively changed the politics of climate change and how the issue is perceived.
Faculty were provided a number of articles on climate change and human rights including the summary of the petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights presented by Sheila Watt-Cloutier. The following day Nadine led a discussion about how to incorporate the Inuit perspectives on climate change into their community college courses.
NIEA is a consortium of community colleges dedicated to increasing student and faculty opportunities for international education, training, and exchange. In 2003 Tamara Leonard, Center for Global Studies, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, founded the Master Teacher Institute with NIEA. Since then, over 250 faculty from dozens of community colleges across Washington State have participated in the workshop benefiting from the expertise of Jackson School faculty and affiliated researchers.
This year Eva Dunn, Center for West European Studies and Tikka Sears, Southeast Asia Studies, co-chaired the Institute with Tikka acting as the facilitator throughout the two days. Jackson School students, Monick Keo, Canadian Studies Center and a major in Japanese Studies, and Eric Damiana, Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asia Studies, served as student assistants.
Funding for the Community College Master Teacher Institute was provided, in part, by grant allocations from the National Resource Center Programs, International and Foreign Language Education, U.S. Department of Education and the Northwest International Education Association.
The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies is home to eight National Resource Centers: Canadian Studies Center, Center for Global Studies, Center for West European Studies, East Asia Center, Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, Middle East Center, South Asia Center, and Southeast Asia Center.
Institute Program
Presenter Bios
Presentation Summaries
Alberta, Canada Tar Sands, Treaty Rights, and International Dimensions of Keystone XL
Professor Hsu, Professor of Law at the University of British Columbia, discussed that while carbon tax legislation is unlikely to pass on federal level in US or Canada, such legislation could be passed by Washington State or British Columbia. He argued that internationally carbon tax makes much more sense than other alternatives such as the Kyoto Protocol and urged its passage at the local level.
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Center's End-of-the-Year Awards Reception Celebrated Dozens of UW Cross-Border Studies Projects
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Consul General Denis Stevens (left, center) welcomes Killam Fellow, Eugene Kobiako and Task Force on Arctic Sovereignty students Victoria Choe (far left) and Monica Chahary. |
This academic year, over 40 U.W. grads and undergrads and 20 U.W. faculty received FLAS, Killam, Fulbright Fellows, grants, or achievements for their research, teaching and cross-border studies. All were recognized at the June 7th reception. See the complete listing here:
The Arctic Governance Task Force at the Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C.
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Scott Halliday and Kelsey Barrett ham it up at the Task Force celebration dinner at the University of Washington in March. |
by Scott Halliday, Co-Editor, Task Force on Arctic Governance
As a mere undergraduate student in the International Studies major at the UW, I savor any opportunity to travel outside of Seattle. During week six of the quarter, I would normally be engaged in studying for midterms, writing papers, and being in the midst of another typical, but jam-packed quarter, but from May 4th to May 8th, I had the privilege of being able to travel to Washington D.C. to make a presentation on behalf of the Jackson School of International Studies about my senior capstone project called Task Force. Task Force is a class required for all undergraduate International Studies majors, where a group of students research a timely issue in international affairs and then publish a report with recommendations for an expert evaluator. I enrolled in the task force on Arctic governance. “Melting Boundaries: Rethinking Arctic Governance” was the name of the report that culminated from the research of 14 UW undergraduate students in the Jackson School and 2 Inuit students from Nunavik, the Inuit region in northern Québec. My fellow co-editor Kelsey Barrett and I presented the research and experiences of our team at the Canadian Embassy in D.C. Bolstered by a coalition of Jackson school faculty and staff, we had the honor of speaking in front of a group of academics, policy advisors, government officials, fellow UW alumni, and even decorated officers of the Canadian military.
It did not hit me to until I returned to Seattle, but what struck me as the most impressive part of the presentation in DC was how well attended the event was. There were over 100 guests, who took time out of their busy lives to come hear about the findings of our report, not because they were doing it as an assignment for a class or because a professor was giving them extra credit, but because the report that we published was informative, current, and impressive. This is a tribute to the outstanding research and analytical writing performed by the students of the class as well as their excellent recommendations. Being in such a cosmopolitan city as Washington DC which moves to the beat of its politicians and their agendas, it was very gratifying to know that our report and our work was being heard and considered by the foremost policymakers on Arctic affairs. Simply being in Washington DC and trying to grapple with the convergence of government politicians, international and domestic policymakers, and influential scholars was an eye-opening experience and one that I did not fully comprehend in Seattle.
As such, the trip and time I spent in Washington DC will stay with me for the rest of my life. I had the opportunity to engage with my professors in an academic and business-like environment outside of Seattle, where I gained a sense of context about the significance of both my task force and of the Jackson School of International Studies. Outside of my time spent presenting the report, I had the pleasure of some light sight-seeing around DC, connecting with close friends, and enjoying the company of some inspirational faculty members. I will never forget these fun times and sharing the work of my task force team in our nation’s capital!
The 2011 Task Force on Arctic Governance is a joint program between the Canadian and Global Studies Centers in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington and part of the Canadian Studies Center and Makivik Corporation, Nunavik, Canada, Educational Initiative. The Ottawa Research Trip is sponsored by the Canadian and Global Studies Title VI grants, International Education Programs Service, U.S. Department of Education; Government of Canada; Hellmann Fund for Innovation and Excellence; Maxwell M. and Julia Fisher Endowment; International Studies Program Discretionary Fund; Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies; Wilburforce Foundation, Seattle; and Makivik Corporation.
For more information on the Task Force on Arctic Governance see the course website at: http://jsis.washington.edu/canada/courses/arctic.shtml
33rd Annual K-12 STUDY CANADA Summer Institute
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Tina Storer and Don Alper, chairs for the K-12 STUDY CANADA Summer Institute, pose at the Terry Fox statue in Ottawa with Carol, educator in the Monroe School District. |
Educators posing in front of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. |
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Rosemary and Mary Snow from South Carolina pose in front of Bill Reid's Haida Gawaii at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Québec. |
Educators posing during a tour of Old Montréal. |
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Twenty-Two educators from across the United States participated in the 33rd Annual K-12 STUDY CANADA Summer Institute in Ottawa. They pose in front of the Parliamentary Library. |
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Métis, Mixed-ness and Music: Aboriginal-Ukrainian Encounters and Cultural Production on the Canadian Prairies
Visit the following link to watch a video of the annual Canada-US Fulbright Lecture, part of the Jackson School's Global Focus lecture series, given by the 2010-11 Canada-US Fulbright Chair, Marcia Ostashewski: http://vimeo.com/25996154
Bridging Distances: Past and Future Perspectives on Canadian-American Relations
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Phillip Chicola, Consul General of the United States, Vancouver, blows out the birthday candles on WWU's 40th birthday party cake. |
As part of the 40th anniversary celebration for the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University, an all-day conference was held on the Canada-U.S. relationship. Conference organization was under the direction of Don Alper, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Canadian-American Studies, Paul Storer, Chair and Professor of Economics, Cecilia Danysk, Associate Professor of History, and David Rossiter, Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies. Conference Coordinator was Elliott Smith, MA candidate, History. The conference was convened by WWU Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs, Catherine Riordan.
Conference website: http://www.wwu.edu/canam/40thConference.shtml
The Canadian Studies Center joins with the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University in Bellingham to create a US Department of Education, Title VI Pacific Northwest National Resource Center on Canada.
Canadian Studies co-organizes Association of American Geographers field trip to Vancouver and Whistler
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Participants in front of the First Nations Cultural Centre in Whistler. |
By Alison Gill, Simon Fraser University
From April 12th -16th over 7,000 geographers converged on Seattle to attend the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. On the weekend prior to that a field trip entitled “Vancouver and Whistler: Seeking Sustainability” was, co-organized by Dr Alison Gill, a professor in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and Nadine Fabbi, Associate Director, Canadian Studies Centre, University of Washington. With the excellent assistance of Leoule Goshu, a graduate student in the College of Education at the University of Washington, the 15 participants headed for Vancouver on the Amtrak train early on Saturday morning April 9th.
The focus of Saturday afternoon’s walking tour was False Creek, a redeveloped industrial waterfront in the heart of Vancouver. This provided a wonderful laboratory for examining the evolution of thinking around sustainable urban planning. After a very brief (2 minute!) voyage across False Creek on the small Aquabus ferry we arrived at Granville Island to get lunch in the bustling Public Market. Granville Island was developed in the mid-1980s as a redevelopment project based around mixed use including cultural, educational, commercial and some remaining industrial uses (including a cement factory). It is a vibrant people place that serves tourists and residents alike and is internationally acclaimed as an example of a very successful festival marketplace.
Due to a tight schedule, we then embarked on a ‘brisk’ walk (did I hear someone say ‘forced march’?) along the seawall that edges the 1970s residential development of South False Creek. Although preceding the era of “sustainability”, this development embodies many features that we now recognize as elements of sustainability. It represents a classic example of 1970s cutting edge urban and architectural design following emerging principles of ‘environmental design’ that gave precedence to issues of environmental and behavioral aspects of the quality of life. The influence of the work of Christopher Alexander who wrote “A Pattern Language” is clearly evident with such features as low rise buildings representing a humanness of scale, aesthetic features, parks, landscaping, and a heterogeneous social mix of residents and properties.
The view north across False Creek towards downtown and the North Shore Mountains showcased the second phase of development along the shoreline – that of the redeveloped Expo 86 lands. Bought by a Hong Kong developer, this high-density inner city neighborhood was developed in a style that became known as “Vancouverism” which features ‘point tower and podium’ development whereby narrow glass high-rises sit upon a broad base of street level development for commercial or residential development. The development is internationally recognized as a successful master-planned community for bringing families into downtown core and the architectural style has been emulated in cities around the world.
Our final stop was the new (still under development) Village at False Creek, a state- of-the-art sustainable residential development that was used as athletes’ housing during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Our guide was Scot Hein, a senior designer with the Urban Design Studio for the City of Vancouver, who was very engaged in this development. Our tour began with a visit to the Neighbourhood Energy Utility Centre where sewage from the neighborhood is converted into energy for heating buildings. It is one of many innovations showcased in the development that seeks to demonstrate how to be a “green city”. It is part of the City of Vancouver’s overall goal of becoming the greenest city in the world by 2020. All buildings in the development are all gold standard LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified and the community centre is platinum rated.
On Sunday morning we headed by coach along what we had billed as “the spectacular Sea-to-Sky highway” to Whistler. Unfortunately it was pouring with rain and foggy. Nevertheless, our visit to Whistler was excellent, thanks in part to the hotel supplying large umbrellas! Dr Peter Williams, a Professor with the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, joined us. Peter and I have been conducting research in Whistler for the past two decades examining many aspects of growth and change. Our recent research looks at the emergence of new models of sustainable governance. Whistler has long been an innovator in environmental management in mountain resorts destinations. The latest innovation broadens governance and management approaches in its development of a new comprehensive approach. This was the theme of our commentary as we walked around the resort village. Also joining us was Ian Ponsford, a current PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University who worked for four years for the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee as a sustainability planner. One of the legacies of the Games is the striking Squamish-Lillooet Cultural Centre where we ate “traditional” food for lunch. The First Nations are new stakeholders in the governance structure in the resort community.
Our cold afternoon in the rain ended with a wonderful ‘fireside chat’ and reception back at our hotel. We were joined by three guests who led us in a very lively discussion on sustainability: Erin Romanchuk and Naomi Devine from Whistler Centre for Sustainability and Dave Waldron, a consultant, who had worked on Whistler’s environmental management strategies and on establishing the Natural Step process that forms the basis of the new sustainable governance approach.
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Alison Gill, Geography, Simon Fraser University (front, red jacket) organized the field trip to Vancouver-Whistler. |
The following morning, despite early morning snow showers in Whistler, the skies cleared and the sun came out for our return journey to Vancouver allowing for a few photo stops en route. While Vancouver looked its most spectacular with sun, blue skies and snow covered North Shore Mountains, our Monday visit was to see the less glamorous face of Vancouver. Abigail Bond, Assistant Director of Housing Policy for the City of Vancouver met us and took us to the fringes of the Downtown Eastside, a neighborhood of poor and homeless people and drug addicts. This area has presented persistent social and housing problems for the City. However, as Abigail demonstrated in her presentation to us in the newly developed multiuse Woodward’s building (that includes market, non-market and social housing components), progress is being made to address the problems.
Our final trek, a quick jaunt to get a sense of historic Gastown, the cruise ship terminal, the new conference centre, the classic art deco Marine Building and Chinatown, brought us back to the railway station for the bus ride back to Seattle. It was a hectic three days but we all learned a lot – including the organizers!
Alison Gill is a Professor in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University. Her primary research interests lie in the relationship of tourism to community planning and development. Alison has conducted research in Whistler and other mountain resort communities for the past six years. She is especially interested in considering what effect the development of tourism has on the social, political and economic processes and structures of communities.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, International and Foreign Language Education.
11th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference
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Heather Goad, McGill University, keynote presentation ("The L2 acquisition of functional morphology: Why syntacticians need phonologists") |
In late March 2011, the Department of Linguistics and Canadian Studies co-sponsored a major conference on linguistics - the 11th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition.
