News Flashes From Metropolis
February 20, 1999 (Vol. 2 No. 1)
In This Edition:
- Centre Update
- Federal Partner Update
- Increased Federal Involvement
- Directors' Meeting
- Events
- Products
- Calls for Proposals/Papers
- Conference Information
- Metropolis Accolades
__________________
News Flashes focuses on providing timely information (bimonthly) concentrating on
results, upcoming events, and updates on the various experiments underway at any given
time. It is your communications device, please make use of it. To get information placed
in News Flashes, or to comment on its content or structure, please contact John Biles at
(819) 997-5791 (john_biles@pch.gc.ca).
Centre Update
Montréal
On February fifth, the Montreal Centre held an important meeting of its two principal
committees to discuss research orientations for the 1999-2001 period. The meeting which
featured presentations by each of the Centre’s research domain leaders also brought
together provincial and federal policy-makers, NGO representatives, municipal officials
and private sector members. Overall, the proposed research directions were strongly
endorsed, paving the way for detailed plans to be presented in May. There was also support
for placing greater emphasis on dissemination and for linking research on a thematic basis
across domains.
Prairie
As a result of the planning workshop held in Regina October 29-31, 1998, the Prairie
Centre has restructured its research domains. The restructured domains and their leaders
are:
Social and Cultural (Dr. Murray Knuttila, University of Regina) murray.knuttila@uregina.ca
Citizenship & Political (Dr. Joe Garcea, University of Saskatchewan) Garcea@duke.usask.ca
Health (Dr. Linda Ogilvie, University of Alberta)
Logilvie@ua-nursing.ualberta.ca
Education (Dr. Yvonne Hebert, University of Calgary)
Yhebert@acs.ucalgary.ca
Economic (Dr. Peter Li, University of Saskatchewan)
Li@saks.usask.ca
Toronto
The Board met on February 5, 1999. Agenda items included a report by SSHRC on the
upcoming mid-term review of the centres’ activities; a presentation of a proposal for
a special issue of Canadian Woman Studies on immigrant women; an update of plans for the
Fourth National Metropolis Conference; and reports about various CERIS research proposals.
Vancouver
The Board met on December 16, 1998. Major agenda items included the Third National
Metropolis Conference and a proposal to include federal partners on the Board as voting
members. The Board approved the addition of one federal seat.
Federal Partner Update
Social Cohesion Researchers Network
The Social Cohesion Researchers Network at Canadian Heritage is a network of
researchers from across the department and the regions who are involved in the Policy
Research Initiative’s (PRI) Social Cohesion network. A presentation was made at this
network’s most recent meeting by Jeff Bullard and Meyer Burstein. The goal of the
presentation was to inform researchers across the department about the Metropolis Project
and the opportunities available to them. This session was part of the ongoing commitment
of the Metropolis Project Team to explore synergies with other policy research
initiatives, including the PRI and its Social Cohesion network.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Research Network
The CIC Research Network is a group created to coordinate research needs in the
Department of Citizenship and Immigration. The group meets regularly to take stock of
research activities within the department and in the Metropolis network. At its most
recent meeting on January 20, 1999, members of the network began planning CIC’s
1999-2000 research strategy.
Initiatives to Increase Federal Involvement in
Metropolis
Efforts to increase federal involvement in the Centre’s activities have proven
quite successful.
The Montreal Centre added one federal seat to its comité d’orientation for a
total of five federal participants. For Montreal this increased federal participation on
the comité is in addition to significant involvement at the domain level.
The Prairie Centre has added voting federal seats to its Program Committee (1) and
Board of Governors (2). With these changes, federal presence on the Board of Governors
increases to four seats (including non-voting SSHRC and Project Team seats). In addition,
the Prairie Centre held a research retreat in October 1998 with participation from a large
delegation of federal representatives.
In Vancouver, the Management Board approved the addition of one voting federal seat.
This change increases federal presence on the Board to three (including the non-voting
SSHRC and Project Team seats). The Vancouver Centre also consults federal partners through
two Partnership Councils.
The Toronto Centre held its annual research retreat, including participation from most
partner federal departments. The Centre also continues to consult some federal
partners’ regional offices through its Partnership Advisory Council.
Many federal partners have come forward to volunteer resources for participation in
centre activities as new opportunities arise. Health Canada, Canadian Heritage and Status
of Women Canada have said they would be willing to fill some of the seats being made
available by the centres to the federal partners.
