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What is known about homelessness in Canada? In this article, we present the results of a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed research produced on homelessness in Canada, in English and French, since 2000. We seek to map this literature in an effort at understanding how homelessness has been studied by researchers and to identify potential gaps in this impressive body of literature. The literature review included a two-stage process. First, we analyzed almost 1000 articles specifically regarding homelessness according to title, journal, and case. Then, we conducted a qualitative abstract analysis of 251 papers written by the ten most prolific scholars of homelessness research, analyzing the research question, methods, and recommendations. We find that the majority of research on homelessness in Canada has been in large cities (Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal). Research is often conducted in comparative perspective, though there have been fewer international comparisons, and often from a public health or medical science perspective. We argue that social scientists have a lot to contribute to this field of study by analyzing the structural and political causes of homelessness, and that researchers should study small, mid-sized, northern, and rural communities in their studies as well as big cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pierre Trudeau's vision of Canada's cultural policy was situated within a bilingual framework. Canada, so conceived, has "no official culture" and two official languages. Nearly 50 years later, debates regarding the effects and broader significance of this policy combination persist as illustrated by the recent debate about Supreme Court judges. Yet, Canadians' attitudes about bilingualism have received relatively little scholarly attention. This paper probes the structure and recent evolution of public attitudes toward the general idea of official bilingualism using the Survey on Official Languages (2003) and the Canadian Election Studies (1997-2011). It goes on to investigate regional differences in public support for bilingual Supreme Court judges using a large-scale survey conducted by Vox Pop Labs in 2015 (n = 291, 577). The combination of these data sources offers new insights into the contextual and individual-level determinants of regional differences in public attitudes toward bilingualism policy in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a review of historical and social science literature on the subject of homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth. I ultimately seek to situate my future doctoral work, an oral history of queer youth homelessness in Ontario, within the scholarship surveyed here. Stories help us to understand what statistics look and feel like. This analysis takes a thematic and interdisciplinary approach that does not follow a linear, temporal understanding of events or accounts. The approach of this paper is meant to reflect the nonlinear and thematic modes of remembering that many experience when recounting their times on the street. The stories of queer youth on the street are complex and their ways of remembering these moments in time are ever-more so. But, as Sassafras Lowrey so accurately put it, "sometimes it is in the complexity that the truth is most evident". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the irregular migration flow from the United States to Canada from 2017 to 2020. This irregular migration, defined as unauthorized border crossings, challenges a central tenet of the perceived exceptionalism of Canadian immigration policy by illustrating that while legal migration remains publicly popular and receives political support, the public rejects unwanted, irregular, or illegal migration, demanding strong response from the Canadian government. The 2017–2020 irregular migration of refugee claimants from the United States generated discord in a number of public and political settings. Debates existed over the terminology for unauthorized border crossings, public opinion was divided, and prior to the 2019 Canadian federal election, political parties developed different and opposing positions. Disagreement over costs and funding for the settlement of irregular migrants emerged at city, provincial, and federal levels. The federal government subsequently amended immigration legislation and increased budgets for border control activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is common in discourse surrounding Québécois and Puerto Rican nationalism to discuss both regions in terms of their linguistic marginality to Anglo-majorities found in Canada and the USA, respectively. As two areas faced with the common American task of inventing a national identity in displaced settings in the New World, English becomes an easy "other" against which the French Quebecker and Spanish Puerto Rican may define themselves. However, language becomes a problematic means of definition when considered in relation to its intrinsically Old World origins. This paper reexamines Quebec and Puerto Rican nationalism from a larger New World perspective that focuses on the role of American landscapes and settings in conjunction with the traditional linguistic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages selected moments in Austin Clarke's literary journey to argue that in spite of his involvement in the development of Canadian literature (CanLit) during the 1960s and 1970s, the Canadian literary establishment continues to pay little critical attention to his contributions. This lack of recognition is specifically evident in recent writings about Canadian literature and the literary figures who spearheaded its development after Canada's Multiculturalism policy of 1971. Canada's becoming officially multicultural