The purpose of this international meeting was to bring together researchers from a variety of institutions and sub-areas within linguistics, second language acquisition, and psycholinguistics to present state-of-the-art work that addresses contemporary insights in generative approaches to second language acquisition. Research in bilingualism and language acquisition are critical for an understanding of linguistic, cultural and political aspects of Canadas multilingual populations. To address these issues, two Canadian scholars provided keynote speeches, Dr. Susanne Carroll from the University of Calgary and Dr. Heather Goad, McGill University. The conference, held every two years in the U.S. and Canada, hosted participants from around the world and covered a range of bilingual populations. The presentations included discussions of heritage (speakers of Spanish and Hindi) learners, adult and child acquisition of French, and processing of speech in real-time (e.g. reaction time, brain waves). The empirical studies presented at the conference are directly relevant for language instruction and linguistic integration of bilingual populations, as the many Canadian examples demonstrated.
Over 70 faculty and graduate students attended the conference.
Julia Herschensohn, Professor and Chair, Department of Linguistics and affiliated faculty of Canadian Studies, chaired the conference.
The conference was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, International and Foreign Language Education.
Québec Questions: Québec Studies for the Twenty-First Century
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From left, Christopher Kirkey and Jarrett Rudy, co-authors of Québec Questions, with Yanick Godbout, Head of Post, Québec Delegation, Los Angeles. |
In late April the Québec Delegation in Los Angeles sponsored a luncheon at University of Washington to introduce Christopher Kirkey and Jarrett Rudy, co-editors with Stéphan Gervais of Québec Questions (2011). Québec Questions is a contributed, multidisciplinary text that examines Québec history from social, cultural and political perspectives. Experts from a variety of fields create a contributed text on this history of Québec that is the first of its kind in the English language.
“Is Québec a nation? How do language, history and culture combine to form the unique Québec identity? These are only a few of the many challenging issues addressed by 36 contributors to Québec Questions: Québec Studies for the Twenty-First Century … it is designed to bring together thoughtful insights from various disciplines and encourage and interdisciplinary approach to understanding Québec. Each of its six thematic sections – Memories, Identities, Language, Citizenship, Québec Models, and Québec International – begins with an introductory essay that provides a framework and context for the essays that follow” (from the book jacket).
Jarrett Rudy is an assistant professor as well as director of the Québec Studies program at McGill University. Stéphan Gervais is an assistant professor at McGill University and coordinator of the Québec Studies program. Christopher Kirkey is professor in and director of the Center for the Study of Canada at SUNY Plattsburgh.
The luncheon was sponsored by the Québec Delegation in Los Angeles and hosted by Yanick Godbout, Head of Post in LA. The luncheon was attended by faculty and students at the University of Washington with an interest in research on Québec including Center Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellows, and by members of the American Association of Teachers of French.
National Resource Center on Canada exhibits at National Council for History Education Conference
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Julia Warren (left) with Tina Storer. |
Tina Storer, Education and Curriculum Specialist at Western Washington University’s Center for Canadian-American Studies, and Cynthia Carlisle, K-12 STUDY CANADA Teacher Associate from South Carolina, exhibited materials on behalf of both National Resource Centers on Canada to educators attending the National Council for History Education conference in Charleston, South Carolina on March 31-April 2, 2011.
Over 100 educators received a set of resources from each National Resource Center to assist them in teaching about Canada and were informed about the professional development workshops available in the summer. Forty educators from 19 states and 1 province (AZ, CA, FL, GA, IA, IL, KY, LA, MA, MI, MS, NC, NV, OH, OK, PA, SC, UT, VT and AB) showed significant interest in learning even more and signed up to join the Canada Listserv to receive regular e-resource news written by Tina Storer. Many of these teachers indicated an interest in registering for the summer institutes as well. Each National Resource Center also contributed two books as giveaways for prize drawings at the end of the conference to establish further interest in making connections to Canada in US history classrooms.
Exhibiting National Resource Center resources and networking with the US history teachers who attended the National Council for History Education conference encouraged to educators to include stronger connections to Canada in their classrooms. The take-away materials and sign-ups for the “Canada Listserv” will lead to increased visits to National Resource Center websites (rich with content, curriculum and resources) as well as registrations to both National Resource Center summer institutes.
Fulbright Chair Delivers Canadian History, Music and Culture at Chelan
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Marcia, second from left (front), with Washington State educators. |
Dr. Marcia Ostashewski, Canada-US Fulbright Research Chair in Canadian Studies, presented “Resources for teaching and learning about Canada: Histories, communities, music and culture” at the Washington State Council for the Social Studies annual Leadership Retreat at Lake Chelan this March. Co-authored by her partner in research, educator Dr. Doug Reid, this professional development workshop provided teaching and learning resources and strategies to explore Canada’s history and cultural diversity. These materials help teachers integrate a culturally inclusive approach to the teaching and learning of Canadian history and culture in social studies classrooms.
Resource guides were presented for teaching elementary and secondary programming including social studies, music, Gaelic, French and Mi’kmaq language and culture. Teaching and learning resources presented in the session included oral histories, audio recordings, biographies, digital images, lyrics and lead sheets, as well as music and dance activities – all developed by leading Canadian scholars and educators. A focus on the diverse cultural and musical heritage of Cape Breton Island – one of Ostashewski’s primary research sites - included Scottish, Mi’kmaq, Acadian, Gaelic, Eastern European and coalmining song and dance traditions. These song and dance traditions illustrate the central role music has played, and continues to play, on Canada’s east coast.
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UW's Canada-US Fulbright Chair, Marcia Ostashewski, leads educators at Lake Chelan retreat in traditional dance. |
Teachers who attended Ostashewski’s session enjoyed participating in music-making and dance as part of the session [photos] and were excited about using the resources in their teaching. They were especially eager about the resources aimed at helping them integrate song and dance as part of learning and teaching about – and experiencing – some of Canada’s history, communities, and culture.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service. The Fulbright Chair is sponsored by Global Affairs, Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate Fund for Excellence and Innovation, and the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.
Arctic Sovereignty at Edmonds Community College
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Donn Charnley |
By Donn Charnley, Professor Emeritus, Shoreline Community College
In the March course on Arctic Sovereignty, my understanding and knowledge of the Inuit in Arctic Canada was broadened. Since the mid-1930s I have visited, camped, hiked, climbed, sailed, and skied in Canada. I feel the need to know as much as I can about my warm neighbors as I can. I have been honored to know, and dance with, the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations of British Columbia since 1958. To this end I have carved masks, made button blankets, and learned the appropriate songs for the dances I have been given the privilege to perform. But I knew little about the far North.
The course was taught by Nadine Fabbi as part of the Creative Retirement Institute at Edmonds Community College. Nadine discussed the history of contact in Canada's Arctic, between explorers and the Inuit, and the more recent issues concerning climate change. I was intrigued by who has sovereignty over these lands now that there is greater interest from those living outside the Arctic. Nadine is an excellent teacher, a knowledgeable and caring advocate for her native country and for its people. I look forward to learning more.
The Creative Retirement Institute is a member-driven, self-supporting organization whose mission is to provide quality, affordable educational opportunities for adults in a supportive environment. I have enjoyed taking and teaching classes for the Institute - they are always engaging.
I look forward to both taking more of Nadine's classes - and, hopefully, to have her in some of mine!
Donn Charnley is an Emeritus Professor of Geology, Shoreline Community College. For ten years he worked for the Seattle Public Schools as a teacher and high school counselor. He was also a Washington State Senator and Legislator and ski instructor for many years.
This event was sponsored by the Creative Retirement Institute and is part of a long-standing relationship between the Institute and the Center.
Geoffrey Reaume Gives a Lecture on Memorializing Disability History in Canada
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Geoff Reaume gave us a 'virtual tour' of the Toronto Asylum walls. |
By Joanne Woiak, Disability Studies
Geoffrey Reaume, an associate professor in the Critical Disability Studies Graduate Program at York University in Toronto, visited the University of Washington in early February as part of the lecture and film series “Unspeakable: Disability History, Identity, and Rights.”
Geoff Reaume received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Toronto in 1997. He is the author of Remembrance of Patients Past: Patient Life at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane, 1870-1940, and a co-founder of the Psychiatric Survivor Archives, Toronto. During his visit he participated in two public events. On Tuesday, February 8, we screened the documentary film Hurry Tomorrow, and afterwards Geoff facilitated a discussion about the conditions in psychiatric wards in the 1970s and alternative forms of community-based treatment and peer support available today for people with mental disabilities. In the conversation, Geoff helped to draw comparisons between how Canada and the United States approach issues of mental health care provision, such as the implementation of patient bills of rights, the dilemma of trans-institutionalization, and the universal problem of funding cuts to health and social services.
Geoff’s presentation on the evening of Thursday February 10 was entitled “Memorializing Mad People’s History: Preserving Our Past through Archives and Activism.” His work encompasses several projects that recover the words, activities, and histories of people with psychiatric diagnoses in Canada. He talked about his research on early-20th-century patient records and letters from the Toronto Asylum, his efforts to establish historical plaques commemorating the patient labor that built the asylum walls and to mark asylum gravesites, and a new initiative to archive the literature of the psychiatric consumer/survivors’ movement. The audience was especially interested to learn about how this memorializing work could serve as a model for similar projects in the Unites States.
Geoff’s presentations helped the campus community and the public to gain a greater appreciation for the work being done in Canadian public history and disability advocacy. His perspective on the history, identity, and rights of people labeled with mental disabilities made a valuable contribution to the programming around the Willard exhibit. The Disability Studies Program is grateful to the co-sponsors of these events, and we look forward to future collaborations with the Canadian Studies Center.
Joanne Woiak has a Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Toronto and is now a Lecturer in the Disability Studies Program at UW. She organized the “Unspeakable” series (http://uwdisability.wordpress.com) as well as the 2009 public symposium “Eugenics and Disability: History and Legacy in Washington” (http://eugenics.washington.edu).
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
Consortium Meets to Consider the Content and Direction of Canadian Studies
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Stephen Hanson, Vice Provost for Global Affairs (left), receives an $18,000 Government of Canada Program Enhancement Grant check from Denis Stevens, Consul General (center) at the annual Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium meeting facilitated by Ross Burkhardt, Boise State University. |
By Ross Burkhart, Boise State University, member of the Board of Directors, Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium
The annual general meeting of the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium took place on Friday, February 25th, in the Odegaard Library on the UW campus. In existence since 1986, the consortium is comprised of 44 members, including the UW and campuses and intergovernmental organizations across Washington state, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, as well as campuses and governments in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta and the territory of Yukon in Canada.
The executive director of the consortium is Fr. Michael Treleaven from Gonzaga University, and the associate director is Dan Turbeville from Eastern Washington University. The consortium's activities are supported by a Secretariat that is housed in the Canadian Studies Center on the UW campus, with Victoria Choe serving as the Executive Assistant.
The consortium's mission is to promote the study of Canada through joint initiatives and sharing of information and best practices among the member institutions. Toward that end, the meeting featured presentations on a diverse set of topics. Highlights included a discussion of the study of Canada by Denis Stevens, the Consul General of the Consulate General of Canada, Seattle; a historical and environmental journey along the Columbia River presented by William Layman of the Wenatchee Valley Museum; the UW Canada-US Fulbright Chair, Marcia Ostashewski, introducing the audience to the Ukranian-Cree fiddler Arnie Strynadka and "A Legacy of Encounter"; a presentation by Victoria-based attorney Jon Lampman of a book project comparing Washington and British Columbia governments, economies and public services.
While the annual general meeting is a premier event, the consortium continually seeks opportunities to highlight the scholarship and study of Canada. Please contact the consortium at pnwcsc@uw.edu for more details and information.
The Canadian Studies Center is the Secretariat for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium.
World Affairs Council and Center Collaborate on Educator Program – Who Owns the Arctic?
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| Nadine Fabbi |
On February 16th, more than 30 Puget-sound area teachers gathered together at the Pacific Science Center for a workshop organized by the World Affairs Council. Global Classroom was excited to partner with Nadine Fabbi, Associate Director, Canadian Studies Program (UW Jackson School of International Studies) and Zeta Strickland, education manager from Pacific Science Center for this three-hour program.
Both speakers encouraged teachers to grapple with the question (and title of the workshop) “The Arctic: Who Owns it and How Long Will it be There?” Nadine provided an hour presentation on policy formation by the eight Arctic nations and the unique role of Canada’s Inuit in Arctic governance. The evening ended with a visit to the NOAA designed “Science On a Sphere.” Teachers discovered how this room-size tool could be used to illustrate climate change, ocean temperatures, and other environmental and topographical information.
Participating teachers also received a 40-some page resource packet, a Canadian buffet dinner, and three clock hours. The evaluation responses were incredibly positive. In fact one teacher wrote: “A whole day (workshop) would have been awesome!”
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| About 40 local educators attended the workshop on the future of the Arctic. |
Workshop information:
http://www.world-affairs.org/calendar.cfm?eventID=1379&action=eventDetails
In a few weeks, the resource packet will be available on line here:
http://www.world-affairs.org/globalclassroom/resourcepackets.htm
The Global Classroom program connects teachers and students with international resources, ideas, and people through a combination of professional development trainings, speaker series, curriculum design, and youth programs. The Arctic: Who Owns It and How Long will it be There, was one of a dozen teacher workshops that the World Affairs Council organizes every year.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
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| Paul Storer and Debra Glassman, Faculty Director of the Global Business Center. |
Ten Things You Should Know about the Canadian Economy
By Paul Storer, Western Washington University
On Thursday January 27, I gave a presentation on “Ten Things You Should Know about the Canadian Economy” to a group of more than a hundred University of Washington students from a variety of Foster School of Business programs, including those enrolled in the Certificate in International Business program. My objective was to give students a briefing on key details about the Canadian economy and Canada-U.S. economic interdependence and I used numerous visual images to illustrate these facts. Many of the students planned to visit Canada in the near future as part of their coursework and all are involved in international activities that would be enhanced by greater knowledge of the Canada-US economic relationship.
