Being Canadian Today

U.S. President Donald Trump’s erratic trade actions (including dramatic new tariffs, demands for other policy changes, and even threats to annex Canada) are causing enormous uncertainty and damage to Canada’s economy. This presentation will review Trump’s (false) claims about the nature of the Canada-U.S. trade relationship, and whether Canada is truly “subsidized” by the U.S. as he claims. It will review the current and likely effects of his actions on the national economic outlooks. And it will consider the best responses from Canada to protect against these actions from our former best friend and neighbour, and what is required to build a national economy that is truly sovereign, value-added, and sustainable.

Alexander Henry is famous for being the first Englishman to venture into the Northwest after the fall of New France where he survived a massacure at Michilimackinac, helped found the North West Company, and mapped the foothills of the Rockies, a tale that was published under his name in 1809. His life parallelled the rivalry between the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Companythat shaped Canada, ending in the merger shortly before his death in 1824. Much of what we understand today about the early history of the north west, the victory of the Hudson Bay Company in the fur trade, and early relations between Indigenous people and settlers can be traced back to Henry and his famous book. But…most of what we think we know about Henry is wrong: it’s recently been discovered that he didn’t write his memoir which was stolen and largely fabricated by an English conartist named Edward Augustus Kendall. Henry’s actual biography is stranger than fiction and the things that Kendall choose to omit or make up— the myths we’ve come to believe—tell us much about the issues that Canada faces today, including relations with Indigenous people, continental and international trade, and the importance of factuality. Join Dr. Humphries for an exciting detective story that reveals hidden truths about collective past and contemplates how we come to accept history as fact.

Universities are in the news lately, grappling with a bewildering set of issues and challenges ranging from budget deficits, to demographic “cliffs”, to protests and the limits of free speech, to the rapid spread of artificial intelligence. In this lecture, we’ll look past the headlines to better understand what’s happening on our campuses, and what it means for students and Canadian society.

A key pillar of the Liberal government’s policy platform in the October 2015 election was a substantial increase in immigration aimed at boosting the Canadian economy. Over the following decade, Canada’s annual population growth rate increased from 0.8% to 3.2%, driven almost entirely by increased immigration. In response to mounting criticism and concerns about the effects of record-level immigration levels on housing and labour markets, the Trudeau government reversed course on its immigration agenda in 2024, imposing hard caps on international student admissions, reimposing regulations on the temporary foreign worker program from 2014, and revising its own immigration targets for 2025-2026 downwards. What went wrong? Was the policy doomed from the start, or was it a failure in implementation? What economic lessons are to be learned from Canada’s 2015-2024 immigration experiment? In this lecture, Professor Mikal Skuterud will answer these questions and offer a roadmap forward for regaining public confidence in Canada’s immigration system.

Canada is a country of incredible differences across cultures, languages, abilities, geographies, and more: differences that create a vibrant national identity but also inequality and injustice, including a history of colonization that continues to harm Indigenous nations. In a contemporary era of increasing conflict and polarization, music might seem like a surprising entry point to social change. Yet, this presentation focuses not just on music, but on community music as a way to negotiate differences, bild community and work towards social change. Community music is participatory music making for artistic and social impacts, and Canadian musicians are on the vanguard in leading an incredible breadth of music projects in diverse communities across the country. Using video and stories from her research project Community Music in Canada, Dr. Yerichuk will show how Canadian musicians are using participatory music to create spaces of belonging and connection, to contribute to cultural reclamation and resurgence, and to develop artistry among diverse groups of people.

This presentation examines how trade tensions and consumer boycotts, especially during the U.S.-Canada trade war, have disrupted food supply chains, impacted grocers and farmers, and spurred policy shifts. It also explores new consumer trends as Canadians respond to growing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

Nearly 1/6 Canadians do not have access to a regular primary care provider. Those who do may struggle to schedule and attend appointments, and to gain access to other healthcare services. This lecture offers a primer to the primary care system in Ontario, tracing the roots of many of today’s challenges to policy legacies and educational traditions. Together, we will think through what is necessary to improve the quality and sustainability of our publicly funded health care system.

In this talk, Kelly shares how representing the maple leaf on the world stage shaped her identity as a Canadian and deepened her understanding of what it means to serve something greater than oneself. Drawing from her journey, she explores the lessons learned from competition and connection, the power of facing fear, and why storytelling is central to building stronger communities.