required a new narrative of Canada and new literary depictions of Canadians in their national literature, as ethnically diversified but of a single citizenship. I argue that Clarke's legacy as a Black writer should be given more prominence in Canadian institutions because today this legacy is under threat of erasure as the number of Canadian Black voices telling mainstream stories about Black people's experiences is evidently in decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Canadian political science portrays Atlantic Canada, along with some of the consequences of persistent misrepresentations. I first explore traditional portrayals of Atlantic Canada as well as arguments challenging those conceptions, demonstrating that it is no longer appropriate to treat Atlantic Canada as primarily defined by either economic processes or common political culture. I then survey the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Canadian Public Administration and Canadian Public Policy to determine the extent to which discussions of Atlantic Canada still, (a) emphasize economic phenomena, and (b) assume a common Atlantic political culture. I find that, while political scientists are now less likely to study the region in terms of economic phenomena, they still perpetuate outdated depictions of Atlantic political culture. This tendency results in a certain degree of methodological imprecision and reinforces problematic assumptions about Atlantic political life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than 50 years, the Inuit of Nunavik have been subjected to development plans devised in the south by the Government of Canada and Quebec that has a profound impact on Inuit people and their culture. The latest plan, known as Plan Nord, proposes sustainable development for the North based on the protection of 50 percent of the territory. However, the Inuit of Nunavik face many social challenges and this is reflected in the socioeconomic indicators of the region. In order to alleviate these social circumstances, numerous regional and local initiatives are attempting to establish programs better suited to the culture and needs of Nunavimmiut. Examples at the regional level include childcare and midwifery services supported by Quebec. At the local level, initiatives such as the Unaaq Men’s Association and the Innavik Project are making an effort to address local needs. In this paper, following a presentation of the Nunavik governance architecture, we will analyze how local (Unaaq, Innavik) and regional initiatives (Midwifery Program, Childcare, Preparation for Post-Secondary Education, Nunavik Parks) contribute to the sustainable development of Nunavik. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Considering that the United States and Canada are neighboring North American countries with fairly similar liberal democratic political cultures, their immigration policies are noticeably different. While US policies prioritize family reunification, Canadian policies favor labor demands and employability. This difference reflects the varying degrees to which the public influences their respective immigration policies. Examining contemporary immigration policies of the United States and Canada, this paper compares the role of public opinion in each, and argues that public opinion plays a more prominent role in immigration policies in the United States than it does in Canada. This observation is due in part to the partisan nature of the US political structure and to the cohesiveness among immigrants, particularly Latinos. Canada, in contrast, favors a policy of multiculturalism that empowers immigrant groups and limits individual groups' capacity and inclination to dominate policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many Japanese people, the 49th parallel was only a line on a map, yet there were differences for the Japanese residents in the United States and Canada. The two nations had different concepts of citizenship and constitutions but, in what has been called “hemispheric orientalism,” prejudice knew no border. Both countries severely restricted immigration from Japan. In the United States, immigrants, the Issei, were aliens ineligible for citizenship. Thus, states could deny their access to commercial fishing and the right to own or lease land. Because the American constitution bestows full citizenship on the native-born, their American-born children, the Nisei, could vote and acquire land, but experienced discrimination especially in employment. On paper, the Canadian Issei had more civil rights since they could become naturalized but this provided few advantages apart from the rights to own land and to fish commercially. The Canadian Nisei had no more rights than their parents. In British Columbia, where 95 percent of the Japanese lived, they could not vote and provincial laws and customs denied their access to many occupations. During the Second World War, both nations required all the Nikkei to leave the Pacific Coast, incarcerated some, severely restricted the mobility of others, and proposed to “repatriate” many of them to Japan. Drawing mainly on the previous scholarship which has examined specific themes, time periods, or comparisons, this article offers an overview of how between the 1890s and the 1940s the effects of prejudice varied more in detail and timing than in principle even though formal consultation between the two nations was sporadic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