Of course, the first of the ten items related the fact that the United States and Canada have the world’s largest bilateral trading relationship—a relationship often undervalued by many Americans and occasionally reported erroneously by the media. U.S. imports of Canadian energy products and the importance of making things together via “apples-to-apples” trade were also mentioned as contributing to competitiveness in North America. Stereotyped images of the Canadian economy as a resource-intensive hinterland were addressed and contrasted with the dynamic transportation, services, and technology sectors of the modern Canadian economy. Further comparative analysis of Canada’s banking and health care systems was encouraged as they are both issues at the forefront of the current American political agenda.
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| Over 100 Foster School of Business students attended Professor Storer's lecture on the Canada-US trade relationship. |
After the formal presentation, students asked many insightful questions on a wide range of issues. One student asked which factors had led to the recent successes of Bombardier’s aerospace division while another asked about the role of the Canadian banking system. Students also asked whether Canada and the United States should follow the European model and adopt a common currency or whether I would recommend further enhancements to NAFTA that would strengthen the North American economic space. I enjoyed this opportunity to interact with the students at the UW and hope that I helped them to have a deeper appreciation of the importance of the Canada-U.S. economic partnership.
Paul Storer is Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Western Washington University. He teaches courses and publishes research related to the Canada-U.S economic relationship. Storer has previous experience working as an economist at the Bank of Canada and as an Associate Professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
This lecture is part of a new partnership between the Canadian Studies and Global Business Center – North American Economic Partnerships – to increase Canadian content in business courses and programming. It provided information for Foster School of Business students participating in the Pacific Northwest Economic Conference and the 2011 MBA Canada Study Tour.
Canada Clinic presented the 90th Annual National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference
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Canada Clinic presenters and educators at the Canadian Consulate General in Denver, CO. |
In early November, the two Title VI National Resource Centers on Canada – our Pacific Northwest NRC on Canada (that links the UW Center with the Center Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University) and the Northeast NRC on Canada (that links the Canadian-American Center at the University of Maine with the Center for the Study of Canada at SUNY Plattsburgh) – offered a pre-conference Canada Clinic: Looking Beyond the 49th Parallel at the 90th Annual National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference at the Consulate General of Canada in Denver.
Fourteen educators, mostly from Colorado and representing elementary through post-secondary schools, attended the clinic. “Canada is absolutely essential to preparing our students for the future,” explained one educator about her interest in the Clinic.
State standards in the United States are very broad and most often do not include Canada specifically. Yet, Canada and the United States have the largest trade relationship in the world. An incredible one million dollars of goods and services cross the border every minute of every day. For this reason, “One section of the Consulate is dedicated to trade,” noted Jamie Caton, political and academic affairs officer. “Canada buys almost three times more from the United States than China does.”
Carol Markham, Consul at the Denver Consulate, provided a background on the defense relationship between Canada and the United States. “Canada and the United States are founding members of the United Nations and NATO. We have fought together in World Wars I and II, in Korea, in the Gulf War, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. Most importantly, the two countries are intelligence allies. It is not in the psyche of Canadians to be a world power, rather Canada has gained a reputation as a peacekeeping nation.”
The workshop offered participants 8 clock hours of professional development credit and included six presentations: “Canada 101” by Jamie Caton and Karen Palmarini, Consulate General of Canada, Denver; “Canada’s Geography,” by Betsy Arntzen, Canadian-American Center, University of Maine; “History of Canada” by Ruth Writer, Michigan State University; “A Portrait of Québec,” by Chris Kirkey, Center for the Study of Canada, SUNY Plattsburg; “Canada’s North and Inuit Homelands,” by Nadine Fabbi, UW Canadian Studies Center; “Best Practices and Resources for Teaching Canada,” by Tina Storer, WWU Center for Canadian-American Studies who also chaired the clinic, and “Tales from Canada” by Michael Cawthra a K-12 STUDY CANADA teacher associate and professional storyteller from Denver.
“My goal is to see Canada show up in our Colorado curriculum at the secondary level. We really need to see Canada in the state standards,” said Katie Lapp, former curriculum coordinator in Colorado. By comparison, the Canada-U.S. relationship is taught every year in Canadian high schools. Afterwards, another teacher commented, “This offers me an extraordinary opportunity to ‘discover’ Canada for myself and for my students”.
According to participant evaluations, all outreach objectives were ranked “excellent” to “outstanding” and the most beneficial aspects of the Canada Clinic were the “amazing amount of relevant info, clear, interesting, [and] well-prepared” as well as “the encouragement and help in understanding so many aspects of Canada and in accessing resources to enrich my classroom study of Canada.”
The special pre-conference clinic was the first in a series to be offered annually in conjunction with NCSS by the National Resource Centers on Canada. The two NRCs also shared a resource booth in the convention center’s exhibit hall, participated in NCSS International Visitors Program and Canada Community activities, and oversaw four additional conference sessions/workshops.
In 2011, the Canada Clinic will be offered at the Canadian Embassy when NCSS is held in Washington, D.C. and, in 2012, it will be offered in Seattle. Both Tina and I serve on the conference planning committee for Seattle 2012 and Tina was elected conference co-chair alongside, Margit MacGuire, Seattle University, Gayle Theiman, Portland State University, and John Moore, NCSS Vice President, Western Kentucky University.
The Canada Clinic four-year program is a Title VI grant-funded activity for the Pacific Northwest and Northeast National Resource Centers on Canada – U.S. Department of Education, International Education Programs Service – in partnership with Embassy and Consulate General of Canada offices in the United States.
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 Ruth Writer, Teacher Associate and Outreach Coordinator, Michigan State University, provides an overview of Canadian history including the many intersections with U.S. history. |
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 The organizing team for the Canada Clinic enjoys a celebration dinner hosted by the Government of Canada. From left, Jamie Caton, Michael Cawthra, Nadine Fabbi, Tina Storer, Karen Palmarini, Carol Markham, and Betsy Arntzen. |
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| Enelyn Vanderhoop from British Columbia gives several demonstrations on Naaxiin weaving techniques. |
First Nations Weaver Brings Canadian Culture to Educators in the Region
In early November Canadian master weaver Evelyn Vanderhoop provided a series of programs at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum. During her residency, Ms. Vanderhoop demonstrated the Naaxiin (or Chilkat style) technique of weaving to school groups and the public and conducted an in-depth workshop for teachers and experienced weavers.
Evelyn Vanderhoop is from Masset, British Columbia, and comes from a long line of Haida weavers, including her grandmother Selina Peratrovich and her mother, Delores Churchill. She is one of only a handful of weavers who have mastered the skills required for Naaxiin weaving.
Ms. Vanderhoop talked with over 200 people during her stay, including 22 elementary students and chaperones from Tera Schreiber's Homeschool Group of Seattle, and 20 students and parents from Lorie Woods' 5th grade class from St. Joseph Marquette, Yakima. She explained, “Ravenstail and Chilkat weaving share several varieties of twining and surface braiding, although they differ in pattern, construction, weight, and composition of the warp. Both are used for robes, dance aprons and other ceremonial regalia and both types of weaving originally used wool from mountain goats. Contemporary weavers now substitute sheep wool. Traditionally, ranking members of clans and house groups wore these robes during dances or when officiating at ceremonies.”
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| A group of local educators enjoy an all-day workshop with Vanderhoop. |
On Saturday morning, 13 experienced weavers and local teachers were treated to a rare opportunity to attend a hands-on workshop in this almost forgotten style. Each started a small weaving of their own, and many lingered into the afternoon to soak up every bit of knowledge from this living treasure and great ambassador of Canadian culture.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
Thomas O. Enders Symposium – The U.S.-Canadian Relationship as Seen from South of the Border
On 29 October 2010 the biennial Enders Symposium, sponsored by the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS), the Thomas O. Enders Foundation, and the Center, was held at the University of Washington.
Presenters and respondents came from across the United States and Canada including Doreen Barrie, University of Calgary; Tim Casey, Mesa State College; Heather Smith, University of Northern British Columbia; Stephen Blank, Centre for International Governance Innovation; Barry Prentice, University of Manitoba; Clayton Mosher, Washington State University; Robert Gordon, Simon Fraser University; Robert Thacker, St. Lawrence University; and Laurie Ricou, University of British Columbia.
The goal of the conference was to better understand why Americans might be interested in studying Canada and what might be some of their particular areas of interest.
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Canadian Consul General, Seattle (left) discusses the symposium with Michael Treleaven, Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium (middle) and Doug Nord, symposium chair. |
Douglas Nord, Chair of the symposium and President of ACSUS, opened with a discussion on “Discourse and Dialogue between Americans and Canadians” asking to what extent, over the last few years, has there been a change in how Americans see Canada. One of the most significant changes that Nord observed is that Canada is increasingly referred to by Americans as a laboratory for social policy – as an alternative case to the United States particularly in the areas of health care, same sex marriage, and foreign policy. He also suggested that American knowledge and understanding of “the people who live next door” has grown in recent decades.
Stephen Blank focused on Canada-U.S. trade integration in his presentation entitled “Making Stuff Together: An Examination of North America’s Auto Industry.” He observed that, “When we look at the infrastructure of North America we find that Canada and the United States are deeply integrated.” In fact, Blank suggested that rather than focusing solely on the Canada-U.S. trade relationship, our attention should be directed toward the “production relationship” between the two countries. “Our relationship is defined by structural integration,” argued Blank. “We don’t sell stuff to each other. We make it together. We are not a trade block, we are a production block.”
Tim Casey in his talk “A Model Environmental Nation?” discussed the utility of examining Canadian environmental policy in comparison to that found in the United States. He noted that the two countries share some similar environmental goals but may not approach them in exactly the same fashion due to differences in government structure and legal practice. He observed that in both countries, local and regional initiatives have made major contributions to the fashioning national policies.
Consul General Stevens picked up on this theme in his luncheon address, noting that there is a good deal of collaborative environmental interaction between regional groups in Washington and British Columbia. Speaking more broadly, he observed that the single largest challenge for Canada is getting the Canadian agenda on the U.S. “radar screen.” “The three priority messages of all the Canadian missions today,” noted Stevens, “are our integrated economy, our energy partnership [Canada is the number one supplier of oil to the United States], and common security concerns.” Increasingly, Government of Canada research and teaching grants awarded to U.S. faculty are helping to raise American attention to each of these issues.
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Heather Smith provides a response to Tim Casey's paper, "A Model Environmental Nation? Canada as a Case Study for Informing U.S. Environmental Policy." |
Clayton Mosher’s presentation “Convergence and Divergence? Recent Developments in Crime Policies in Canada and the United States” noted that the United States is the world’s largest jailer, whereas Canada has a much smaller rate of incarceration. He discussed some of the reasons for this divergence between the two countries. Mosher noted that while crime rates in Canada may be presently lower than those found in the United States, some Canadian approaches to crime and drugs are being fashioned from the American experience.
The program ended with a focus on American understanding of Canadian literature and poetry. Robert Thacker, “Reading North Through the One-Way Mirror,” pointed out that there are few American scholars of Canadian literature today. He argued that there is a need to expand American familiarity with the literature of our northern neighbors and for Americans to make their own unique contributions to its study and analysis. Literature and history used to be the largest disciplines represented at the ACSUS conference but this has changed.
This is the sixth Enders’s symposium and the first to be held at a western institution. It is also the first Enders’ symposium to focus on the U.S. perspective on Canada versus the reverse.
Thomas Enders was a U.S. statesman whose life, work, and service – particularly as U.S. Ambassador to Canada and Assistant Secretary of State of Inter-American Affairs – strengthened the political and economic links as well as the friendship between the United States and Canada. The Enders Endowment within ACSUS is designed to encourage scholarship on the Canada-U.S. relationship.
This symposium was sponsored by the Thomas O. Enders Foundation, the Government of Canada and by the Canadian Studies Center’s Title VI grant, International Programs Service, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Center Increases Collaboration with the American Association of Teachers of French, by Mary Anne O’Neil, President, AAFT Northwest
The American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), founded in 1927, is the largest association of French teachers in the world (currently there are about 10,000 members). The AATF fall luncheon was held on 9 October 2010, at the conclusion of our annual meeting of the Washington and Oregon foreign language teachers. The luncheon was well attended by over 70 members from the United States and Canada.
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| American Association for French Language Teacher’s (AAFT) local chapter at the October AAFT conference at Seatac. |
Nadine Fabbi from the Canadian Studies Center was the keynote speaker. She began with an overview of the importance of the study of Québec in the United States. Québec is the only jurisdiction in North America where the official language is not English. “Québec is an extraordinary example of a minority culture and language not only surviving but thriving in North America,” she pointed out. In addition, Québec supports minority regional governments, such as the Regional Government of Nunavik for the Inuit in the Arctic region of the province.
After the luncheon, several young teachers expressed their interest in applying for travel grants to study in Canada and for library grants. Two seasoned teachers, musicians themselves, intend to contact the Léger family musicians living in Seattle about visiting their schools. We also anticipate that many of the French educators in attendance will take advantage of the Center’s annual Québec and French Canadian Workshop – the only all-day professional development training in French in the State that focuses on Québec that will be held in May on the University of Washington campus.
This event provided the opportunity for AAFT and the Canadian Studies Center to work in closer collaboration in the future to ensure that our French language educators are supported and have a stronger foundation in Québec culture and its distinct language.
