March 12-13, 2010 | Tamalpais Room, David Brower Center, UC Berkeley

Overview



North America has long set the world standard for economic leadership and civic engagement. A common, often shared approach between Canada and the U.S. has proven historically a strong asset; there is a mutual exchange that takes place in the larger North American commons of ideas, practices, and resulting advances and accomplishments.

The recent economic downturn and its sharp dislocating effects stretched through all aspects of the public and private sectors. Canada and the U.S. need to pursue opportunities to strengthen cooperation and joint strategies for North American peace and prosperity.

North American Futures: Canada – US Perspectives is a two day bi-national conference for private and public sector practitioners and scholars interested in the issues driving the North American, Canada – U.S. relationship.

The conference is being co-sponsored by the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) and the University of British Columbia’s Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions, along with the UC Berkeley Canadian Studies Program and the Institute of International Studies (IIS). The mission of IGS is to advance the interdisciplinary study of American governance and public policy and to serve as a bridge between academia, the policy community, and the media.

The conference takes place Friday and Saturday, March 12 – 13, 2010, at the new David Brower Center, located in downtown Berkeley, California, with a live teleconferencing link to the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia. Over the course of two days the conference will hear from experts and conduct panels in the following key areas:

We expect the conference proceedings will be published into an edited monograph by the University of British Columbia Press and the webcast will be made available both live and archived by both universities.

Conference organization is under the direction of Jack Citrin, Director of IGS and Heller Professor of Political Science at Berkeley; Tom Barnes, Co-Director of the Canadian Studies Program; Richard Johnston, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions at British Columbia; and former Canadian Ambassador Jeremy F. Kinsman as visiting Regents’ Lecturer at UC Berkeley. The conference will be convened by UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and University of British Columbia President Stephen Toope.

Event Sponsors, Date & Location

This event will take place March 12-13, 2010. "North American Futures: Canada – US Perspectives" is co-sponsored by the Institute of Governmental Studies, the UC Berkeley Canadian Studies Program, Institute of International Studies and the University of British Columbia’s Department of Political Science, and its Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions.

All events (unless otherwise noted) will take place at the Tamalpais Room, David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, California, and videoconferenced at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, Canada. Directions

Tentative Schedule

Friday, March 12, 2010


Breakfast

9:00 am - 9:30 am

Continental breakfast

Welcoming Remarks

9:30 am - 10:00 am

Welcoming Remarks by Robert Birgeneau (UC Berkeley Chancellor) and Stephen Toope (President, University of British Columbia)

Keynote Panel: A North American Commons?

10:00-11:00 a.m.

Moderator: Jeremy Kinsman (Canadian Ambassador)

Panelists:
Thomas R. Pickering (US Ambassador)
Allan Gotlieb (Canadian Ambassador)

Panel 1: Culture, Identity, and the Social Contract

11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Panelists:
Jack Citrin (Director of IGS, Heller Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley)
Richard Johnston (Political Science Department, University of British Columbia)

Canada and the US share a European heritage responsible for shaping its culture, national identity, and resulting institutions and the social contracts. Recognition of native peoples, the African American experience, and immigration broadened this narrative (on each side of the border). This panel examines the primary forces at work shaping today’s reality and their role in determining common as well as divergent future directions.

Luncheon

Hosted Luncheon, 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm

Panel 2: Managing the Economic Area

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Panelists:
Brad DeLong (UC Berkeley)

A bilateral approach, broadened to a trilateral free trade agreement (NAFTA), is the governing North American economic framework with recent events dramatizing the interconnected nature of our North American and global economies. This panel examines the strengths and weaknesses of the current bilateral institutional relationship and addresses the key issues in light of the practical lessons learned through managing the economic relationship and the challenges facing the economic arena in a global economy.

Break

3:30 pm - 3:45 pm

Panel 3: National Security, International Affairs, and the Arctic

3:45 pm - 5:15 pm

Panelists:
Steven Weber (Director, Institute of International Studies; Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley)
Paul Heinbecker (Distinguished Fellow - International Relations, Wilfrid Laurier University)

Canada and the US are linked in security relationships based on shared borders and the North American continent as well as long-standing strategic policy interests and global alliances. This panel focuses on the current strategic issues shaping the relationship. Finally, the panel examines the strategic challenges and practical issues surrounding the bi-national relationship in the Arctic in light of political and policy realities and the prescriptive directions put forth by each side.

Dinner

6:00 - 8:00 pm
(At the University House, by invitation only)

Featuring: TBA

Saturday, March 13, 2010


Continental Breakfast and welcoming

9:30 am - 10:00 am

Panel 4: Energy, the Environment, and Climate Change

10:00 am - 12:00 am

Panelists:
Daniel M. Kammen (UC Berkeley)
Kathryn Harrison (Professor of Political Science at University of British Columbia)

The West, namely British Columbia and California, wields a defining role in shaping these societal and regulatory issues. This panel examines the relationship between energy, the environment and climate change in this western context, and the often unique positions and roles taken in addressing their respective national and North American regulatory concerns. The panel concludes by focusing on the conflicting policy and lifestyle choices facing governments at their provincial and state, federal, and beyond national borders.

Lunch break

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Hosted luncheon by invitation (sponsored by our corporate partners)

Panel 5: Towards A Bilateral Approach to the Challenges of the 21st Century

1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

A conference wrap up and a look forward, this panel reviews the critical issues examined and at play in the bilateral relationship. The goal is to view these from both an academic as well as a practical policy and political perspective, focusing on how they will likely evolve on both a short and longer term basis, and the forces and resources that can be expected to advance them in a positive direction.

Closing remarks

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Resources

A Tale of Two Nations: State of Canadian/American Public Opinion. [PowerPoint]

Policy Options: Institute for Research on Public Policy

Know Thy Neighbor: What Canada Can Tell Us About Financial Regulation

For further details about this day's events, please contact:
Marc Levin
Assistant Director, Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
marcl@berkeley.edu

or

Alan Unger
Conference Coordinator
afunger@earthlink.net