British August First celebrations were an important day of the year for Blacks in North America. Elite and aspiring organizers attempted to use the holiday as a sight of excellence. Partakers understood they were watched closely during commemorations and that their slightest imperfections could be magnified to unreasonable proportions. Thereby, Blacks felt it was essential to present themselves in near “perfection” to prove that they could be “upstanding citizens.” This article asserts that the standard of outright excellence Blacks attempted to execute on August First was neither achievable nor performed by Whites at celebrations like July Fourth. While Whites could be the notorious offenders of uncivilized and imperfect behavior, First celebrations were to be as theLiberatorproclaimed an “array of virtue, loveliness, moral heroism, and true piety.” In all, when Blacks utilized the power to assemble, it was viewed more as a potential site of lawlessness and subversion, despite their efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Indigenous-settler reconciliation seems to enjoy widespread support, yet progress has stalled. At the same time, multiculturalism, a concept that celebrates diversity and equality, is a point of pride for many Canadians. Should reconciliation not be included in Canada's imagining of multiculturalism? This study aimed to analyze the possible relationship between symbols of Canadian multiculturalism and support for further reconciliation using responses to a representative survey of non-Indigenous Canadian adults (n = 5,203). Political affiliation, knowledge of residential schools, and demographic variables were also analyzed. Only one multicultural variable was a predictor of support for further reconciliation efforts, along with measures of political ideology, home language, and views on individual responsibility for reconciliation were meaningful. Components of individual identity are more influential in reconciliation support than the collective (multicultural) identity. This contrasts many claims by citizens and the federal government alike, that multiculturalism is an important part of Canadian identity. The study revealed that while multiculturalism is a touchstone of Canadian identity and pride, it may have a minimal role in reconciliation, positive or negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to popular perception, local residents in the western frontiers of Canada and the United States in the late 19th century frequently possessed a large degree of agency and leverage vis-à-vis their respective national cores. Far from being the obedient periphery, frontier communities and their political leaders were able to use their profession of loyalty to the national identity to win concessions and secure autonomy from national governments and, when needed, beneficial intervention from them to support the interests of local residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Underground Railroad remains a popular feature in Canadian narratives. However, public discourse on the subject does not often reach much further than presenting a story of weary enslaved persons finding their way to freedom and happiness in Canada. The communities that they built and who these enslaved persons were outside of their enslaved status is rarely discussed. This uncomplicated telling of history allows Canadians to hold their country up as a historical champion of human rights and use Underground Railroad communities to prove a track record of equality in Canada that misrepresents the historical record. This article discusses the nature of Canadians' fixation on the Underground Railroad narrative and Canada's historical uses for this romanticized mythology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on several years of experience in teaching human rights history to undergraduate students in Canada, this article reflects on the challenges involved in imparting knowledge on this subject in a settler colonial context. It builds on examples gleaned from working with undergraduate students, from scholarship on the history of settler colonialism, as well as from Indigenous worldviews and epistemologies, to consider the ways in which the teaching of human rights history needs to evolve alongside and in dialogue with contemporary discussions about rights and justice. The article contends that given contemporary discussions around rights, which reveal the fragility of the liberal human rights framework, this is urgent and necessary work. It concludes by offerings ways of approaching student experiences, insider/outsider dynamics, and contemporary debates when teaching human rights history. The overall purpose of the article is to resituate the teaching of human rights history in a critical, self-reflective manner. In this way, the damaging implications of certain progress-oriented historical narratives centering on the idea and evolution of human rights can also be considered in pedagogical practices on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to untangle the knot of treaty-making, industrialization, and hydroelectric development in the Lake Abitibi region in northeastern Ontario by examining the extent to which industrialist discourses on waterways influenced changes to the physical and political landscape. An analysis of events leading up to the signing of Treaty No. 9 in 1906, and then the Abitibi River hydroelectric dams and concomitant flooding of Lake Abitibi in 1914–15 made possible by the treaty, is provided. Changes to Lake Abitibi during this period are evidence of a process of hydraulic imperialism whereby the Canadian state used waterways to exercise control of the James Bay watershed and encourage industrial and agricultural development in northeastern Ontario in the early twentieth century. This process not only contextualized the state’s understanding of Treaty No. 9 but is further evidence of inherent ambiguities concerning First Nations reserves around Lake Abitibi created by the treaty. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While the benefits of having Inuit teachers in classrooms across Inuit Nunangat are many, the current models of teacher education in the four main Inuit areas in Canada cannot supply the needed number. Few Inuit travel south to attend teacher education programs, which, in any case, are culturally inappropriate. This situation leaves schooling for Inuit in Inuit Nunangat a mostly colonizing experience. To increase the number of Inuit teachers, educational policymakers need to pay attention to what has historically worked well and what is currently working well in Inuit teacher education in Inuit Nunangat. The former can be reintroduced and the latter continued—with resources sharply increased to allow for rapid expansion. The educational system also needs to break away from Eurocentric ideas of what teacher education should be, considering a guided apprenticeship model that leads Inuit into teaching careers in ways that honor cultural ways of learning and rapidly replaces southern teachers with Inuit teachers across Inuit Nunangat. [Inuktitut: South Baffin Dialect] ᓈᒻᒪᒋᓐᖏᔾᔪᑎᒋᔭᒃᑲ ᐱᑕᖃᓐᖏᓐᓂᖏᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔩᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂ ᐊᒥᓲᒻᒪᑕ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᒫᓐᓇᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨᔅᓴᐅᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᑎᓴᒪᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖏᓐᓂ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓈᒻᒪᖏᑦᑎᐊᕐᖓᑕ ᐱᑕᖃᕆᐊᓕᓐᓂᒃ. ᐊᒥᓲᓗᐊᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᓄᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕆᐊᖅᐸᒻᒪᑕ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨᔅᓴᐅᓂᕐᒧᑦ, ᑕᐃᒪᐃᓐᓂᖓᓐᓄᑦ, ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖏᓐᓂ ᒪᓕᓐᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ (ᑖᒃᑯᐊᓕ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᓐᖏᑕᖏᑦ ᓂᐅᓴᓐ-ᐹᐳ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑖᓪ 1998). ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕕᓐᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐊᐅᓚᑕᐅᓗᐊᓪᓚᕆᑦᑐᓂ ᐊᑐᕐᖓᑦ. ᐊᒥᓱᕈᖅᑎᑲᓐᓂᕋᓱᐊᕐᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔩᑦ, ᑕᑯᓐᓇᓂᖅᓴᐅᖁᔨᕗᖓ ᐅᐊᑦᑎᐊᕈ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᕙᔪᔪᓂᒃ ᑲᔪᓯᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᐊᓘᕙᔪᒻᒪᑕᓕ ᒫᓐᓇᐅᔪᕐᓗ ᐊᑐᖅᑎᐊᖅᑐᐊᓗᐃᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨᔅᓴᐅᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑏᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂ. ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᔪᔪᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓕᖅᑭᓪᓗᑎᑦ ᑲᔪᓯᑦᑎᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᓕᕐᓗᑎᑦ − ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᕈᑏᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᕈᒃᑲᓂᕐᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᖏᓪᓕᕙᓪᓕᐊᒍᓐᓇᓪᓚᕆᒻᒪᑦ ᓱᒃᑲᓕᔪᒥᑦ. ᐊᑐᓐᖏᖔᖁᔨᕗᖓ ᑕᕆᐅᑉ ᐊᑭᐊᓃᖔᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓱᒪᖃᕐᓂᐅᔪᒥᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒨᖓᔪᓂᒃ, ᐊᑐᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑐᐊᖅᓯᓗᑎᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖃᕈᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᑎᑦᑎᓯᓐᓈᕐᓗᑎᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᐅᒐᔭᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑕᐃᒫᒃ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᑦ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨᑦᑕᖃᕐᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᕐᓗᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᕇᓐᓇᕐᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᖅᑯᓯᖏᓐᓂ ᐊᑐᕐᓗᑎᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᑎᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᕐᓗᑎᓪᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᓃᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓇᖐᖔᕐᓗᑎᑦ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨᐅᖔᓕᕐᓗᑎᑦ ᓇᒥᓕᒫᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖏᓐᓂ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented to the issue of the journal that discusses topics such as the environmental history of Canada, images of the polar bear in mass media, and environmental governance on the Canada-U.S. border.

This article highlights the significance of the crime genre to the resurgence of the made-for-TV-movie, especially the Hallmark Channel's romance movies. Typical assessments of Hallmark movies as brimming with positive affect encourage us to take a closer look at the representational strategies that make such happiness possible in stories otherwise concerned with violence and death. I draw upon theories of melodrama and film to identify which experiences are considered common or shared in these predominantly white, upper-class worlds, and how they create an orientation against which guilt and justice are determined. I also situate these made-for-TV-movies in relation to discussions about the status of filmmaking in Canada, as examples of the distinct shift in emphasis in Canadian cultural policy that now sees cultural texts as products and prioritizes commercially viable—and internationally desirable—media (as distinct from "national cinema"). I combine these critical perspectives to track the ways in which Hallmark combines high body counts, low violence, and often White homogeneity into happy crime films—and what the mass production of them tells us about the present and future of filmmaking in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the production and reproduction of the same arguments made by the Crown in consultations with Indigenous peoples over a controversial resource development project in Canada. To explain the stability of the Crown's reasoning in consultations with Indigenous communities on Trans-Mountain Pipeline Expansion project (TM), I integrate the path dependence concept with the theory of motivated reasoning while keeping the analytical perspective of historical institutionalism. The context of TM consultations is instrumental in explaining argumentative stability: it demonstrates how the interplay