Mary Anne O’Neil is a professor of French at Whitman College. She is currently serving as president of Region IX for AAFT. This visit was supported by funding from the Canadian Studies Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
K-12 Study Canada Activities
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| Tina Storer (second from left) with Karen Palmarini, Canadian Consulate of Canada, Denver, at the 32nd Annual K-12 STUDY CANADA Institute in Whistler, British Columbia, June 2010. In front, educator participants, Anastasia Sunday from Colorado, and Tom Cambisios, from Ohio |
In October, Tina Storer, Education and Curriculum Specialist at the Center for Canadian-American Studies (WWU) exhibited K-12 STUDY CANADA exhibited resources onbehalf of the National Resource Center (NRC) for Canada at the Idaho Council for History Education (ICHE) conference in Boise, Idaho as well as the Washington State Council for the Social Studies Fall In-Service at Edmonds-Woodway. At the ICHE conference, the executive director of the National Council for History Education, Peter Seibert, invited Tina Storer to write a regular column for the organization's History Matters! publication. This will be an exciting new avenue for our NRC to encourage greater connections to Canada in history classrooms particularly. In addition, numerous educators signed up to join the NRC's "Canada Listserv" to receive regular emails (September-June) about recommended resources for teaching about Canada in K-12 classrooms at these two conferences as well as at a NRCs on Canada exhibit at the recent National Council for Geographic Education conference in Savannah, Georgia.
The K-12 STUDY CANADA portal is a joint project by our NRC. See http://www.k12studycanada.org/.
The UW Canadian Studies Center joins with the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham to create a federally supported Pacific Northwest National Resource Center (NRC) on Canada. For more information on the Center for Canadian-American Studies at WWU see http://www.wwu.edu/canam/.
Welcoming the Region’s New Consul General
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| President of the Canada-America Society, Michael Herbst (left), and Washington State Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen (center), welcome Canada’s new Consul General, Denis Stevens, to the region. |
In late September the Center partnered with the Canada-America Society of Washington, Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, and the Pacific Northwest Economic Region to welcome Canadian Consul General Stevens to the regional community. Mr. Stevens was welcomed to the region by Michael Herbst, president of the Canada-America Society. Herbst described the importance of the Canada-U.S. relationship to the region in his welcome. Lieutenant Governor of the State of Washington, Brad Owen, also welcomed Consul General Stevens.
Stevens provided a brief presentation on the role of the Canadian government in the U.S. and the importance of the Canada-U.S. economic partnership – one of the largest trade relationships in the world.
Attendees included the CEO of Esterline Technologies, and Honorary Consul for the United Kingdom, Bob Cremin; the Consul-General of Japan Kiyokazu Ota; Ambassador Alejandro Garcia Moreno, Consul of Mexico; Consul of the Republic of Korea, Haryong Lee; and, from the Canadian Consulate, Consul Wendy Baldwin and Trade Commissioner, Robert Fosco.
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| Wendy Baldwin, Canadian Consul, joins UW’s Mike Giambattista at the dinner following the reception. Giambattista teaches international business in the Foster School of Business and is the faculty advisor for the MBA 2011 Study Tour to Canada. |
Several University of Washington faculty and students were there to welcome the new Consul General including Associate Dean of Public Health, Mark Oberle (Oberle just received a Government of Canada Conference Grant for a project on cross-border public health); Mike Giambattista, Foster School of Business faculty advisor for the MBA 2011 Study Tour; Greg Shelton, Global Trade, Transportation and Logistics Studies; Nadine Fabbi from the Center; Morna McEachern, Affiliated Faculty of Canadian Studies in the School of Social Work; Lucas Olson, 2009-10 Killam Fellow now with UW International and English Language Programs; and Victoria Choe, Assistant to the Director for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium and International Studies major.
Consul General Stevens joined Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) in 1996. Since 2007, he has been the Director General of Intergovernmental Relations and Public Outreach at DFAIT.
The reception was hosted by Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt.
This event was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
Center Builds Ties with Whitman College Canadian Studies Association
In late September Jack Iverson, Director, Canadian Studies Association Whitman College, and Professor, Foreign Language and Literature, invited the Center’s associate director, Nadine Fabbi, to Whitman to visit with faculty regarding the enhancement of the Canadian studies program. Although none are dedicated specialists, about a dozen Whitman faculty taken an interest in Canadian matters, including in literature, environmental studies, French Canadian language and Québec culture, film and most interestingly, sport. Athletic director Dean Snider and basketball coach, Eric Bridgeland, are working on a project to build international understanding as part of the team’s training prior to a series of games to be held in British Columbia.
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| Jack Iverson, Director, Canadian Studies Association at Whitman College with Eric Bridgeland, coach of the Whitman basketball team. |
Fabbi provided a presentation to faculty, Challenges and Rewards of a Multidisciplinary Program: Canadian Studies at the University of Washington, as part of the Center for Teaching and Learning program. She gave an overview of the UW Canadian Studies Center faculty and activities and discussed the importance of Canadian studies in an increasingly integrated North American community. “While Canada and the U.S. have developed in parallel and have been close allies and partners, the values of the two nations are divergent and this trend is only increasing,” Fabbi pointed out,
“therefore, it is imperative that our students have some understanding of one another in order to ensure a vibrant North America in the future.”
Meetings were also held with individual faculty including Mary Anne O’Neil, Whitman professor of French and president of Northwest chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF). O’Neil and Fabbi are now working together to increase Canadian French language and cultural training to AATF.
Fabbi’s visit coincided with Whitman’s O’Donnell Visiting Educator, Magnus Isacsson. Isacsson is an award-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker who has produced more than a dozen independent films since 1986 (http://www.whitman.edu/content/global-studies/odonnell/current).
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| Members of the Whitman College Canadian Studies Association relax after a day of presentations and meetings. From left, Jack Iverson, Director, Canadian Studies Association; Mary Anne O’Neill, Professor, French; Nadine Fabbi, UW Canadian Studies Center; Magnus Isacsson, Canadian Independent Film Maker and Visiting Scholar; Sharon Alker, Professor, English; Dean Snider, Athletic Director. |
As an outcome of the visit, plans were put in place for a Winter 2011 visit to Whitman from the UW Canada-US Fulbright Visiting Chair, Marcia Ostashewski. Ostashewski’s research involves the intersection between music and dance, and race and ethnicity in Canada. She will be in residence at the UW from January to June 2011.
The UW Canadian Studies Center is secretariat for the PNWCSC consisting of 47 universities and colleges in Alaska, the Yukon, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, regional organizations, as well as the ministries of Government in British Columbia and Alberta.
The Consortium’s mission is to facilitate the development of Canadian Studies at institutions of higher education in the Pacific Northwest, and to enhance cooperation, joint programming, and information sharing among Canadian Studies programs and faculty in the Pacific region. Whitman College is one of the most active members of the Consortium. See http://www.pnwcsc.org/. Jack Iverson, host of the visit, was the successful recipient of a recent Program Enhancement Grant from the Government of Canada.
Summer Seminar for Educators
A World of Food: Growing It, Shipping It, Selling It
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| Branden Born with graduate student, biology, Beth Wheat |
K-12 Educators from across Washington state and beyond attended a two-day seminar focusing on the international history and economics of food. Issues explored included the ethics of food production, food supply, food as a commodity, and more.
Keynote speaker Lucy Jarosz, Geography, spoke about teaching students how to investigate where their food comes from, what it contains, and how those two things are relevant to both their lives and the lives of those around them. Professor Jarosz is currently working on a comparative project examining urban agriculture's potential to address hunger in the US and Canada, and she directed teachers to resources and material on Canadian food systems through her keynote lecture.
Canadian Studies affiliate faculty member Branden Born, Urban Design and Planning, also spoke to teachers, discussing how food security has evolved from food justice to food democracy to food sovereignty. Canada has been a leader in food security integrating Food Policy Councils into provincial health departments. Professor Born studies planning process and social justice; land use planning and regionalism; and urban food systems.
In addition to two days packed with fascinating presentations and activities, teachers were able to visit the UW Farm on a tour with PhD student Elizabeth Wheat, Biology. Elizabeth's research focuses on oyster aquaculture and her passion is sustainable food production. She is a founding member of the University of Washington student farm. She recently received the University of Washington Excellence in Teaching award for largely as a result of her work on the university student farm. She will be a teaching post-doc at the Program on the Environment starting this coming fall.
After the seminar, teachers evaluated the program, with one declaring that this year's seminar was "one of the best programs I have been to!" Others extolled all of the presentations, including Professors Jarosz and Born, with one teacher concisely summing up her experience: "Awesome."
The Canadian Studies Center, along with the other Jackson School National Resource Centers, work hard to ensure that quality programming and professional development opportunities are available for teachers in order to help them create curriculum with strong regional content.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
K-12 STUDY CANADA in Vancouver and Whistler
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| The K-12 STUDY CANADA Summer Institute celebrated its 32nd year in Vancouver and Whistler this summer. Participants and presenters enjoy their last day in Whistler. Said one participant, "Out of all the programs, courses, and degrees that I have worked on, this course is by far the best." |
This summer, the Pacific Northwest National Resource Center on Canada (Center for Canadian-American Studies, Western Washington University, and the UW Canadian Studies Center) held its 32nd annual K-12 STUDY CANADA Summer Institute in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia. The week-long institute served twenty K-12 educators from across the US, including Colorado, Ohio, South Carolina, Montana, Georgia, California, Michigan, Virginia, and Washington.
This year, the program featured Joël Plouffe, WWU’s Visiting Scholar of Québec Studies and doctoral candidate at the University of Québec, Montréal. Joël, a scholar of Arctic geopolitics, provided the presentation, “A Portrait of Québec: Its History, People, and Politics.” Other presentations ranging from Canadian politics to economics to geography and history were provided by Karen Palmarini from the Canadian Consulate in Denver; WWU faculty Don Alper, Paul Storer, David Rossiter, Cecilia Danysk, and Tina Storer; and UW’s Nadine Fabbi. Field trips included tours of the 2010 Olympic Commerce Centre, Stanley Park, and downtown Vancouver, as well as the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler.
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| Tina Storer (second from left), Institute program coordinator, with Summer Institute participants and beautiful downtown Whistler in the background. |
The program, which will move to Ottawa in 2011, is the premier institute on Canada in the US. Participants enjoy one week of intensive presentations, field trips, and assistance with curriculum development. (Many curriculum projects are also available on the K-12 STUDY CANADA website.) Educators receive university credits or Washington state clock hours for attendance and completion of projects. As one 2010 participant stated, "Hands down, this was the best teacher workshop I have attended!"
Information about the 2011 Institute, A Capital View of Canada: Nations within a Nation, is also available online at: www.k12studycanada.org/scsi.asp
The Institute is coordinated by Tina Storer, Education and Curriculum Specialist, and Don Alper, Director, at the Center for Canadian-American Studies, Western Washington University.
The K-12 STUDY CANADA Summer Institute is supported by a National Resource Center Title VI grant and an Outreach Grant from the Government of Canada.
Center Hosts Arctic Sovereignty Symposium in Washington, DC
In the last edition of Newsweek in 2009, editor Jon Meacham interviewed two of the most prominent secretaries of state in recent history—Henry Kissinger and Hillary Clinton. In the interview, Clinton listed current foreign policy priorities and focused on the emerging issues in the Arctic:
An area that we're beginning to pay attention to… is the Arctic. With the melting of the ice, with sea lanes opening that were never there before… with Russia saying that they are going to have an expedition next year to plant their flag on the North Pole. With Canada saying, "No, you'd better not." This is an area that we have to pay real attention to.
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| Presenters and participants at the symposium on Canada-US Arctic issues at the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States headquarters in Washington, DC. |
The Canadian Studies Center has been responding to this emerging national need for the past couple of years, including, most recently, a symposium held in DC that focused on Canada-US relations concerning the Arctic. In mid-June the Center collaborated with the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS), Western Washington University, and Trent University to host a one-day event targeted for staff from the Department of State and Congressional Research Service: Northern Sovereignty and Political Geography in North America.
Five experts provided insights into Canada’s interests in the Arctic, including geographer, Phil Steinberg, Florida State University; political scientists, Rob Huebert, University of Calgary, and Stéphane Roussel, Université du Québec, Montréal; and Ottawa-based consultants to Nunavut and Nunavik (Canada’s two largest Inuit regions), Terry Fenge, and Donat Savoie.
Huebert, Associate Director for Military and Strategic Studies, focused on the very real possibility of an arms race developing over Arctic interests. He provided a list of military developments in each of the Arctic nations, illustrating national interests and concerns. Savoie, representing the Makivik Corporation, addressed both human security issues (housing, education, health) and the emerging and effective role of the Inuit in future Canada-US negotiations regarding the Arctic:
Inuit are increasingly engaged and vocal on these matters regarding sovereignty and related issues. Inuit inclusion as active partners is central to all national and international deliberations on Arctic sovereignty and related questions.
Over the last couple of years, the Canadian Studies Center has responded to emerging national concerns in the Arctic via a number of activities—promoting FLAS fellowships in Inuktitut, providing public lectures on Arctic energy and international perspectives on sovereignty, facilitating roundtables on Inuit land claims and political mobilization, developing a Task Force on Arctic sovereignty, and facilitating trade relations between Seattle and Canada’s Arctic.