Over the next few weeks the Project Team will be looking to match federal volunteers to
new openings on centre committees.
For information please contact Jean-Pierre Moisan at jp_metro@istar.ca
Directors’ Meeting
The project Team met with Centre Directors on January 16, 1999 in Vancouver. Agenda
items included updates by the National Data Committee and the Web Committee, and
discussion of the proposed Metropolis Journal of Immigration Research.
Discussion of the journal proposal led to a number of very useful suggestions including
i) repositioning the journal towards the international market, ii) inviting the
participation of high profile guest editors, and iii) presenting a mix of scholarly and
popular material.
Events
Chatham House
The Chatham House event (April 22-23, 1999) will bring together thirty policy makers
and academics to consider three key themes: Immigration and Asylum; Economic Exchange and;
Political Participation, Foreign Relations and Security. The Canadian delegation will
consist of Meyer Burstein and Howard Duncan. For further information, please contact Steve
Vertovec at steven.vertovec@anthro.ox.ac.uk
Dubrovnik
The Dubrovnik seminar, "Youth in the Plural City: Individualized and Collectivized
Identity Projects" will take place May 24-29, 1999. Twenty five theoretical and
empirical papers will be presented to an audience of 30-40 participants from Canada,
Sweden, England, Australia, Slovenia, France, Portugal, Germany, and Norway. The papers
will be circulated to participants in advance of the conference to encourage discussions.
More information can be found at http://www.svf.uib.no/sefos/IMER/dubrovnik
Social Justice Seminar
The Social Justice Seminar planned by Canadian Heritage will be held in Ottawa May
14-15, 1999. The seminar will address questions surrounding ethnocultural diversity and
immigration in the field of social justice. Four workshops are planned around the themes
of legislative frameworks, human rights, education, and past inequities. Background papers
will be prepared in each of these areas to kick start discussions among the researchers,
policy makers and NGOs at the seminar. The goal of the seminar will be to identify
research gaps and to establish a network interested in tackling those gaps. For more
information please contact John Biles at john_biles@pch.gc.ca
Washington Conference
The Fourth International Metropolis Conference will be held in Washington D.C. in
December 1999. Each day will commence with a plenary session and a round table. The
afternoons will be
occupied by highly focused, results-oriented workshops. Proposals for workshops have
been received and are currently before the International Steering Committee. The next News
Flash (April 1999) will carry a list of workshops and plenary topics. For more information
please contact Howard Duncan at: howard.duncan@9522apx.cina.cic.x400.gc.ca
Fourth National Metropolis Conference
The Fourth National Metropolis Conference is planned for March 22 to 25, 2000 at the
Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto. Six committees have been created to coordinate the
different aspects of the conference. For more information please contact Marie Truelove,
the conference coordinator, at mtruelov@acs.ryerson.ca
Products
Newsletter
The Fourth Metropolis Newsletter focusing on the international aspects of Metropolis
will be distributed in early March. If you would like to receive a copy and have not
received one in the past, please contact Dominique Groulx at (613) 957-5983 or metropolis@istar.ca
Israel Papers/Proceedings
Papers from the Third International Metropolis Conference are now available on the
international Metropolis website international.metropolis.net.
Full proceedings are expected in the summer of 1999.
Revised Funded Project List
The list of projects funded by Metropolis has been updated to include recently approved
projects at the Toronto and Prairie Centres. It is available from the Project Team at
(613) 957-5983
New Vancouver Working Papers
The Vancouver Centre has had a working paper series since the outset of Metropolis. The
latest additions to this series are available on the Vancouver Centre’s section of
the Metropolis website riim.metropolis.net/research-policy/index_e.html
Daniel Hiebert, Gillian Creese, Isabel Lowe Dyck, Tom Hutton,
David Ley, Arlene Tigar McClaren, and Geraldine Pratt:
"Immigrant Experiences in Greater Vancouver: Focus Group Narratives"
Arti Nanavati:
"Labour Market Experiences of South Asia-Born Women in Vancouver"
Don DeVoretz and Samuel Layrea:
"Canadian Human Capital Transfers: The USA and Beyond"
Trinidad L. Vicente:
"Undocumented Migrants: A Social and Political Issue in Spain"
James Dunn and Isabel Dyck:
"Social Determinants of Health in Canada’s Immigrant Population: Results From
the National Population Health Survey"
Keith Head, John Ries, and Don Wagner:
"Immigrants and Trade of Provinces"
First Toronto Working Papers
The Toronto Centre has launched its Working Paper Series with two papers which are now
available. To get copies of the papers please contact the Toronto Centre at (416) 946-3110
or the authors directly.