of the dominance of the Crown and its reliance on formal authority rules and government findings produce increasing returns turning reasoning for TM into a self-reinforcing and path-dependent sequence of behavioral steps (biased argument production for TM and biased evaluation of arguments against TM). This sequence undermines the ability of the Crown to value arguments against TM equally with arguments for TM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Election candidates resigning when confronted by moral outrage over their indiscretions is now a routine aspect of Canadian elections. Often controversy is generated by opponents who conduct American-style opposition research and provide findings to the media. As a preventative measure, central party agents now subject their aspiring candidates to background scrutiny and reject applicants deemed likely to spark negative publicity. This article traces the recent evolution of candidate vetting in Canada, and sheds light on political parties examining candidates' backgrounds. It suggests that a wave of vetting arose in the late 1980s and early 1990s in response to concern about political ethics, and again around 2008 with the growth in the influences of social media. Central party officers encroach on the role of local party members in the candidate selection process to protect the party's brand and its election prospects. Implications of screening candidates range from rooting out political extremists to fortifying the leader's authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy and environmental diplomacy factors were a major, though often unrecognized, part of Canada-United States relations prior to the Cold War. Hydroelectricity was the most important of these factors, particularly power exported from the Canadian side of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin. The history of Canada-U.S. hydroelectricity relations, exports, and regulations offered here covers the key steps, institutions, and actors in the evolution of hydroelectricity geopolitics and governance regimes during the first two-thirds of the twentieth century. Most of the earliest large Canadian hydropower projects were built on or planned for border waters, which, after the creation of the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty, required formal coordination with the United States. Over the following half-century, prospective power projects on border waters continued to dominate the diplomatic dialogue. Federal governments or agencies established broad export restrictions, altering them occasionally, but often subnational governments, special interests, and specific power projects played as large a role in shaping the power trade. The result was a constantly shifting political and regulatory context, albeit one that generally trended toward cooperation and reduced barriers to electricity integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canadian philosophy has an intellectual history that highlights the importance of lived experience, reciprocity, and community. It fosters reflection on what it means to be human and what it means to be Canadian. The diversity of Canada moves one to engage in a dialectical process that is reflective and dynamic. It demands reconsideration of the views of traditional philosophies that are grounded in the objectivist, European tradition. Views are dynamic not only in relation to each other, but also in terms of their own development via the process of the dialectic. This article explores three examples of this. These include the philosophies of John Clark Murray, whose idealism and lived experience led to advocacy for the rights of workers and women, Chike Jeffers, whose work as an African Canadian philosopher led to an exploration of the role of African Canadian philosophers in the "academy," and D'Arcy Rheault, who discusses his awakening to his Aboriginal identity and the significance of Anishinaabe philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I explain and defend the concept of multicultural nationhood. Multicultural nationhood accounts for how a nation can have a cohesive identity despite being internally diverse. In Canada, the challenge of nation-building despite the country's diversity has prompted reflection on how to conceive of the national identity. The two most influential theories of multiculturalism to come from Canada, those of Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka, emerged through consideration of Canada's diversity, particularly the place of Québécois, Indigenous peoples, and immigrants in society. I begin by synthesizing Taylor's and Kymlicka's theories. I then propose a new subjective definition of nation, wherein the character of a nation is determined by how its members conceive of themselves. Once these concepts are explained, they are combined in an account of multicultural nationhood. Multicultural nationhood involves the cultivation of a national identity wherein various cultural groups are recognized as constitutive of the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations adopted an "equal pay for work of equal value" convention in 1951, well over 25 years prior to such a provision being legislated in Canada. Legal action in Ontario and Quebec especially led to significant change. In this article we trace the largely unrecognized role that the judicial system played in Canada's move away from "equal pay for equal work" to the UN standard of "equal pay for work of equal value." We then explore how the social organization of public opinion has aligned with these changes, as Canada now swings away from the UN focus on "work of equal value" to a new wave of pay equity laws favoring proactive pay transparency. Using public opinion data, we pay particular attention to the factional polarization of the policy process that may, we speculate, be a