Oh, Canada: Perspectives on Canada Today

Saturdays in Surrey Lecture Series

Our new Saturday afternoon lecture series at Surrey City Centre Library brings to the fore current topics of interest to adults keen to learn about and discuss issues of moment in the complex world we live in.

Oh, Canada: Perspectives on Canada Today

Our first series – “Oh, Canada: Perspectives on Canada Today” – begins at home, bringing together six experts who will focus on issues of concern to Canadians, ranging from the environment to immigration to energy policy. As a young nation-state in search of self-definition, Canada is a source of perplexity both to us and outsiders.

Lectures include a question-and-answer period.

Single lecture: $19 + $0.95 (GST) = $19.95 Series of 6 lectures: $114 + $5.70 (GST) =$119.70. To register for the full series, contact us at 778-782-8000.

Lecture 1: Not Green Enough: The Environmental Crisis

AHCP191 | Sat, Sep 14, 1:30–3:00 pm | Instructor: David Tracey

Canada has dragged its feet on limiting our use of non-renewable resources, and the government is less than enthusiastic about changing environmentally damaging consumption patterns. Are we doomed? Or might we yet keep our planet healthy through engaged ecology?

Lecture 2: Lines that Continue to Divide: The Canada-US Relationship Past, Present, and Future

AHCP192 | Sat, Sep 21, 1:30–3:00 pm | Instructor: Josh Labove

The Canada-US relationship has defined the way Canada is known and imagined. From Sir John A. Macdonald to Harold Innis and Rick Mercer, Canadians have been curious about their southern neighbour. What makes these societies distinct? And how can a unique Canadian identity survive in a globalizing world?

Lecture 3: Coming Here: Canada’s Troubled Immigration Policies

AHCP193 | Sat, Sep 28, 1:30–3:00 pm | Instructor: Judy Lam Maxwell

Canada’s welcome policy, dictated by a mix of political interests and economic issues, has made immigration sometimes easy, sometimes not. After 1947, the war and Canadian Citizenship Act changed people’s thinking about equality, racism, and the country’s needs and future. What’s really going on now?

Lecture 4: Canadian Women: Progress or Problems?

AHCP194 | Sat, Oct 19, 1:30–3:00 pm | Instructor: Eva Sajoo

Canada was recently named the best country in the G20 for women, but according to other studies, it is slipping seriously on gender equality. What and who exactly is being measured? What challenges do Canadian women face compared to their international counterparts? And how do their individual experiences differ—often radically?

Lecture 5: The Good, The Bad, and The Very Ugly: Looking for Justice in Canada’s Aboriginal Policies

AHCP195 | Sat, Oct 26, 1:30–3:00 pm | Instructor: Bruce Fraser

A mishmash of misunderstandings, good intentions gone awry, and bureaucratic bungling, Canada’s balkanizing Aboriginal policies have often let justice go for naught. Why haven’t we done better? And is there a way out of longstanding policy boondoggles?

Lecture 6: Canada’s Energy Policy: Looney Toons in the Great North

AHCP196 | Sat, Nov 2, 1:30–3:00 pm | Instructor: Dean Gingrich

Federal policies often go into budget bills un-debated. Industries write their own regulations. Federal scientists are silenced on important issues. New jobs are touted without concern for their sustainability or environmental and social costs. Don’t you wish it were all only a cartoon?

How will I learn?

• Lectures
• Discussion
  
• Audio and/or video clips (may vary from class to class)
  

Who should take this course?

This course is for anyone who is interested in exploring social, political, and cultural issues in contemporary Canada.

Textbooks and learning materials

Reading material (if applicable) will be available in class.