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| At the Arctic Sovereignty conference. From left: Heather Nicol, Doug Nord, Nadine Fabbi, and David Archibald |
The symposium was chaired by Douglas Nord, President, ACSUS and Director, Center for International Studies, Western Washington University; Nadine Fabbi, Associate Director, Canadian Studies Center, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington; and Heather Nicol, Department of Geography, Trent University. Participants included 20 representatives from the US Department of State, the Congressional Research Service, the US Arctic Research Commission, and scholars from Georgetown University and University of Rhode Island.
Conference Program
“Canada’s Sovereignty in the Arctic: An Inuit Perspective,” by Jean-François Arteau, Legal Counsel and Executive Assistant to the President of the Makivik Corporation, presented by Donat Savoie, Inuit, Arctic and Circumpolar Affairs; and Nadine Fabbi, UW Canadian Studies Center, discussant
“Historical, Political and Legal Dimensions of Canadian Claims to Sovereignty in the North,” Philip Steinberg, Department of Geography, Florida State University; and Heather Nicol, Trent University, discussant
“Canada-U.S. Relations in the Arctic,” Stéphane Roussel, Research Chair on Canadian Foreign Policy and Defense, University of Québec at Montreal; and Douglas Nord, discussant
“Protecting and Promoting Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security,” Rob Huebert, Center for Military and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary; and Joël Plouffe, University of Québec at Montréal, discussant
“The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment Process and the 2005 Inuit Human Rights Petition,” Terry Fenge, Consultant on Aboriginal, Environmental and Circumpolar Affairs, Ottawa; and Udlu Hanson, Senior Policy Advisor Nunavut Tunngavik, discussant
This symposium was funded, in part, by a Conference Grant from the Government of Canada and the Center’s Title VI Grant, International Programs Service, US Department of Education.
Canadian Studies and University of the Arctic
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| Students from Sakha State University in Yakutsk, Russia, graduate with a major in Circumpolar Studies from University of the Arctic. |
The Canadian Studies Center is the second institution in the forty-eight contiguous states (after Dartmouth) to have the opportunity to be a member of University of the Arctic—a network of over one hundred institutions dedicated to research and education that benefits northerners. In June, UArctic held its thirteenth meeting at Sakha State University in Yakutsk, Russia. The meeting was attended by Council Representatives from across the Arctic, including Nadine Fabbi, Associate Director of the Canadian Studies Center.
Meeting highlights included the introduction of UArctic’s new Vice President of Indigenous Affairs, Jan Henry Keskitalo. Keskitalo has served on the Board of Governors for UArctic and is presently the Executive Chairperson of the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium. Fabbi sat on a committee with Keskitalo during the four-day meetings to discuss ways to strengthen indigenous education and traditional knowledge in UArctic research and programming.
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| Gary Wilson, University of Northern British Columbia and Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium board member, invites University of the Arctic to meet at UNBC in 2014. |
Kirsi Latola, Program Coordinator, Thematic Networks Office, provided an overview of these research-based, issues oriented institutional networks. The thematic network, “Arctic Coastal and Marine Issues,” includes two University of Washington scientists—Marc Miller, Marine Affairs, and Vincent Gallucci, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and affiliated faculty of Canadian Studies. As Canada has one of the largest Arctic coastal environments, this network is critical to Center research projects.
UArctic has a Circumpolar Studies Program that is currently being accessed by UW Marine Affairs undergraduate, George Roth. The Center hopes to extend these opportunities to more students in the future.
As part of UArctic activities, the Center is currently working with the Makivik Corporation of Québec to involve Inuit students in the 2011 Task Force on Arctic sovereignty.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
Canada and the American Curriculum: A Conference on State and National Perspectives on Canada in the US K-12 Curriculum
By Will Linser
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| From left: Tina Storer, Nadine Fabbi, Will Linser, Kelly Martin, Don Alper, and Amy Wilson |
Will Linser is President of the Washington State Council for the Social Studies and a high school social studies teacher in the Bellevue School District.
How often have you thought about the relationship between Canada and the United States and how important that relationship is? According to a 2010 study commissioned by the Embassy, based on 2008 data, 8 million US jobs depend on trade with Canada. Canada is also the United States’ largest supplier of imported energy.
On May 24 and 25, I attended the Canada and the American Curriculum: A Conference on State and National Perspectives on Canada in the US K-12 Curriculum. I was invited by the Canadian Studies Center at the University of Washington because of my leadership in social studies education in Washington State. The purpose of the conference was to work toward the goal of ensuring American students learn more about Canada through the K-12 curriculum and ensure that our students have a deeper understanding of our neighbors to the north. Without a doubt, this would improve Canadian-US relations.
We are fortunate in Washington state that we have the University of Washington’s Canadian Studies Center and the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University. When Dr. Christopher Kirkey, Director of the Center for the Study of Canada at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh, presented during a session on "The K-12 National Directory on Canada: A Profile," it was quite obvious that we have done some great things in Washington state regarding Canada and including it in the K-12 curriculum. It is not required, but it is an excellent option for K-12 educators to use the resources, lessons, and classroom-based assessments in their classrooms.
Ms. Nadine Fabbi, Associate Director of the Canadian Studies Center at the University of Washingotn, and Ms. Kelly Martin, Social Studies and International Education Program at the Washington state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), were on a panel on "State Perspectives on K-12: Canada and the American Curriculum." They talked about what we have been doing in Washington state and what more we can do.
Amy Wilson, International Education Programs Service and program office for Canada, served on a panel outlining the purposes of the conference. The keynote address, "Canada and International Education in the United States," was provided by Mr. Andre W. Lewis, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education in the United States.
Where do we go from here? I have promised that the Washington State Council for the Social Studies will continue to support the teaching of Canada in the K-12 curriculum. This includes our Fall In-Service in Edmonds in October, the K-8 conference in late January/early February, and the spring conference in Chelan in March. We will also continue to promote UW’s and WWU’s "K-12 Study Canada" programming.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
Washington Association of Foreign Language Teachers Conference
By Misa Bourdoiseau, Présidente AATF- Northwest
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| Mary Anne O'Neil, Professor of French, Whitman College; Misa Bourdoiseau, President, American Association of Teachers of French—Northwest chapter; and Yanick Godbout, Director for Governmental Relations and Public Affairs, Public and Political Affairs, Québec International |
Le 10 avril dernier, la WAFLT a tenu son congrès de printemps : New Decade, Renewed Engagement in World Languages à Seattle, en coopération avec l’AATF- Northwest et le Canadian Studies Center de l’Université de Washington, où l’on comptait près de 70 participants dont 28 enseignants de français. Le reste se divisait entre enseignants d’espagnol, de japonais, de chinois, d’allemand, d’italien, de portuguais, d’ELL et…de makah !
Un point fort de la journée a été précisément la présentation par Maria Parker Pascua et ses élèves sur la langue et la culture makah. Il était fort intéressant d’apprendre comment on redécouvre, pour la préserver, une langue de tradition orale, ainsi que l’origine de certains mots venant notamment du français. Deux autres ateliers touchaient directement à la francophonie : Le Québec par Natalie Debray couvrant son histoire, sa langue, sa relation avec la France ; et Fun Phonétique, une session que j’ai animée où l’on a pu se détendre avec des jeux de mots et des virelangues. L’immense succès de «Connecting with 21st Century World Language E-Learners», par Catherine Meissner et David Montero, démontrant les possibilités offertes sur le Web et les outils disponibles pour assister les professeurs de langues, engager les élèves de façon innovante, est la preuve du besoin de telles journées de formation.
D’autres ateliers, spécifiques aux différentes langues ont également été présentés avec brio: The Guatemala experience, Language proficiency through critical thinking, Engaging Limited English speakers, Using Theater and film to teach political history, Chinese programs in Washington State. Deux ateliers d’intérêt général ont retenu l’attention: Formative Assessment par Tami Wietfedlt et World Language Learning standards for Washington par Michele Anciaux Aoki, ce dernier étant une préoccupation nouvelle pour notre état.
Enfin, on ne peut oublier la dynamique et inspirante intervention sur le Québec et sa position dans l’étude des langues faite par Yanick Godbout, Chargé d’ Affaires du Gouvernement du Québec, à Los Angeles. Il était fort intéressant d’y entendre la distinction faite entre «Nation» et «Pays». La qualité du matériel présenté pour illustrer les points sur la beauté, la qualité de vie du Québec, les possibilités d’études, même si l’on connaissait déjà le Québec, donnait envie d’y retourner ; et pour certains d’aller le découvrir, tel était le cas pour un professeur de japonais et un autre d’espagnol qui ont exprimé leur désir d’y aller étudier le français !
«His video made me want to hop on the next plane or train, tout de suite» était l’un des commentaires!
Un grand MERCI va au Gouvernement du Québec pour sa générosité à mettre à notre disposition lors de ce congrès une personne dynamique telle que M.Godbout, ainsi qu’au Centre d’ Etudes Canadiennes de l’Université de Washington pour leur soutien financier et leur encouragement.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
Family Policy in Canada
By Morna McEachern
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| Morna McEachern, Social Work (center) successfully defended her dissertation, Is Knowledge Power?: A Textual, Historical and Practical Study of "Sex Ed" Policy and "Teen Pregnancy" in Canada and the United States, in May. Michael Prince served on her committee. Susan Kemp, Social Work, chaired the committee. |
Dr. Michael Prince, the Landsdowne Professor of Social Policy Studies at the University of Victoria, BC, gave this quarter’s final colloquium for the West Coast Poverty Center (WCPC). The talk, "Family Policy at Work: Employment Benefits, Women, and Labour Force Participation in Canada," was co-sponsored by Canadian Studies and the WCPC.
The talk focused on the history of Employment Insurance (EI), in Canada and focusing on EI as a major social insurance program at intersection of labour market, income support, and families. The image of citizen as worker-parent-caregiver with EI benefits for maternity leave, sick leave and compassionate care leave was an informative difference from the US version of unemployment insurance. Dr. Prince concluded that EI holds an important role in labour force attachment, family formation, and poverty prevention that needs to be continually monitored and occasionally reformed.
Dr. Prince was in Seattle to give his talk and to participate, as the Canadian member of her dissertation supervisory committee, in the final examination of Canadian Studies doctoral candidate, Morna McEachern (Morna passed her exam!). Michael’s talk garnered interest from students and faculty from across the university as well as a staff member from US House of Representatives Jim McDermott’s office and two representatives of the Economic Opportunity Institute. This interest from both members of the university, the government and a policy think tank reflects Dr. Prince’s dedication both to scholarship and to participating in public policy commentary and creation.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
Center Hosts Canadian Nation Builder
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| Don Chapman (center), effectively changed Canadian legislation in Canada, enabling members of the UW community, including Robert Stacey, Division Dean, Arts and Humanities and Linda DiBiase, Collections Development Librarian (proudly displaying her citizenship card), to obtain their Canadian citizenship. |
In April, the Canadian Studies Center hosted guest speaker, Don Chapman, finalist of the “Nation Builder of the Year” award by The Globe and Mail in 2007 and 2008. Chapman, a former UW student, has been the inspiration and effort behind the April 2009 Canadian legislation, Bill C-37, that amended the Citizenship Act to give Canadian citizenship to those who lost or never had it due to outdated provisions in legislation. Upwards of a million people can now call themselves Canadian citizens as a result. Chapman provided a roundtable discussion on “The Lost Canadians” legislation to faculty, students, and community members. He provided a background on the legislation including what it means to have Canadian or American citizenship and how children can still be born stateless.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Government of Canada and Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
Indigenous Research Methods by Canadian Cree, Shawn Wilson
By Clementine Bordeaux
Clementine Bordeaux is a member of the Rosebud Lakota (Sioux) Tribe located in South Dakota. She is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Communication with Native Voices, an Indigenous documentary film program.
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| Students in Professor Hart's and Professor Ross' graduate reseearch class with Shawn Wilson. Back row (L to R): Allison Krebs, Shawn Wilson, Caroline Lanza, Amal Eqeiq, and Carol Warrior. Front Row: Chilan Ta, Michelle Kleisath, and Tia Gehlhausen. |
Dr. Shawn Wilson had a whirlwind visit to the University of Washington this Spring Quarter—full of classroom engagements, innovative presentations, small luncheons, large dinners, and the Native American Students in Advanced Academia (NASAA) annual Spring Symposium. I enthusiastically followed Dr. Wilson to as many events as my schedule would allow, each one more extraordinary than the next; hearts and minds that stimulated dialogue creating an environment of valuable reflection.
My initial introduction to Dr. Wilson was through his book, Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods (2008), which explores relationality and relational accountability in academic research. The book is thoughtfully written and is accessible – the voice is not overtly academic. Shawn offers a text that welcomes the reader, engaging him or her to look beyond conventional methodologies. Originally written as his doctoral thesis, the book allows the reader to think about research as a conversation, a relationship rather than a means to an end. It is a book that any individual, Indigenous or not, would benefit from reading.
An Opaskwayak Cree originally from northern Manitoba, Dr. Wilson now resides in Australia with his wife and three children: Julius, Max, and Falco—whom he addresses directly in many of his works. One of the first questions Dr. Wilson asked me was, “Where are you from?” As an Indigenous person, it was a pleasure to meet an academic who openly recognizes a connection to the land. As his visit progressed, it was not long before students and faculty felt as though we were talking to an old friend. Dr. Wilson shows humility while engaging you to think in broader terms, with an open mind, by taking a positive approach to research.
A person he spoke candidly about was his father, Stan Wilson, who grew up in “the bush” of Canada and now has a doctoral degree. Having a strong background in education paved the way for Shawn to develop a keen interest in how Indigenous students in professional school could do well in the academic world while sustaining a strong connection to their Native identity. He is an ideal example of the power of education, travel and belief. There are times when we do not think of Indigenous Research on an international level, but Shawn has taken it from Canada to the world—a step, a thought, a paper, a conversation, a relationship at a time.