growing impediment to legislative reforms, and not just pay equity reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competitiveness of party politics is often viewed as a barometer of the health of modern democracies. Using the Canadian federation as a laboratory, this article advances a new framework for comparing party systems across space and time. The model incorporates two core dimensions of political party systems: conflict intensity and competitiveness. Conflict intensity—or the degree of adversarialism in the system—encompasses the extent to which parties engage in centripetal or centrifugal modes of competition. Competitiveness measures the uncertainty of typical elections in the system, including the overall balance of popular support among parties and the vulnerability of governments. A concluding discussion establishes the value of this exercise, and suggests ways in which elements of this framework may be used as independent and dependent variables in future inquiries about Canadian provincial politics and other party systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada has sought to ground its international legal sovereignty of the Northwest Passage by reference to Inuit "long usage." This article argues that such a successful claim would win for Canada not a Westphalian status of sovereign control but an Indigenous concept of sovereign responsibility. Such Indigenous sovereignty is not only "formal," requiring inclusion of Inuit in the form of government, but also "substantive," committing Canada to protection of the physical and cultural environment. This concept of domestic sovereignty as responsibility might also build on the emerging international norm of "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) by extending its realm of protection as a condition of sovereignty. This concept of sovereignty as stewardship rather than control might help to head off a colonial scramble for territory in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canadian immigration politics and policymaking are striking. Canadian admission targets have steadily increased since the global economic crisis of 2008-2009, regardless of the party in power and despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast to the less welcoming attitudes of publics in other industrialized democracies, Canadians have enthusiastically supported expansive immigration policies. Elite and popular support for Canada's official multiculturalism policy also runs counter to trends in other states. The articles in this special issue of the American Review of Canadian Studies explore the factors underlying Canada's distinctive approach to immigration, pointing out some important limits and attendant tensions in the 'Canadian model.' Canadians' embrace of immigration and multiculturalism is based on important qualifications. Taken together, these qualifications raise questions about the scope and extent of Canadian exceptionalism. They also help us understand what, if anything, other countries can borrow from Canada and the likely trajectory of Canadian immigration policy moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canadians hold favorable views about immigration, at least compared to many countries. Was it always so? Two survey series, using Environics and Gallup/Canadian Election Studies (CES) data, respectively, show that opinion on immigration was historically rather negative, became more positive from 1995 to 2005, and then stabilized. Native-born Canadians are now almost as positive toward immigration as immigrants themselves. However, recent aggregate stability masks a sharp polarization post-2005. Panel data from 2004 to 2011 shows that respondents who want less immigration are more likely to shift their partisanship to the right. Conversely, there is no evidence that immigration opinion systematically changed to match partisanship. This suggests that the predominant mechanism is sorting, rather than opinion change, at least in the period examined. Finally, is immigration likely to become an increasing source of political conflict in Canada? It depends on how competition at both ends of the political spectrum structures the interests of the major parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I argue that satisfaction with multiculturalism and support for discrimination in the immigration system are conceptually linked but distinct in the Canadian public's mind. Following a large literature, I make the case that despite a normative assumption of nondiscrimination in the intellectual framework and policy rhetoric of multiculturalism, the public can support discrimination while also supporting multiculturalism. To support this, I present the results of a 2017 survey of Canadians. I show that slightly less than half of respondents are willing to explicitly support discrimination. Next, I show that, when faced with a more complex decision that offers the chance to discriminate, many do so. Finally, I compare experimental results to a nearly identical experiment in the United States, which reveals that Canadian and American respondents discriminate at similar rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to other Western democracies, there has been relatively stable support for multiculturalism in Canada since its adoption in 1971, both amongst the general public and amongst the three main political parties. Conservative opposition to multiculturalism has, therefore, typically taken the form of "stealth" reforms to undercut its progressive potential, not direct frontal attacks. During the 2015 election, however, the Conservative Party campaigned on an explicitly anti-multiculturalist platform. This provided a clear opportunity to test "Canadian exceptionalism" in relation to public support for multiculturalism. In this article, I explore the Conservatives' strategy, and its