UCL Annual Canadian Studies Lecture: Justin Trudeau's first 100 Days

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Professor Christopher Kirkey (State University of New York, Plattsburgh) - Justin Trudeau was elected at the head of a majority Liberal Government on Monday 19 October after an unusually long and eventful general election campaign, ending almost ten years' of government by Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. Since this rather unexpected victory, Trudeau and the Liberals have set about turning Canada in a more liberal direction and the new Prime Minister has been very active on a number of fronts, both at home and abroad, including climate change and the issue of missing and murdered indigenous girls. The dynamism of the new Government has naturally invited comparison with the leadership of his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, between 1968 and 1984. With his approval ratings still high, this lecture seeks to make an interim assessment of Justin Trudeau, in terms of both style and substance, at the end of his first 100 Days.

Christopher Kirkey, BA, MA (Queen's University) & PhD (Brandeis University), is Director of the Centre for the Study of Canada and the Institute on Quebec Studies at State University of New York College at Plattsburgh, where he holds a concurrent position as full professor of political science. A scholar of Canadian politics, especially foreign policy, his recent works include the co-edited special issue (with Michael Hawes) 'Canada in a Unipolar World?: New directions in Canadian foreign policy,' Canadian Foreign Policy Journal (Vol.18, No. 1, 2012) and a co-edited special issue (with Tony McCulloch) of the British Journal of Canadian Studies (Vol. 28, No. 2, 2015), featuring young scholars from across Europe entitled 'New Voices on Canada'.  He is currently working on several projects, including a special issue of the American Review of Canadian Studies on 'Quebec and the World'  and a book volume (co-edited with Michael Hawes) on Canadian Foreign Policy in a Unipolar World (Oxford University Press) - both of which are due to be published in 2016.