As the week dwindled down, I was left with a sense of accomplishment along with a feeling of empowerment. Dr. Shawn Wilson is just a man trying to open the doors to changing research methodologies for Indigenous people and beyond. I asked for his autograph in my book at the last event I shared with him, and he wrote, “Best of luck with your own Research Ceremony. Shawn Wilson.” Thank you for starting the dialogue, Dr. Wilson!
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Government of Canada and Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education Programs Service.
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| Shawn Wilson with attendees at the Native American Students in Advanced Academia (NASAA) symposium. |
Indigenous Visions: Cross-Border Films by Native American Filmmakers
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| Angelo Baca at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana with Chris Eyre, Director of Smoke Signals. Photo by Bob McGowan. |
This past February, Native American filmmakers converged on Missoula, Montana to attend the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Angelo Baca, a graduate of the UW Native Voices Program, was there to discuss the cross-border film projects that have been undertaken at the UW in Native Voices during a panel discussion on issues facing Native American and First Nations filmmakers. The panel was hosted by Angelica Lawson, Professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana.
“It’s really difficult to get Natives as filmmakers and actors to break into the mainstream,” Angelo pointed out, “We have to create our own opportunities, and it’s definitely hard.”
Angelo traveled to Missoula to present fellow Native Voices alum Rosemary Gibbons’s film, A Century of Genocide: The Residential School Experience, which looks at attempts to assimilate First Nations children at the turn of the twentieth century, resulting in families being split up, children losing their language and heritage, and widespread sexual abuse.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services.
Film Series Closes with Canadian Film, Breakfast with Scot
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| Natalie Debray |
By Natalie Debray
Natalie Debray is a lecturer in the Communication Department. She teaches courses on media in Canada and Québec.
The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies National Resource Centers teamed up to offer an international film series, SMAK (See Movies at Kane). The series consisted of Thursday evening film screenings, held each week during winter quarter, and included films from around the world. The final film of the series, Breakfast with Scot (2007), is a comedy hailing from Canada.
Canada is a pioneer in gay rights, and Québec was the first in the world to pass anti-discrimination laws based on sexual orientation, in 1977. In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada determined that gay and lesbian couples should have the same rights as heterosexual common law couples. As equality issues for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans-gendered individuals increase in social prominence across Canada, this theme became reflected in film. Breakfast with Scot is the coming of-age story of a boy coming to terms with his sexual orientation, set against the backdrop of the heart and soul of Canadian identity—hockey.
Breakfast with Scot is the first film with gay themes to be officially sanctioned by the National Hockey League (the NHL logo and the uniforms of the Toronto Maple Leafs are featured in the film)—no small feat for a sport broadly associated with machismo and brawn. As Scot comes of age, perhaps finally so does Canadian film, transcending language, regional differences, and cultural policy to appeal to audiences the world over.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services.
Impact of World War II on Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians: Comparative and Contemporary Perspectives
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| Greg Robinson, History, l’Université du Québec à Montréal, and Masako Iino, Professor and President of Tsuda College, Tokyo, Japan, spoke about Japanese confinement in Canada during World War II at this year’s Day of Remembrance Program. Photo by Shihou Sasaki, The North American Post. |
Scholars of Executive Order 9066 and the incarceration of Japanese Americans have often passed over the wartime removal and confinement of Japanese Canadians. Yet a study of the many similarities and differences in the experiences of persons of Japanese ancestry across the 49th parallel is not only intriguing in itself but provides a greater and more balanced perspective on a number of questions relating to the treatment of ethnic groups in both countries. Perhaps most importantly, a comparative analysis of the two treatments reveals the character of law, society, and race relations in the two countries.
This year’s Day of Remembrance was chaired by Gail Nomura with opening remarks by Tetsuden Kashima and Stephen Sumida, American Ethnic Studies. Guest scholars Greg Robinson and Masako Iino provided a background on the Canadian experience.
Dr. Robinson, Associate Professor of History at l’Université du Québec à Montréal and internationally recognized scholar of Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians, is the author of A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America (2009). He is also known for his groundbreaking work on Japanese communities in Québec and relations between Japanese Canadians and French Canadians. Robinson provided an overview of the similarities and differences between Canada and the United States in their respective treatment and disposition of Japanese Canadians and Japanese Americans during World War II.
Dr. Iino is President and Professor of Tsuda College in Tokyo, Japan. She has the distinction of being the first woman and first scholar outside of North America to win the Governor General of Canada’s International Award for Canadian Studies in 2001. Professor Iino has authored or co-authored numerous important books in Japanese and English on Canadian and United States studies, including Mutual Hostages: Canadians and Japanese during the Second World War (1990).
This program was funded by the UW American Ethnic Studies Department; the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle, Washington; and the Canadian Studies Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services.
Alanis Obomsawin - The Cinema of Sovereignty
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| Alanis Obomsawin, center, led a special master’s class on documentary filmmaking at the UW. The event was cosponsored by the Native Voices Program. Daniel Hart, Chair/Director, Canadian Studies (front left), and Luana Ross (second row, far right), co-directors of the Native Voices Program, facilitated the workshop. Photo by Noreen Thiele. |
By Clementine Bordeaux
Clementine Bordeaux is a member of Rosebud Lakota (Sioux) Tribe located in South Dakota. She is a Communication student with the Indigenous Documentary program, Native Voices.
A rock star came to visit the UW, or at least it felt that way for indigenous cinema enthusiasts! Alanis Obomsawin, a master documentarian from the Abenaki Nation, came for a two-day engagement with students, faculty and fans the weekend of February 26. The weekend was filled with excitement, encouragement and illumination.
In the weeks leading up to her visit, I was filled with anxious anticipation, trying hard to spread the word of her visit. For almost four decades Alanis has created influential films at Canada’s National Film Board. Her work embraces strong social themes and speaks in an uncompromising yet inspired voice. With her repertoire of more than twenty documentaries, it was easy to feel awestruck. Each film highlights the beauty, struggles, and triumphs of sovereignty her First Nations people of Canada have endured.
Obomsawin has received countless awards both in Canada and internationally. Most notable is Canada’s Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, received in 2001. In 2008 she was the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. She even has an award in her honor at the imagineNATIVE Film Festival held in Toronto each year.
Waben-aki: People from Where the Sun Rises an award winning feature length film, was screened Friday evening to an eager audience. The film covers the experience of Alanis’s community from first contact through present day. The film introduced us to the many adversities Waben-aki people face. Alanis is unique in portraying characters with charisma and human flaws but never objectifying them. We were not disappointed in Waben-aki.
Alanis is soft-spoken and eloquent. During the question and answer portion of the night the audience was attentive, hanging onto her every word. Alanis did not lecture; rather she had an open conversation with the audience. Many students expressed their appreciation of her words and welcoming demeanor. The highlight of the evening was hearing Alanis articulate her pride in seeing so many Indigenous students in higher education – she encouraged us all to continue our studies.
Saturday afternoon Alanis led a master’s workshop on filmmaking. It was a smaller, more intimate seminar set up as an informal master’s class. It was a delight for the faculty and students who attended. We watched a short film, Gene Boy Came Home, about a Vietnam veteran who finds solace in his journey back to his community. The film created a very strong emotional response in the audience, especially for the Vietnam veterans who were in attendance. The conversation after the screening introduced us to the joys and burdens of making thought-provoking films.
I was overcome with admiration for Alanis Obomsawin with each new question, film and conversation. She is compassionate, clever and full of spunk. I hope that on the verge of my eightieth year I will have as influential a film repertoire and as much intelligence and class as Alanis Obomsawin.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services.
From Igloos to the Internet: Inuit in the 21st Century
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| Pita Aatami (center), President of the Makivik Corporation, Nunavik, visited the UW in early February. Just before his public lecture, "From Igloos to the Internet," he spent some time with Stephen Hanson, Vice Provost, Global Affairs (left), and Anand Yang, Director, Jackson School of International Studies |
By Jean-François Arteau
Jean-François Arteau is Legal Advisor and Executive Assistant to the President, Makivik Corporation. Arteau is based in Montréal, Québec.
In early February, a delegation from Nunavik, a territory located in the northern part of the Province of Québec, Canada, visited Seattle. It was at the initiative and invitation of the Canadian Studies Center, its Director Daniel Hart and Associate Director Nadine Fabbi, that a program of activities and important meetings had been planned in Seattle for our delegation.
Pita Aatami, President of Makivik Corporation, headed the delegation, a non-for-profit organization that represents 10,000 Inuit living in fourteen coastal communities in Nunavik, whose land mass in 507,000 square kilometers or three times the size of Washington State.
For some years Canadian Studies has developed an interest in matters pertaining to the Arctic and to the Inuit of Canada, including Nunavik. Relationships have been developed with the organizations of Nunavik, namely with Makivik and the Avataq Cultural Institute. Small delegations from Nunavik came to visit the Center and the UW to discuss matters of Inuit governance, culture and language.
What is Makivik? In Inuktituut, the Inuit language, it means “To Rise Up.” It is a fitting name for an organization mandated to protect the rights, interests and financial compensation provided by the 1975 James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement to the Inuit of Nunavik, the first comprehensive Inuit Land Claim in Canada, and the more recent Offshore Nunavik Inuit Land Claim Agreement ratified in 2008.
One goal of the visit of the Nunavik delegation was to discuss economic opportunities in the Nunavik region. Several business meetings were held with approximately fifteen business organizations, organized in close collaboration with the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle. Makivik’s objective for this business development meetings was to inform the business community that the Nunavik Inuit people are committed to the economic development of their region, and have been successful in many sectors of economic activity, either by establishing subsidiaries or Joint Venture Companies. Since Seattle is the gateway to Alaska, we found it natural to seek partnerships with American businesses.
These meetings were also to seek interest on the part of business people in several specific sectors – tourism development; expansion of northern cruises; use of seaweed, shrimp and medicinal plants for the development of natural products and pharmaceuticals; and marketing of the famous Fine Inuit Herbal Teas which have been marketed for several years by the Avataq Cultural Institute. Makivik is also preparing a mining strategy for Nunavik by securing expertise to evaluate the economic feasibility of mining projects in the region with an approach of sustainable development, and by working on the development of an alternative energy strategy.
The lecture delivered by Pita Aatami on February 10 at Kane Hall on the UW campus provided a clear view of the challenges and successes of Nunavik since the signing of the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement. As Mr. Aatami said, “The Inuit of Nunavik are building the political, institutional and economic development structures necessary for us to control our own destiny within our region, Nunavik.”
For the last thirty years, the Inuit of Nunavik have developed their vision – to run their own affairs with an autonomous public government that is adapted to the realities of the Inuit of Nunavik and in line with Canada’s fundamental legal framework. In December 2007, an unprecedented and innovative agreement for the establishment of the Nunavik Regional Government was signed in the Québec National Assembly by Mr. Aatami, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Honourable Chuck Strahl, and the Premier of Québec, Jean Charest.
Working sessions and lunches took place during the visit of the Nunavik delegation, including with Stephen Hanson, UW’s Vice of Provost Global Affairs; Judith Howard, Divisional Dean of Social Sciences; Anand Yang, Director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies; Augustine McCaffery, Academic Programs at the Graduate School; and Daniel Hart and Nadine Fabbi of the Center.
Discussions centered on possible education and research initiatives between the Inuit of Nunavik and the UW, and the development of exchanges in science and research with regard to Arctic issues in Nunavik. Makivik is already a driving force in northern research with its Nunavik Research Centre, which received the Gold Award of the Canadian Environment Awards in 2007. Another area of interest is to increase opportunities for Nunavik Inuit undergraduate and graduate students to be properly equipped to deal with the challenges and opportunities that await them. Attending a university outside Québec or Canada would provide an international experience for these students and open horizons and possibilities. Another possibility is to foster and enhance relationships between the Inuit of Nunavik and those of Alaska in fields of research and education.
For the UW, these initiatives would increase knowledge about Inuit history, values, self-governance models, educational strategies, and leadership in foreign affairs, and on emerging Arctic issues, including impacts of climate change on the environment and traditional life.
In a nutshell, the visit of the Nunavik delegation to Seattle was a tangible and real success for both parties. Further discussions will be taking place very shortly between Makivik and UW in order to determine priority areas for future collaboration.
Job creation, education and training are of the utmost importance and top priorities for the President of Makivik and for the Inuit of Nunavik. The Inuit of Nunavik are actually laying the foundations of a new Inuit society. Today’s Inuit youth will eventually take over the responsibilities of today’s leaders. In order to do so, Inuit youth need a solid education and good living conditions.
Makivik is ready and keen to collaborate and partner with organizations and institutions that can contribute to the well-being, development and future of Nunavik and its people.
(On March 31, 2010, at a ceremony held in Toronto, Pita Aatami was awarded the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame Award, in order to recognize and celebrate Mr. Aatami’s accomplishments as business leader and his contribution to sustainable economic development.)
This visit was supported, in part, by the Makivik Corporation and funding from the Center’s Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Government of Canada and the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services.