impact on the election. The evidence suggests that a significant part of the Canadian electorate was responsive to an anti-multicultural—and more specifically anti-Muslim—discourse. However, when this discourse was pushed too far, voters recoiled from what was perceived as an excessive, and indeed "unCanadian," politics of distrust and division. The article explores different ways of understanding this tipping point, and what it tells us about the precarious resilience of multiculturalism in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many scholars who worry about the future of liberal democracy, a central challenge has been to conceive civic and national identities that are robust enough to sustain collective action without defining the criteria of shared membership in ways that are too narrow, exclusive, or inaccessible. This essay addresses the familiar questions that lie at the heart of this challenge – who belongs? and on what terms? - but with a double twist: First, I reflect on the normative questions posed by political theorists about "belonging," but do so in dialogue with the empirical evidence generated by a cross-national opinion survey on national identity undertaken by the Pew Research Center. Second, I explore the Canadian case in greater detail, suggesting that sharing customs and traditions, anchored to and validated by the Charter of Rights, may be a surprising and under-utilized resource in establishing a more flexible account of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the global attempt to respond to the exodus of Syrians into neighboring countries and beyond, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) praised Canada for its intention to resettle 25,000 refugees. Even as many Canadians—and their government—were feeling proud of themselves, others responded with discomfort at the accolades being heaped upon Canada, worrying that they were undeserved. This article is an attempt to assess whether Canada's contribution to global refugee justice deserves accolades or criticism. Canada's central contribution to global refugee justice has been to resettle refugees; I argue that, compared to other resettling states, Canada does well with respect to admitting refugees for resettlement and with respect to the quality of its resettlement. This contribution is small, however, compared to the overwhelming need, not only for resettlement, but also for additional support for refugees throughout their entire journey. Canada's overall contribution to global refugee justice, then, is not exceptional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1930s, a legal dispute upset Toronto's kosher-slaughter and kosher-retail industry. The Kehilla, the governing body responsible for regulating the city's kosher system, was accused of charging exorbitant prices for kosher slaughter. Moreover, several community butchers alleged that they had been ostracized from the Municipal Abattoir and coerced into signing binding agreements with a butchers' association. The conflict escalated to such adegree that the city's court mediated the dispute at the request of the Board of Control and City Council. Using foodways as a lens into social and cultural dynamics, this article narrates and examines this kosher controversy to illuminate divisions within the city's Depression-era Jewish community and the larger metropolis. This examination reveals a stratified yet resilient community—one that fostered severe class conflict, but also one that drew on killing-floor activism and an entrepreneurial spirit to secure an economic base in the face of a worsening depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Donald Trump's tenure as President of the United States has been among the most disruptive in American history. In many areas, President Trump has upended convention, undermined norms, and cast aspersions on a host of institutions. Trump's imposition of punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum, along with the threat to withdraw from the NAFTA have been significant threats to the Canadian economy. The President's instincts on trade may be one of the few constants in a worldview on foreign policy that has otherwise lacked consistency. This article argues that Trump's actions on trade have other precedents in American history, many of which have similarly embroiled Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines policy responses in Canada and the US to the shale revolution and changing North American oil and gas markets. We outline the effect of the shale revolution on North American oil and gas markets, and how the subsequent energy policy choices in each country changed the relationship between Canada and the US. In the US, increasing production, combined with the policy imperative of maintaining energy security, led to less support for Canadian supply and the subsequent on-off-on saga of the Keystone XL pipeline. In Canada, growing concern about the balance between the environment and the economy led to stalled pipeline development and reform of regulatory systems, problems exacerbated by the new policy direction in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sports media, athletes, and the public alike have framed Canadian professional men's hockey as an important symbol of the nation as a whole, while scholars have devoted considerable energy to pointing out that this celebrated hockey symbol tends to marginalize those in Canada who are not white, male, straight, and/or able-bodied. Yet various linguistic, racial, and ethnic minorities play and celebrate hockey in Canada, and indeed use hockey to express their own subordinated nationalisms. Their styles of play and the meanings they bring to the game have issued counter-hegemonic challenges to white, male, Anglo-Canadian hockey hegemony. Exploring the "hockey nationalisms" of Indigenous, Québécois, Acadian, and