McGill Institute for the Study of Canada

McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) is a nonpartisan Canadian think tank established in 1994 with support from the Bronfman family and McGill University. Along with its academic program, 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 such as taxation and elections.[1]:3

McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
Established1994[1]:3
Key peopleElsbeth Heaman Director
Address3463 Peel Street
Location
McGill University
,
Montreal
,
Quebec
,
Canada
Websitemcgill.ca/misc

History

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

Mandate

According to its website, MISC's mission is to "promote a better understanding of Canada through the study of our heritage; develop a clearer understanding of Canada's social, political and economic future; identify and explore the benefits that a pluralistic society offers; [and] support the study of Canada across the country and internationally."[3]

Key people

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 has been the interim Director since Potter's departure.[2]

Conferences

MISC holds an annual conference in Montreal at McGill University. The theme for the 2018 conference held from February 21 - 23, 2018 at McGill, was "Who pays for Canada? Taxes and Fairness".[1]

On June 19, 2018, MISC and the Canadian Municipal Election Study (CMES) co-sponsored the 2018 Canadian Municipal Election Study conference on the theme of 'Montreal and Quebec in Focus' which included a session entitled, "Does the Left–Right Axis Matter in Municipal Elections?"[7][8]

The MISC Annual Conference 2017 held on February 10, 2017, entitled, "The Theory of Canadian Exceptionalism", featured presentations by University of California at Berkeley's Irene Bloemraad, University of Toronto's Joseph Heath, and University of California San Diego's Andy Lamey.[9]

The theme for 2016 was "Canada on the Global Stage: Exploring Canada's Image and Role in the World". Featured speakers included Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC)'s Okalik Eegeesiak, Kenneth Frankel, and Kathryn White.[10]

Selected publications

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.[11]

The Andrew Potter affair

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,[12] some of which Potter later refuted.[13][14] Potter's "sweeping and unflattering comments about Quebec society" went viral.[15] Quebec's premier and finance minister along with the federal heritage minister, "decried" the article and called for Potter's removal as MISC Director.[13] McGill University immediately "disavowed" the article.[13] Potter admitted to "errors" and produced "corrigenda."[15] 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".[14] 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".[15]

References
  1. 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. "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 July 25, 2018.
  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. "Montreal and Quebec in Focus". MISC. 2018 Canadian Municipal Election Study. Montreal. nd. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  8. "Canadian Municipal Election Study". Canadian Municipal Election Study (CMES). nd. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  9. "MISC Conference 2017: The Theory of Canadian Exceptionalism". CPAC. Public Record. 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  10. "MISC Conference 2016: Canada on the Global Stage: Exploring Canada's Image and Role in the World". CPAC. Public Record. February 12, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  11. 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'.
  12. 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
  13. "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
  14. 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.
  15. 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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