McGill Institute for the Study of Canada

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McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
Established1994[1]: 3 
Key peopleDaniel Béland, Director
Address840 ave du Docteur-Penfield, room 102
Location
McGill University
,
Montreal
,
Quebec
,
Canada
Websitemcgill.ca/misc

McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) is a nonpartisan Canadian academic institute established in 1994 with support from the Bronfman family and McGill University. Along with its academic programs, MISC hosts annual conferences and other large-scale activities that are open to the public. MISC research and public events focuses on topics of interest to Canadians.

History[edit]

MISC was established in 1994 with support from the Bronfman family and McGill University[1]: 3  with Desmond Morton as Founding Director.[2]

Mandate[edit]

According to its website, MISC's mission is "to enrich Canadian society in three primary ways. First, by convening conversations about matters that are important to Canadians. Second, by educating and engaging students to be active participants in Canada’s future. Finally, by promoting interdisciplinary scholarship about Canada."[3]

Key people[edit]

The Founding Director was Desmond Morton, who served from MISC's creation in 1994 until 2001. Past Directors include Antonia Maioni,[4][5] who served from 2001 until 2011; Will Straw, who served from 2011 to 2016; and Andrew Potter who served from August 2016 until March 2017.[6] Suzanne Morton, who is now an editor at Canadian Historical Review, served as Acting Director in 2014.[2] Elsbeth Heaman served as the interim Director from April 2017 to April 2018.[7] Daniel Béland is the current Director of MISC.

Conferences[edit]

MISC holds an annual conference in Montreal at McGill University. The theme for the 2022 conference was "Comparing Immigration Policies: Canada and the World" and was held on October 27 and 28, 2022 in Montreal.[8]

Past conferences have focused on taxation, federalism, Canadian exceptionalism, food policy, urban planning, and more.[9]

Selected publications[edit]

In his MISC study, University of Toronto's political science professor, Michael Donnelly, concluded that there is potential in Canada for an increase in intolerance and an anti-immigrate/refugee stance. Donnelly's used data from a January 18–27, 2017, Ipsos poll which surveyed 1,522 Canadians.[10]

The Andrew Potter affair[edit]

Andrew Potter resigned as MISC director in response to harsh criticism of his March 2017 article published in Maclean's describing an alleged malaise in Quebec society,[11] some of which Potter later refuted.[12][13] Potter's "sweeping and unflattering comments about Quebec society" went viral.[14] Quebec's premier and finance minister along with the federal heritage minister, "decried" the article and called for Potter's removal as MISC Director.[12] McGill University immediately "disavowed" the article.[12] Potter admitted to "errors" and produced "corrigenda."[14] In a March 2017 article in The Walrus, Jonathan Kay described how MISC, is faced with a difficult choice in choosing the next Director. Kay described how MISC will face challenges in dealing with topical issues because of its location within an elite university setting, with a long history of public research and numerous funding partners—corporate and government. The next MISC director could be based on the Straw model, Potter's or in-between—a "journalist with centrist, institutional tendencies".[13] Len Findlay, from Ryerson University's Centre for Free Expression (CFE) noted errors were made by all parties and called on MISC to rehire Potter as Director and to "become as it claims to be, "no stranger to debate and controversy", to use "rebuttal, not reprisal".[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Who pays for Canada? Taxes and Fairness (PDF). 2018 Annual Conference of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC). Montreal, Quebec. February 23, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Past Directors". McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC). Montreal, Quebec. nd. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  3. ^ "Our Mission". McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC). Montreal, Quebec. nd. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  4. ^ Maioni, Antonia (July 14, 2013). "Quebec and the monarchy: You say succession, I say secession". Montreal. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  5. ^ "Canada Crisis Could Boost Quebec Separatists". Reuters. December 5, 2008. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008. In the 2008–09 Canadian parliamentary dispute, Maioni, MISC head stated that Prime Minister Stephen Harper was "portraying not only the Bloc Québécois but Quebecers in general as being a threat to national unity in Canada."
  6. ^ "Andrew Potter to head the MISC". January 12, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  7. ^ "Past Directors". McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  8. ^ "Comparing Immigration Policies: Canada and the World (MISC Annual Conference)". McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  9. ^ "Annual Conferences". McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  10. ^ Akin, David (February 6, 2017). "Canadians not so 'exceptional' when it comes to immigration and refugee views, new study finds". The National Post. Toronto. Retrieved July 25, 2018. There is 'surprisingly weak' opposition to the idea of stopping all immigration to Canada. 'These results suggest a serious anti-immigrant movement is not impossible'.
  11. ^ Potter, Andrew (March 20, 2017). "How a snowstorm exposed Quebec's real problem: social malaise". Retrieved July 25, 2018. The issues that led to the shutdown of a Montreal highway that left drivers stranded go beyond mere political dysfunction
  12. ^ a b c "What the Andrew Potter affair was really about". Maclean’s. Editorial. March 29, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2018. "Maclean's continues to believe in the vital importance of a free and open exchange of ideas and opinions—even if McGill University does not
  13. ^ a b Kay, Jonathan (March 28, 2017). "The Andrew Potter Affair Is a Sign of Things to Come". Retrieved July 25, 2018. Universities want journalism's relevance without its rabble rousing. What they'll get is more conflict and hypocrisy.
  14. ^ a b c Findlay, Len (August 2, 2017). "J'accuse! Maclean's, McGill, and the Andrew Potter Affair". Centre for Free Expression. Ryerson University. Retrieved July 25, 2018. Potter is "an accomplished scholar and author" who "has pursued a successful career in an analogous domain where freedom of inquiry and expression are zealously protected and fearlessly practised (on a good day). He has the reputation, networks, and capacity for public intervention."
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