SHAPING NATIONS: FEDERALISM AND SOCIETY IN AUSTRALIA AND IN CANADA

 

December 7-9, 1999

University of Ottawa/Université d'Ottawa

Arts Building/Pavillon des Arts

 

 

On the last page of his classic work, Freedom and Independence for the Golden Lands of Australia, Rev. John Dunmore Lang wrote: "Remote as [Australia and Canada] are from each other, there is a secret sympathy between these two countries". Written in 1852, it was one of the most compelling and early statements about the distinctive relationship between these two former British colonies - a relationship which was vigorously canvassed in the 1890s, as Federal Convention delegates in Australia considered the range of constitutional systems available to them. How Canadian should Australia be? (Or how American? Or German? Or Swiss?) Ultimately, the Canadian Constitution was effectively dismissed as being too centralist; it ran roughshed over States' rights. Or so it was felt.

One hundred years later, there is shared interest in Australia's constitutional debate concerning the prospect of becoming a republic. Questions concerning nationhood and national identity, it seems, continue to pre-occupy both countries. Lang's 'secret sympathy' is probably more accurate now than ever before.

 

 

Tuesday December 7, 1999

16h00: Registration, Centenial Room/Salon du 150e, Pavillon Marchand Hall

16h30: Opening remarks and Reception

 

Wednesday, December 8, 1999

8h30: Coffee tea

9h00-11h00: Session I, Arts Building, Room 026, Shaping Nations: Constitutionalism in Canada

 

Chair: Professor Linda Cardinal, Department of Political Science, University of Ottawa

Participants:

Dr John Williams, School of Law, University of Adelaide

'The Blizzard and Oz: Canadian Influences on the Australian Constitution Then and Now

Dr Helen Irving, Director, 1901 Centre, University of Technology, Sydney

Sister Colonies with Separate Constitutions: Why Australian Federationists rejected the Canadian Constitution

Prof. Errol Mendes, Director, The Human Rights Research & Education Centre, University of Ottawa

Democratic Pluralism: The Foundational Principle of Constitutionalism in Canada

 

11h00-11h30: Coffe, tea break

11h30-12h45: Session II, Arts Building, Room 026, Shaping Nations: Colonial but New

 

Chair: James Ross Hurley, Special Advisor, Privy Council

Participants:

Prof. Wes Pue, Nemetz Chair in Legal History, Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia

Planting British Legal Culture in Colonial Soil

Dr Angelika Sauer, University of Winnipeg

Brand New Nations: the View from Western Canada

 

 

12h45-14h00: Lunch, Arts Building, Room 509

14h00-16h00: Session III, Arts Building, Room 026, Republicanism and National Identity

 

Chair: Jeffrey Simpson, Globe and Mail

Participants:

Dr Mark McKenna, Research School of Social Sciences, Australia National University

The Republican Referendum, 1999

Dr David Headon, Director, Centre for Australian Cultural Studies, University College, ADFA

The Australian Republic: Mateship, Mayhem and the Constitution's Preamble

Prof David E. Smith, University of Saskatchewan

Canada's Republican Silence

 

 

Thursday, December 9, 1999

8h30: Coffee, tea

9h00-10h30: Session IV, Arts Building, Room 026, Relations Between Australia and Canada

 

Chair: Dr. David Headon, University College, ADFA

Participants:

Dr Galen Perras, Bishop University

Shaping Relations: the Initiation of Australian Canadian Diplomatic Ties, 1935-40

Professor Robert Williams, Faculty of Arts, University of Waterloo

Not a Luxury, but an Obligation: Promoting Australia and Canada Through International Cultural Relationships

Dr Kim Nossal, McMaster University

On Babies and Bathwater: the Australian-Canadian Relationship and the "Kin-Country" Thesis

 

10h30-11h00: Coffee, tea break

10h45-12h00: Session V, Arts Building, Room 026, Women and Politics in Australia and in Canada

 

Chair: Prof. Ruby Heap, Director, Institute of Women Studies, University of Ottawa

Participants:

Prof. Manon Tremblay, Political Science, University of Ottawa

Women in Politics, But Especially Feminists

Prof. Caroline Andrew, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa

A Comment on Women and Politics in Australia and in Canada

 

 

12h30-14h00: Lunch

14h00-15h30: Session VI, Arts Building, Room 026, Defence in Australia and in Canada

 

Chair: To be announced

Participants:

Prof. Geoffry Bolton, History, Edith Cowan University

Unpicking the Crimson Thread: Who Pays for Defence, Canada and Australia 1900­1903

Prof. Desmond Morton, Institute for the Study of Canada, McGill University

Defence, in Canada and in Australia During the Twenthieth Century

Prof. Jeff Keshen, History, University of Ottawa

Propaganda, Censorship and the Building of National Identity in Australia and Canada During the Great War

 

15h30-16h00: Coffee, tea break

16h00-17h30: Session VII, Arts Building, Room 026, Governance in Australia and in Canada

 

Chair: Dr Jim Mitchell, Partner, Sussex Circle

Participants:

Patrick Keyzer, Law, Univ. of Tech., Sydney

Case Studies on the Canadian Connection

Prof. Gilles Paquet, Director, Centre for the Study of Governance

Innovations in Governance in Canada

 

19h00: Special session on Autralian cinema, Alumni Hall, University Centre

 

Chair: David Staines, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Ottawa

Participants:

Dr Jeff Brownrigg, 'People's Voice' Project and the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra

Colony to State: The People's Choice

Marilyn Dooley, ScreenSound Australia, Canberra

Landscape, Lizards and Larrikins: A Century of Australian Cinema since Federation

 

Closing Remarks