Ronald Cohen discusses Canada's innovative approach to two constitutional issues - Nov. 27, 2017

Chartwell Lecture: Canada's Innovative Approach to Two Constitutional Issues with Ronald I. Cohen Monday, Nov. 27, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Robert L. Spurr Lecture Hall (Social Science Building, Room 118)

Don't miss the next Chartwell Lecture of the 2017-18 series featuring Ronald Cohen, MBE, a prominent Canadian attorney. Mr. Cohen's lecture will focus on constitutional arrangements in Canada to address questions that in the United States are governed by provisions of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Canada and the United States share what has been the longest undefended (albeit moderately porous) border in the world. Not surprisingly, given that continental proximity, they are the only two countries whose citizens speak the English language in the distinctive way in which they both do.

That geographical proximity has also over the last half-century resulted in similar experiences in two areas with which Mr. Cohen has had considerable national experience at a high level: organized crime and broadcasting standards. Given the differences in the two countries' respective constitutions, Canada's solutions would not necessarily work on both sides of that undefended border, but Americans will find the Canadian approaches to these issues interesting and thought-provoking.

For several decades, Ronald I. Cohen, served as national chair of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, which administers codes in the areas of broadcast ethics, journalistic ethics, ethno-cultural portrayal and violence on television. A 1964 Harvard graduate, lawyer and film producer, Mr. Cohen has taught on the McGill Faculty of Law and served as senior counsel to the Quebec Police Commission's televised Commission of Inquiry into Organized Crime. He was board chair of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Parking is free after 7:30 p.m. on Monday in the Central Parking Garage and all UAA lots. The west entrance to the Social Sciences Building, just east of that garage and the adjacent parking lot to its north, affords the nearest access to the Robert L. Spurr Lecture Hall.

The Chartwell Lecture Series, organized by the UAA Department of Political Science, features lectures on a wide range of subjects in the humanities and liberal arts. Lectures are free and open to members of the general public. Mr. Cohen's lecture is made possible by a grant from the Elizabeth Tower Endowment for Canadian Studies.

November Archive