Central/Eastern European populations as case studies, this article argues for a reconsideration of Canadian hockey nationalism from below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the construction of Canada's postwar international identity and how that identity continues to influence Canadian foreign policy, especially with the United States. Furthermore, the article illustrates how changes in Canadian policy necessitated by the Trump Administration may impact Canada's international identity in the future. The article argues Canadian policy makers have consistently constructed an international identity in opposition to the United States and continue to use the US as a reflective tool in shaping their own policy. The first part of the article briefly examines the concept of state identity outlining both type and role variants and their relevance to foreign policy and this is followed in the second part by a discussion of Canada's postwar international identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the impact of political parties on the success of women and men candidates in the 2005 municipal elections of Québec's two most populous regions, Montérégie and Montréal. We built the dataset by requesting documentation from each municipality separately. This original dataset supports our two hypotheses. First, we demonstrate that the presence of political parties did not affect the difference in percentages of votes obtained by women and men candidates. No matter the gender, candidates affiliated with a political party obtained more votes than independent ones. Second, we find that gender did not affect contributions. No matter the gender, the presence of political parties and the candidates' affiliation had a positive impact on their contributions. Québec conforms to findings in the U.S. literature: women and men candidates, under similar circumstances, are equally likely to obtain votes and contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article inquires into the difference between philosophy as a universal practice and philosophy as a cultural product; its aim is to establish a case for there being Canadian philosophy. Philosophy as a practice can exhibit a dialectical framework. The practice can pursue both universal truths and cultural variations in expressions of those truths. Each philosophical endeavor requires the other to be meaningful. No matter how abstract a "truth" may be, an example always creates cultural relevance. The article introduces the example of an early Canadian philosopher, whose work is documented in the book by Leslie Armour and Elizabeth Trott, The Faces of Reason: An Essay on Philosophy and Culture in English Canada, 1850-1950. John Watson (1847–1939) was the most prolific and well-known contributor to philosophy in early Canada, pursuing universal questions and yet responding to the circumstances of his new home in developing Canada and, in doing so, contributing to Canadian cultural interpretations of philosophical questions. This article uses his example to conclude that the study of philosophy in Canada must include Canadian philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the personal experiences using a currere model of two new academics and their investigations into the relationships between Indigenous education and environmental education. It outlines the challenges of Indigenous education within the contexts of higher education in the Coast Salish region with a specific focus on the Canadian role in Indigenizing education. We suggest that an intervention in our current practices is necessary in light of the ongoing violations of the Universal Declaration of Human rights and the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We provide language and insights into cultural schizophrenia, authenticity, and the complexities of Indigenization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early 1960s, the Liberal Party employed Toronto-area Member of Provincial Parliament Andrew Thompson as its Ethnic Liaison Officer. Under Thompson’s operation, the Liberal Party undertook efforts to engage ethnocultural communities to win the 1962 and 1963 federal elections. This article compliments existing scholarship on federal elections and shows exactly how the Liberals coordinated their efforts to appeal to ethnocultural communities. Though the Liberal Party targeted these communities, their efforts failed to include them in the Liberal Party, the election process, and the broader parliamentary system. In this sense, ethnocultural communities were marginalized in this political process. The analysis in this article also explores how the Liberals and the Conservatives homogenized “ethnic groups” in specific moments and utilizes the scholarship on the invention of ethnicity, particularly Rogers Brubaker’s idea that ethnicity is an event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many Americans during the 1930s, participation in real and potential foreign conflicts was a national dilemma as serious as the Great Depression. As the decade progressed and the possibility of war loomed larger, an ideological battle ensued between two loosely formed yet bitterly hostile camps: one favoring unilateral isolation and the other for a more active role in the international system. This period of intense public debate about national foreign policy was not an American phenomenon, though. It had a distinct northern counterpart in Canada. The core of this project is to explore isolationism as an ideology of North American themes within national varieties. Comparing an American and a Canadian example of this mindset brings a broader perspective to a subject so commonly associated with the United States alone, revealing both cross-border commonalities and national differentiations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]