Browsing by Author "Brodie, Ian Ross"

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    Beheading Canada’s History: The Desecration of Sir John A. Macdonald’s image in the Canadian National Memory
    (2023-06) Walker, Kelsie Lynn; Marshall, David Brian; Marshall, David Brian; Bercuson, David Jay; Brodie, Ian Ross
    The image of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, has rapidly deteriorated. In the 1950s, Macdonald was regarded as one of Canada’s greatest statesmen, where both historiographical and public esteem for him was at its peak. However, in the 1970s the desecration of his image began both in the public square and in contemporary debates about his stature in historiography. No figure in Canadian history has seen as drastic and unforgiving of a decline as Macdonald. Fuelled by growing trends of revisionism, presentism, and “wokeism,” Macdonald’s legacy is being destroyed as Canadian history is increasingly studied through the lens of morality, condemning imperfections and ignoring historical context. As a result, the grievances of contemporary Canada are placed on Macdonald as a way to help Canadians come to terms with the elements of Canada’s foundation that do not fit into the narratives of “progressivism,” “tolerance,” and “multiculturalism.” Macdonald’s image has been inaccurately distorted, questioned, and actively diminished, rendering him guilty of committing many of the injustices in Canada’s history. Today’s Macdonald is often viewed as a racist, genocidal tyrant, reduced to a caricature of his shortcomings and diminished as a drunk. However, movements to reclaim the accurate image of Macdonald are being undertaken. This thesis explores the current debate surrounding Macdonald’s legacy and examines how his image has changed throughout Canada’s history. I ultimately argue that to properly understand Macdonald, the two images that dominate contemporary historiography, one of him as a heroic nation builder and the other of him as a genocidal tyrant, must be examined in historical context and in tandem with one another. While the new, distorted image of Macdonald is loudly and viciously proclaimed, it is not welcomed by many.
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    Interest groups and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms: interveners at the Supreme Court of Canada
    (1992) Brodie, Ian Ross; Morton, Frederick L.
    In recent years, particularly since the entrenchment of the Charter of Rights in 1982, the Canadian court system has become an important forum for the activity of interest groups. However, there have been no systematic efforts to map out the extent of interest group activity in the courts. This thesis begins the task of mapping out the activity of interest groups in the Canadian judicial system. It outlines the history of interest group intervention in the Supreme Court of Canada before 1982. It then presents numerical data on the incidence and patterns of interventions by interest groups and others in the Charter of Rights cases at the Supreme Court. The thesis critically examines recent theoretical advances in the United States that attempt to explain why interest groups go to court. It also examines whether interveners can be considered strictly "private" actors. The thesis concludes by critically examining the Canadian literature on interveners and the judicial process.
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    Long-run patterns in the participation and representation of women in western Canadian provincial elections: 1917-2019.
    (2023-04-17) Hayes, Alex Daniel Woolliams; Sayers, Anthony Michael; Lucas, Jack; Brodie, Ian Ross
    Using the Canadian Elections Database, this thesis codes the gender of all candidates in western Canada’s provincial elections from 1917 to 2019. It then explores the trends and patterns apparent in women’s rate of participation (running for office), and representation (elected to office). A descriptive overview of the region of western Canada is undertaken first. This thesis then analyzes women’s electoral participation and success further into the effect of province, political party, and of ideology (left-right divide). It explores the percentages of female candidates running for office and elected over time, women’s success compared to men, and the effect of gender on difference in average votes. The rates of women running and elected have increased over time. Women have always run and been elected at lower rates than men. Depending on election context, women sometimes receive more average votes than men. More interesting is that this thesis finds women’s increasing direct role in provincial politics in western Canada is not linear. The importance of 1970 for women’s rate of participation and 1980 for women’s rate of representation are highlighted. Before these respective dates, women ran for office and were elected in low static numbers. After these dates women’s rate of participation and representation began to increase much more dramatically and substantively.