Une journée à la québécoise au coeur de Seattle
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| Thierry Giasson, professeur à Université Laval et professeur invité Pacific Northwest-Québec Initiative en 2007, et Karen Boschker, enseignante de français à Issaquah, avec une réplique du Traité de la Grande Paix de Montréal. |
By Karen Boschker
C’était un beau samedi d’automne. Le soleil était au rendez-vous et de nombreux partisans des Huskys convergeaient sur l’Université de Washington. Vêtus de pourpre et d’or, les couleurs de l’équipe de l’université, ils étaient venus assister au match de football. Toutefois, dans un autre coin du campus, des professeurs de français se réunissaient pour participer à une journée francophone à la québécoise: la nouvelle édition de l’Atelier sur le Québec, organisé par le Centre d’études canadiennes de UW. Thierry Giasson, de l’Université Laval, qui était venu leur parler du Québec dans le cadre de cette nouvelle édition de l’atelier, allait également leur servir de guide tout au long de la journée. Il a commencé par raconté l’histoire politique qui a transformé le Québec de province de la France en Amérique en une nation française d’Amérique - un people doté d’une identité unique animée par son attachement à la préservation de la langue française en Amérique. Puis, il a tracé le portrait de la culture populaire québécoise, qui est dynamique et très appréciée des citoyens. Cette séance multimédia présentait les chansons du grand Félix Leclerc et de la chanteuse contemporaine Coeur de Pirate, de même que la poésie de Michèle Lalonde. Les extraits sonores de ces oeuvres sont d’ailleurs disponibles sur Internet. J’ai ensuite partagé les matériaux pédagogiques du stage que j’ai réalisé en 2007 à l’École de français de l’Université de Montréal. Enfin, Louis Léger, enseignant en musique, et son fils Devon, ethnomusicologue, nous ont fait chanter des chansons à répondre qui ont été popularisées dans le Québec francophone. L’atelier s’est conclut par un concert de La Famille Léger, qui se spécialise dans la musique traditionnelle québécoise et acadienne.
This workshop was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services and by the Québec Government Office in Los Angeles.
Homophobic Violence in Canada and the United States
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| Douglas Janoff (left), author of Pink Blood, facilitated a roundtable on homophobic violence in Canada with participation from Roger Leishman (center), attorney on the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, and Terry Price, legislative counsel to the Washington state legislature. |
By Anne Hilton, Outreach Coordinator, Canadian Studies Center
In November the Canadian Studies Center was fortunate to partner with the UW Libraries and the Q Center to offer an academic roundtable entitled “The Impact of Homophobia on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Citizens: A Canada-U.S. Comparative Perspective.” Douglas Janoff, author of Pink Blood: Homophobic Violence in Canada (2005), joined us to provide the history of the LGBT rights movement in Canada.
Janoff has spent years researching homophobic violence around the world. He discussed both the statistics that he’s uncovered regarding homophobic violence in Canada as well as the methodological difficulties involved in measuring crimes that are chronically under-reported or incorrectly defined.
Also joining the roundtable were Roger Leishman, attorney on the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, and Terry Price, legislative counsel to the Washington state legislature. Both Leishman and Price provided insight into the history of LGBT rights legislation in Washington state, and Leishman also discussed Washington state and U.S. litigation history with respect to LGBT rights.
UW Librarians Cass Hartnett, U.S. Documents and LGBT Studies Librarian, and Sion Romaine, Canadian Studies and Serials Acquisitions, aided the Canadian Studies Center in making the roundtable a success by creating an online guide to the reading list suggested by Janoff, available at http://guides.lib.washington.edu/content.php?pid=82333.
This roundtable was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services.
Inuit Land Claims in Canada – Nunavut
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| Terry Fenge is an Ottawa-based consultant. In October 2009 he visited Marine Affairs and Canadian Studies as a guest of the Wilburforce Foundation to speak about climate change and human rights and Inuit land claims in Canada. |
by Terry Fenge
In mid-October Dr. Terry Fenge, an Ottawa-based consultant with extensive experience in Aboriginal and Arctic issues, spoke to students and faculty about modern treaties between Canada and its northern Aboriginal peoples. From 1985 to 1993 Dr. Fenge was the Director of Research for the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut, the Inuit organization that negotiated the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement that required the creation of the new territory of Nunavut. In his presentation, Fenge reviewed Inuit advocacy for Nunavut from the late 1960s, and noted that making treaties with Aboriginal peoples in Canada remains grounded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which many in the United States see as a grievance that contributed to the Declaration of Independence and the American revolution.
Representatives of the Crown made treaties with Aboriginal peoples in the 19th and early years of the 20th centuries in order to “extinguish” Aboriginal title to land. This allowed legal settlement and ownership of land by immigrants who, after the successful defense of Canada in the War of 1812, flooded into what would become Ontario and later the Canadian prairies. These treaties did not, however, cover the North.
In the widely referenced Calder case on land rights of Nisga’a Indians in British Columbia, the Supreme Court of Canada in 1973 affirmed the continuing existence of Aboriginal title. After a 50-year hiatus the Government of Canada was persuaded to negotiate “modern” treaties with Inuit and northern First Nations. In 1983 the Canadian Constitution was amended to protect and guarantee rights defined in modern treaties from legislative or executive action and in 1995 the Government of Canada agreed to negotiate self government for Aboriginal peoples as part of modern treaties.
The place of Aboriginal peoples in Canada has changed immensely, and for the better, in recent decades, in part as a result of modern treaties. Assimilation policies in the 19th and 20th centuries failed almost universally. While many Aboriginal peoples suffer still from serious social and health problems, economic disadvantages, educational deficits and more, Aboriginal peoples and cultures are resurgent in Canada, and
Aboriginal individuals are taking on national roles. For example, Canada’s current Minister of Health, the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, is a young Inuk woman from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut.
The Nunavut story has captured the imagination of commentators worldwide. That Inuit, until the mid-1960s still largely nomadic and with only a handful of formally educated leaders, could persuade the Government of Canada through negotiations to set up a new jurisdiction covering more than 20 percent of the world’s second largest country (and in which they comprised 85 percent of the population) continues to surprise and amaze. Inuit now own more land outright than any other non-governmental interest worldwide!
Many non-North Americans consider Canada and the United States to be so similar as to be indistinguishable. The modern history of the relationship between Canadian Aboriginal peoples and the Government of Canada, exemplified by the Nunavut story, suggests otherwise.
This roundtable was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and by the Wilburforce Foundation, Seattle.
BC Premier Campbell and Washington Governor Gregoire Help Celebrate 10th Annual Canada Gala
SEATTLE (October 30, 2009) – British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire were the honored guests at the 10th Annual The Canada-America Society of Washington Gala held Friday, Oct. 9 at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel.
“The Gala is held each year during the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend to strengthen trade relationships between Canada and America and foster a sense of kinship between the two nations,” noted Michael Herbst, President of the Canada-America Society. Developed to drive cross-border business in the Northwest, the Canada-America Society hosts the Gala as a time of celebration and camaraderie between the two nations. Herbst said that more than 250 guests attended the celebration.
In addition to Governor Gregoire and Premier Campbell, The Honorable Gary Lunn, Canadian Federal Minister of State (Sport) in Premier Stephen Harper’s cabinet and member of Parliament representing Saanich Gulf Islands, BC; Peter Lloyd, consul general of Canada in Seattle; and Roger Simmons, former Canadian consul general in Seattle also attended.
The Canada-America Society of Washington (www.canada-americasociety.org) and the Canada-America Society of Washington Scholarship Fund organized the Canada Gala in cooperation with the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle and the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle.
The Canada-America Society™ is the premier US-Canada business and social networking organization in Washington. Our mission is proudly to encourage business relationships between Canadians and Americans, to promote greater understanding between the peoples of Canada and the United States and to contribute to the goodwill and respective cultures of the two countries.
The Canadian Studies Center is a partner of the Canada Gala. Gala support is provided, in part, by funding from the Center’s Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
Cross-Border Advice Helps Expats Sleep Better at Night
By Shengjun Huang
Shengjun (Ann) Huang, co-leader of the 2010 Canada Study Tour to Vancouver, is a third year evening MBA candidate focusing on International Business and Marketing at the Foster School of Business. She was recently an attendee of the 2009 Canadian Leadership Orientation Program.
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| From left to right: Paul Bains (Pacifica Partners - Vancouver, BC); Gail Kruk (Larson Gross PLLC - Blaine, WA), Charles Rendina (Boughton Law – Vancouver, BC), Ann Huang, Gary Tober (Lane Powell PC – Seattle, WA) |
Are you considering a move from America to Canada? Or perhaps a move from Canada to America? Before you act, take heed of many financial and legal issues that drastically change your situation when you decide to cross the border!
On September 17, a four-person panel of financial and legal professionals from Vancouver, Blaine, and Seattle convened to hold a case-based discussion of the intricacies of cross-border transactions called "Sleep Better at Night." The audience had the opportunity to work through three posed scenarios and ask questions about how to deal with their own situations. From investment questions dealing with Canada’s Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) to the tax status of children attending school in America to cross-border consulting businesses, the panel addressed the differences in US and Canadian tax laws with regards to a variety of potential issues.
With the economic turmoil of the past year, the “Sleep Better at Night” panel made clear that it is well worth the time to investigate how changing residency may affect you financially. Despite the ease of crossing the border, residency can affect everything from the tax on gifts that you give your children to the liabilities associated with starting your own company. The “Sleep Better at Night” discussion was held at the downtown Seattle office of Lane Powell and presented by the Canadian Studies Center, the Canada-America Society of Washington, Lane Powell PC, Boughton Law Corporation, Larson Gross PLLC, and Pacifica Partners Capital Management.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
Ce qu'il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life)
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| Natar Ungalaaq plays Tivi in a retelling of the history of the tuberculosis outbreak in Arctic Canada. Thanks to a long-term relationship between the Center and the Seattle International Film Festival, hundreds of Seattle residents are introduced to vital Canadian histories annually. |
The Center has worked closely with the Seattle International Film Festival for the last decade supporting the Festival’s stellar lineup of Canadian and Québécois films. This year over 300 films and shorts were screened over 25 days at the largest film festival in the US. Over 20 of the films were made in Canada, including The Necessities of Life, sponsored by the Center.
Benoît Pilon, director of Necessities, was runner-up at this year’s Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film. The film tells the story of a critical period in Canadian history – the tuberculosis epidemic in the 1950s and 60s in the Arctic and its impact on the Inuit and their communities. During this time thousands of Canadians were isolated from their families in sanatoriums, sometimes for years. The Inuit suffered additional losses after being taken thousands of miles from their homes and oftentimes not returning. The lead actor is Natar Ungalaaq who is well-known for his role in Atanarquat (The Fast Runner).
The Seattle International Film Festival promotes films that foster cross-cultural communication and international understanding. Certainly, Seattle residents have benefited from hundreds of Canadian films over the years that have highlighted important cultural and historic distinctions.
The Festival was founded in 1976 by Canadian Darryl MacDonald and Dan Ireland. Since that time it has grown into one of the leading independent film institutions in the world. Today, Nancy Kennedy, also a Canadian, serves as the director, which no doubt explains the strong presence of Canadian films and directors at the Festival.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services.
Native Voices Alum Presents at Documentary Film Workshop
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| Rosemary Gibbons, a Mimbres Apache / Chicana, is a co-founder of the Boarding School Healing Project and an active member of Incite Women of Color against Violence. Her film, A Century of Genocide in the Americas, captured the best documentary short award at the 2003 San Francisco American Indian Film Festival. |
The Canadian Studies Center recently partnered with the Native Voices program and the other Jackson School Outreach Centers to bring the first Native Voices alum, Rosemary Gibbons, back to Seattle to discuss her award-winning documentary film, A Century of Genocide in the Americas: The Residential School Experience, at the Ninth Annual Documentary Film Workshop: Coming of Age in a Changing World.
The workshop brought together 45 K-16 educators from throughout the Pacific Northwest to analyze and discuss the uses of international documentary film in K-16 curriculum, and featured the films Persepolis, Young and Restless in China, and A Century of Genocide in the Americas. The keynote speaker of the event, Diana Hess, opened the day by framing documentary film as “perspective-laden narratives." The workshop was facilitated by Daniel Mirsky from the College of Education.
A Century of Genocide in the Americas is a poignant and painful look at the attempts to assimilate First Nations children at the turn of the twentieth century, resulting in families being split up, children losing their language and heritage, and widespread sexual abuse. After discussing this painful past, the film looks forward and focuses on healing practices now being utilized in Canadian communities, ending on a positive note. The film was well-received by the educators and they expressed a keen interest in being able to hear firsthand what Rosemary experienced in creating the film, and in using the film (of which every educator received a copy) in their classroom.
Rosemary Gibbon’s presentation and the Ninth Annual Documentary Film Workshop were made possible, in part, from the Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services and by the Native Voices Program.
Comparative Health Care Systems in Canada and the US
By Janice Laakso
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| Mary Ellen Purkis, University of Victoria (left), provided a lecture on health care in Canada to faculty and students at UW Tacoma. Purkis was invited to present by Janice Laakso, Associate Professor, Social Work program, UW Tacoma. |
Janice Laakso is an Associate Professor in the Social Work program, UW Tacoma, and an affiliated faculty member in Canadian Studies.
UW Tacoma campus was pleased to bring Mary Ellen Purkis, Dean of Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria to our campus on May 11. Dr. Purkis gave a lecture entitled “The Good and Bad of a Universal Health Care System: What America Can Learn from Canada.” This was a very timely topic as the US grapples with ideas on reforming our health care system.
Dr. Purkis described the history of Canada’s health system, the five principles on which it was founded, and both the positive and negative attributes. Those who were present learned that no system is perfect but that some common myths about health care in Canada are untrue. Some of the lessons learned in Canada, according to Dr. Purkis, are that major social change requires leadership with strong vision, major social change can be expected to produce strong resistance from interest groups, and proposed revisions in a health care system must be met with effective responses. All of these lessons are applicable to the current political climate in the US as President Obama and Congress begin to tackle this complicated situation. The rewards of universality and portability of health care, the advantages of a single-payer system, and the lower costs to citizens were likely the most important messages received by the audience.
