Adam Chapnick's Newsletter - May 31, 2021
Thanks for subscribing to this newsletter. I hope to use it to update you on what I’ve been thinking and speaking about, where I’m speaking next, and people and issues that have caught my attention.
In the Media
I have not been called upon to comment in the media much recently, but I was flattered when the Maclean’s Politics Insider newsletter drew attention to my blog post about cultural change in the Canadian Armed Forces back in March.
Blog
Speaking of blogging, in March, in addition to the post on the CAF, I examined the implications of evidence of a left-wing bias among Canadian university professors. April included an essay about the value and purpose of Canadian foreign policy report cards, as well as a post about my disappointment in the opposition parties’ responses to the most recent federal budget. In May, I wrote about immigration policy - specifically a new program introduced by the current government to help immigrants who are already here become permanent residents - and about Ottawa’s relatively subdued response to recent events in the Middle East. If all goes according to plan, I expect to write something about an intriguing proposal to shift more of our federal public service out of Ottawa next week. I tried to include a preview of what I want to say here, but then realized that I need some more time to sort out my thinking.
Public Speaking
I had a wonderful opportunity to speak (via Zoom) to a thoughtful group of students from the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill about United Nations Security Council election campaigns as part of one of their policy case studies recently.
Upcoming Talks
As part of their ongoing professional development series, the folks at the HMCS Bytown have invited me to speak about Canada and the United Nations next month. I’ll be speaking to the Probus Club of South Simcoe about Canada-US relations in July. If you belong to a group looking for a speaker, please contact me through my website.
What I’m Reading
I just cracked open the absurdly priced, 750+ page Palgrave Handbook of Canada in International Affairs, capably edited by Robert Murray and Paul Gecelovsky. It’s a real shame that the price means that only university libraries will buy it, because thus far I am really impressed by the essays. I expect that students at the Canadian Forces College will be also be reading some of them shortly. Another far too expensive book that I’m pleased to have on my bookshelf is the third edition of the History Dictionary of Canada, now co-authored by Stephen Azzi and Barry Gough (Gough produced the first two editions; Azzi did most of the work on this third). This is not a book that anyone would read from start to finish, but it is a tremendous resource for those of us who lecture on Canadian topics. Finally, I just bought my father Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass Sunstein, and already can’t wait to borrow it from him. Some of you will recognize Kahneman from his earlier work, Thinking Fast and Slow, and Sunstein from Nudge, two books that are must haves for anyone who studies public policy and human behaviour.
Other Thoughts
I subscribed to Loleen Berdhal’s Academic Made Easier newsletter the moment I heard about it and have looked forward to its appearance in my inbox every couple of weeks ever since. Loleen is one of the ultimate “full service professors” (thanks to Kim Richard Nossal for the term). She is an award-winning teacher, a prolific researcher, and a leader when it comes to university service. Her newsletter offers regular insights into how she manages to do it all so well, and is sprinkled with a combination of wit, humour, and humility that makes it a pleasure to read.
Much of my scholarly time these days continues to be spent on writing cases for a future Canadian foreign policy textbook. I’m up to the 1995 Turbot War between Canada and the EU (really Spain and Portugal). It’s been a fascinating event to revisit in large part because it is celebrated in the Canadian folklore as a massive foreign policy victory, but I’m not convinced that the evidence I’m seeing thus far is consistent with such thinking.