Anthony Richmond’s paper entitled, "Immigration Policy and Research in
Canada: Pure or Applied?" (richmond@yorku.ca)
Judith Bernhard, Marlinda Freire, and Veronica Pacini’s paper entitled
"Resisting Enculturation in Canadian Elementary Schools: Culturally Contested Issues
of Latin American Parents."
Transforming Policy Development Through Comparative Research: The Challenge
for Canada’s Metropolis Project
Meyer Burstein, Executive Head of Metropolis, and Marie McAndrew, the Director of the
Montreal Centre, have collaborated on a paper that critically assesses the impact the
Project is likely to have on research and on the development of policies, programs, and
action. This paper reflects the creative tension which runs throughout any policy-research
initiative, but in Metropolis in particular. For copies of this paper please contact
Dominique Groulx at (613) 957-5983.
Civic Participation Proceedings
The proceedings from the domain seminar on civic participation are now available. They
include the opening address by Raymond Breton, background papers in political
participation, participation in the voluntary sector, and civic, awareness, knowledge and
skills, in addition to summaries of the workshop sessions.
They are posted on the Metropolis website canada.metropolis.net/events/index_e.html
or you can contact the Project Team at (613) 957-5983 for hard copies.
Montreal Proceedings
The proceedings of the Second National Metropolis Conference are now available. A
summary can be found on the Metropolis website canada.metropolis.net/events/index_e.html
or you can order your copy of the complete proceedings from the Montreal Centre at metropolis@ere.umontreal.ca
Web News
The web network continues to be a busy place. With the national site averaging about
10,000 visitors/month and the international site about 2,000/month, the importance of the
network in communicating among Metropolis partners is becoming evident. The recent
Metropolis conferences in Israel and Vancouver showcased how the net can be used
effectively to promote and coordinate events, share papers in preparation for workshops
and disseminate results after the conference. In particular, the Vancouver Centre of
Excellence created an excellent section on the RIIM web site for the 3rd National
Conference.
The next two months will see a major upgrade in the software used to manage the site.
The most visible impact of this for users of the site will be the new features that will
be available, especially in the area of interactive communications. This will include
discussion groups, e-mail lists, improved speed and an improved search capability, both
for documents and for locating people. One important feature will encourage users to
examine research papers and policy documents in both official languages. Searching on
certain keywords will present the searcher with a list of documents in both French and
English, along with a corresponding list of researchers working in either or both
languages.
The library continues to evolve, with more documents added frequently and much work
"behind the scenes" to standardize and organize the material on the virtual
shelves. One of the goals for the near future is to make the library more prominent and
easier to use. An on-line feedback form will be used to collect comments on how access to
the library might be improved. The address for this will be included in the next News
Flash.
We are anticipating a lot of positive changes in the web network in the next few
months. It should be worth your while to visit often. For more information please contact
Jean Viel at jean.viel@9522apx.cina.cic.x400.gc.ca
Calls For Proposals/Papers
Prairie RFP
The annual RFP for the Prairie Centre is now out. Applications are due by April 30.
1999. For further information please contact Kelly McKean at (780) 492-0898 or on the
website at www.pcerii.metropolis.net
Canadian Woman Studies
The Summer 1999 issue of Canadian Woman Studies will focus on the experiences of
immigrant and refugee women living in Canada. Submissions are due by March 30,1999. For
further information please contact cwscf@yorku.ca
Atlantis
A special issue of Atlantis entitled, "Whose Canada Is It? Immigrant Women, Women
of Colour, Citizenship and Multiculturalism" will be produced in 1999. Submissions
are due by March 15, 1999. For further information please contact Managing Editor, Cecily
Barrie at atlantis@msvu.ca
Conference Information
1st Conference of the Belgian Political Science Association At the Dawn of the 21st
Century:
Democracy in all its States
(Brussels, Belgium March 12-13, 1999)
[Tel] +32 10 47 41 57 (41 90)
[Fax] +32 10 47 46 03
[E-mail] absp@spri.ucl.ac.be
Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism,
(Stanford April 15-17, 1999)
[E-mail] shandon@leland.stanford.edu
Reimagining Belonging,
(Aalborg, Denmark May 6-8 1999)
[E-mail] weier@sprog.auc.dk
ACFAS Annual Conference
(Ottawa May 10-14, 1999)
Marcel Arteau
[Tel] (514) 281-2081
[Fax] (514) 281-5010
Canada and Central Europe at the Threshold of the 21st Century,
(Budapest, Hungary May 13-16, 1999)
Sub-themes: Canada’s First Nations, Founding Nations, Immigrant Heritages, Culture in
Retrospect, the Future Ahead
Blaguss Volanbusz Bureau
[Tel] (361) 117-7777
[Fax] (361) 266-1585
[E-mail] torekya.blaguss@volanbusz.hu
Citizens at the Crossroads: Whose Information Society?