In addition to lecturing, Dr. Purkis met with members of the nursing and social policy faculties, who forged connections that will continue beyond her one-day visit. These connections illustrate the value of social and academic exchanges.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from the Center’s Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
Foot-Stomping Music, Canadian Style
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| De Temps Antan, made up of Québec’s best musicians, gave a rousing performance at the University of Washington. From left, Éric Beaudry, André Brunet, and Pierre-Luc Dupuis. |
For lovers of Canadian music, the first weekend in March brought two opportunities to celebrate the melodies of neo-traditional and Celtic Canadian music, with a lecture by De Temps Antan member, Éric Beaudry, followed by a performance by De Temps Antan on Friday, March 6, and with a workshop session about Celtic music in Canada by Ethnomusicology graduate student Erin Maloney on Saturday, March 7.
Through a little luck and a lot of hard work and coordination by UW and Canadian Studies Center alumnus Devon Léger, De Temps Antan was able to visit the University of Washington for a few hours as they traveled from Port Townsend, Washinton to Vancouver, British Columbia on Friday. The group founded in 2003, travels internationally to perform traditional tunes from Québec.
Éric Beaudry, who plays the guitar, mandolin, and bouzouki for De Temps Antan, as well as with the esteemed La Bottine Souriante, has conducted extensive research into the musical past of his native region of Lanaudière. He spoke about his research, much of which involves the musical history of his own family, in a lecture, entitled, “Larecherche de la musique traditionelle dans la région de la Lanaudière.” (While Éric had originally planned to present français, he ended up speaking mostly in English for certain members of the audience, like myself, whose French is nonexistent.) Lanaudière is a rural area of Québec and is the heartland of traditional songs and dances. Éric’s research has uncovered many beautiful songs and tunes and has taken him throughout the province of Québec.
Following Éric’s lecture, De Temps Antan members André Brunet and Pierre-Luc Dupuis joined him at the front of the Burke Room in the Burke Museum. They gave, in the words of Devon L´ger, one of their “best performances” ever, and the museum staff outside the room were entreated by visitors and employees alike to throw open the doors so that all could hear.
André Brunet, recently voted the best fiddler in Canada at the Canadian Grandmasters Fiddling Association 2008 Championship and the first Québécois to ever receive this honor, played the fiddle while using a “stomp board,” at times simultaneously playing the fiddle, performing percussion with his feet, and singing. Pierre-Luc Dupuis, who plays the accordion and harmonica for De Temps Antan and who was also a member of La Bottine Souriante until last year, never had time to catch his breath while performing, as he switched between accordion and harmonica frequently during the performance, singing in between.
The trio were encored at the end of their performance, and one woman requested that they play the “Toothfairy Song” for her granddaughter. The tune named as such after André’s son came into a De Temps Antan practice session holding a tooth that had just fallen out, was a sweet melody that was a fitting end to the lively performance that De Temps Antan gave.
The next morning, on March 7, the annual all-day workshop for educators, K-8 Arts Mosaic: Movement and Music Across the Curriculum, was held, introducing methods for bringing music and dance into the classroom. The Canadian session of the workshop, entitled, “Celtic Music in the New World,” and conducted by graduate student Erin Maloney, joined other sessions on such varied topics as Latin Caribbean rhythms and dance, Bosnian fold dance, Japanese Taiko drumming, and Indonesian masks and dance.
During her session, Erin explored the background and evolution of Celtic music as it traveled from Europe to North America, incorporating elements of jazz and traditional Québécois music with French roots. Erin also looked at the phenomenon of Celtic music in the “New Age” genre, with examples such as Irish musician Enya and Canadian musician Loreena McKennitt, which demonstrated how Celtic music has evolved differently on each side of the Atlantic.
Erin further expanded on the progression of Celtic music in North America by demonstrating how Celtic music has developed unique, regional differences in Québec, Prince Edward’s Island, Cape Breton, and Western Canada with sound clips from La Bottine Souriante, Natalie MacMaster, and others. Educators attending Erin’s session requested a copy of her powerpoint presentation, which will be posted on the Canadian Studies Center website in the near future.
These projects were supported, in part, by funding from a Canadian Studies Center Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and by the Canadian Studies Center Title VI Grant, International Education Programs Service, Us Department of Education
Arctic Sovereignty Lecture Series
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| Mikhail Alexseev, Political Science, San Diego State University, points out that within the next few years the Northern Sea Route that follows the Russian coastline (see background map), could be open for shipping. This would significantly reduce transportation costs and is one reason for the enhanced interest in the Arctic. |
This Winter Quarter several programs teamed up to offer a lecture series that addressed Arctic sovereignty from the perspective of science, politics, history and international foreign policy serving approximately 250 faculty, staff and community members. Greg Shelton, Global Trade, Transportation and Logistics Studies, wrote the project grant for the series.
The Arctic Sovereignty lecture series provided new thinking on the circumpolar region from the perspective of science, politics, history and international foreign policy. It brought together a wide-range of audience interests and spurred much thinking on this fast emerging global issue.
The University’s own Christine Ingebritsen of Scandinavian Studies kicked off the series with her presentation entitled, “Arctic Sovereignty and Climate Change: A Nordic Perspective” that provided a special focus on Greenland and the November 2008 referendum on independence.
The following week, Barry Zellen, author, researcher, and lecturer from the Center for Contemporary Conflict, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, discussed the issues, challenges and opportunities associated with the modernizing Arctic. Zellen’s lecture entitled, “Toward a Post-Arctic World,” looked at the evolution of Inuit self-governance across Alaska, Canada and Greenland and the increased mobilization of indigenous peoples.
In late February, UW alumnus Mikhail Alexseev, Political Science, San Diego State University presented, “Russia’s Northward Perspective: The Arctic Promise vs. the Siberian Curse” that provided an innovative perspective on Russia’s long-standing interests in the Arctic. There was much discussion of the 2007 planting of the Russian flag at the sea bottom of the North Pole and how this was perceived internationally.
The final lecture, “Globalization and Climate Change: Challenges in the New Maritime Arctic,” by Lawson Brigham, US Arctic Research Commission, Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment dealt with the need for international collaboration on the “race” for Arctic resources.
The interdisciplinary nature of this series was noteworthy. Global Trade, Transportation and Logistics Studies and the Canadian Studies Center hope to foster such collaborative relationships in the future as we continue to recognize and celebrate the interconnectedness of a variety of academic areas. We were particularly pleased to broaden our network by working for the first time with the Polar Science Center and the Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean.
The series was sponsored by the Canadian Studies Center (with support funding from a Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, Program Enhancement Grant), Center for West European Studies, Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, Global Studies Center in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies; Global Trade, Transportation and Logistics Studies; Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory; and the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean.
A Spectrum of Disputes: Framing Autism Activism in Canada and the US - Winter 2009
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| Michael Orsini is the Center’s 2008-09 Canada-US Fulbright Visiting Chair from the School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa. His research on autism activism in Canada and the US was the focus of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies annual lecture series, Hot Spots in Our World held at the UW on 4 March 2009. The following is a summary of Michael’s current research and lecture. |
Using the case study of autism activism in Canada and the US, Michael Orsini’s presentation
at Kane Hall sketched the contours of the contested terrain of autism/autistic activism, asking questions about how to conceptualize autism activism in the field of “health social movements” more generally, and about whether these forms of activism represent a form of continuity or rupture with other social movements organized around combating injustice.
In particular, he examined three branches of the autism/autistic movement. The first is parent-led advocacy efforts centered primarily on “curing” or “treating” autistic people, mainly but not exclusively focused on children. Many of these organizations cling to the notion of an “autism epidemic.” A second branch is often associated with the notion of neurodiversity, and advances a disability rights-based model of autistic self-advocacy and opposes those who want to “cure” autistic people or locate genetic explanations for autism. A third branch, while only loosely associated with autism, is interested in getting the word out about the harm associated with vaccines. Groups such as Generation Rescue and Moms Against Mercury have been influential in the US, where there has been a wave of litigation related to the harms associated with vaccines. Hollywood celebrities such as Jenny McCarthy, the author of best-selling books Mother Warriors and Louder than Words, are in the forefront of attempts to “green” vaccines. McCarthy has also claimed she was able to ‘heal” her son, Evan, by introducing restricted diets.
While activists and advocates are clearly divided on a number of issues, Michael concluded that there might be some common ground worth exploring. One area concerns the interest expressed by many parents in providing care for their children as they transition into adulthood. Indeed, advocates worry that there has been little interest in and support and services for autistic adults. Since autistic children often grow into autistic adults, it is important to imagine and advocate for care and support across the life span. A model focused on the child can obscure the importance of seeing the larger picture.
This lecture was supported, in part, by the Canadian Studies Center Title VI Grant, International Education Programs Service, US Department of Education.
Crossing Haro Strait: Scientific Collaboration in the Gulf and San Juan Islands - Fall 2008
by Russel Barsh
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| Russel Barsh, the founding director of Kwiáht and an independent researcher at UW’s Friday Harbor Laboratories, taught at the UW (1974-1984) and University of Lethbridge (1993-1999), and worked with the United Nations and three Canadian Royal Commissions on indigenous peoples and the environment before returning to the Salish Sea in 2002 to pursue research on changing cultures and their impacts on San Juan-Gulf Islands ecosystems. |
A small nucleus of scientists and land managers working in the Gulf and San Juan Islands met for the first time this past September at rustic Camp Moran, Washington (an environmental learning center) to begin building collaborative bridges in the study of biodiversity, island biogeography, and human impacts on the archipelago that crosses the US-Canada border at Haro Strait. The initiative for the gathering came from Kwiáht, a Lopez Island-based nonprofit conservation biology laboratory that I head.
Participants included representatives of Kwiáht, the San Juan Nature Institute, the US Bureau of Land Management, and Washington State Parks. The participants heard presentations by a number of local scientists. I provided background on recent efforts to inventory the terrestrial animal and plant diversity of the archipelago and to explain differences in individual island’s ecosystems. Trevor Jones, Geography, University of British Columbia, also presented on innovative uses of remote sensing by Gulf Islands National Park to inventory plant communities and monitor tree canopy species at multiple scales using Light Detection and Ranging (a remote sensing instrument that can be flown at a relatively low altitude to scan the surface of the earth and prepare precise topographic maps) and hyperspectral imaging data.
A discussion followed, focusing on possible ways of gleaning additional insights from hyperspectral data, and expanding the Gulf Islands study to include the San Juan Islands. Nick Teague, the San Juan Islands land steward for Bureau of Land Management, pledged to work with Jones on this initiative. There was also an extended discussion of the role of outdoor science education as a means of developing a shared trans-boundary stewardship ethic and sense of the unique ecological significance of the boundary region, both marine and terrestrial.
Following these discussions, Kwiáht botanist Madrona Murphy took participants to a sundew bog and a manzanita grove on Mount Constitution, two of the extraordinarily rare habitats found in the islands.
Kwiáht and the Canadian Studies Center plan to make Crossing Haro Strait an annual event in the San Juan and Gulf islands.
Doing Business in Canada - Fall 2008
By Myles Brenner
Myles Brenner is a senior majoring in Political Science (Political Economy) and International Studies (Europe). Following his undergraduate degree, Myles plans to attend law school. In coordination with the Canadian Studies Center, Myles served as an intern at the Consulate General of Canada Seattle in the fall of 2007. Myles was a Center Representative for the Doing Business in Canada Seminar.
In early October, an all-day seminar was held at the Westin Hotel in Seattle, entitled, “Doing Business in Canada.” The event brought together approximately thirty business owners and leaders from the Northwest who have begun or are considering doing business in Canada. The objective was to discuss the complex relationship between US businesses and Canadian customers. The presentations outlined the obstacles and opportunities often experienced in conducting business at an international level.
Five speakers took the podium and discussed a range of issues. These included business practice in Canada; how to file Canadian taxes, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Provincial Sales Tax (PST); how to determine if a company is subject to Canadian taxation; customs, collections, and credit insurance; and the Personal Property and Security Act. Attendees received personal attention and had the ability to ask questions regarding their individual business issues.
The speakers included certified general accountant Gail Kruk, Larson Gross, PLLC, with the Canada-America Society Seattle, and Canadian Consulate General Seattle Senior Trade Commissioner Robert Fosco. Fosco joined the Consulate this fall and has been working closely with the Canada-America Society and the Center to promote an enhanced understanding of the Canada-US business relationship.
Charles Rendina with Boughton Law Corporation in British Columbia spoke about the cross-border practice he leads and how it can assist Washington State businesses. He also offered attendees a solid overview of Canada-US border security issues that was of great interest to the many participants from North American Credit Managers. Rendina was joined by Richard Weiland with Clark Wilson LLP, a British Columbia’s business law firm.
Canada and the US share a unique economic partnership – they enjoy the world’s largest trading relationship that supports millions of jobs in both countries. The seminar promoted the continuation of a healthy relationship between Canadian consumers and American businesses. The event was sponsored by the Canada-America Society in conjunction with a number of local organizations.
| Canadian Studies Center | |
| University of Washington | |
| Box 353650 | |
| Thomson Hall, Room 503 | |
| Seattle, WA 98195-3650 | |
| T (206) 221-6374 | |
| F (206) 685-0668 | |
| ► | canada@uw.edu |