(Ottawa DELAYED UNTIL SEPTEMBER)
Themes:
Ownership and control of electronic and other media networks, services and information
Controversial content, censorship, propoganda and privacy
Civic knowledge, education and participation
Democracy and political action
Human rights, diversity and marginalization
[Fax] (819) 997-6765
[E-mail] sandra_smeltzer@pch.gc.ca
New Integration Strategies,
(Granada, Spain May 1999),
European Migration Centre
[Tel] +49 30 44 65 10 65
[Fax] +49 30 444 10 85
[E-mail] migratio@zdat.fu-berlin.de
Congress of Social Sciences and Humanities
(Sherbrooke, June 2-12, 1999)
[Tel] (613) 238-6112 ext. 312
[Fax] (613) 236-4853
[E-mail] CONGRESS@HSSFC.CA
Association pour la recherche interculturelle (ARIC),
(Nanterre, France June 30-July 3, 1999)
Theme: Knowledge and Issues of Interculturalism
[Tel] +33 1 40 97 47 41
[Fax] +33 1 40 97 47 43
[E-mail] ARIC@u-paris10.fr
The Liberal Order: The Future for Social Justice?
(Olomouc, Czech Republic July 7-12, 1999)
[Fax] +44-1273-681935
[E-mail] social.justice@brighton.ac.uk
Rediscovering Canada,
(Reykjavik, Iceland August 5-8, 1999)
Theme: Canada and the Nordic Countries Compared
[Tel] +45 89422125
[Fax] +45 89422099
[E-mail] engua@hum.aau.dk
International Conference on Immigrants and Isolation
(Toronto August 12-15, 1999)
Victoria Esses
[Tel] (519) 679-2111 Ext. 4650
[E-mail] vesses@julian.uwo.ca
International and Local Migration Policies,
(Lisbon, Portugal September 1999)
European Migration Centre
[Tel] +49 30 44 65 10 65
[Fax] +49 30 444 10 85
[E-mail] migratio@zdat.fu-berlin.de
Nationalism, Identity and Minority Rights,
(Bristol, U.K. September 16-19, 1999)
[E-mail] nat-conf@bris.ac.uk
Ethnic Radicalisation,
(Jerusalem, Israel, January 2000),
European Migration Centre
[Tel] +49 30 44 65 10 65
[Fax] +49 30 444 10 85
[E-mail] migratio@zdat.fu-berlin.de
Immigration Communities, Diasporas and Politics,
(Athens, Greece May 2000)
European Migration Centre
[Tel] +49 30 44 65 10 65
[Fax] +49 30 444 10 85
[E-mail] migratio@zdat.fu-berlin.de
28th World Congress of Political Science
(Quebec City August 1-6, 2000)
Professor John Trent
[Fax] (514) 987-4878
[E-mail] spsq@er.uqam.ca
Human Rights in Europe Since 1945,
(Oslo, Norway Aug 6-13, 2000)
Carole Ink
[Fax] (614) 292-2282
Metropolis Accolades
Metropolis is listed as one of five best practices of cross governmental initiatives
dealing with diversity in the 1998-1999 Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian
Multiculturalism Act. Copies of the report are available on the Canadian Heritage website
or from the Department of Canadian Heritage at (819) 953-7318.
- Charles Ungerleider has been appointed as the Deputy Minister of Education for British
Columbia.
- Bruno Gobeil has left the Metropolis Project Team for a new position at Transport Canada
- Carolle Simard of UQAM has joined the Montreal Centre in domain six (citizenship,
culture and social climate). She is working on a project on political participation of
immigrants and ethnocultural minorities in the greater Montreal region.
- Robert Gauthier has been appointed as the new Director of Research at MRCI.
|
