Governor's General Award 2002 -David R. Cameron

David R. Cameron, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto, is a widely respected scholar and teacher who is also well know for his significant career in public service at both federal and provincial levels of government. Throughout his career, Dr. Cameron has maintained an active interest in Canadian government and politics and, in particular, questions of federalism, Quebec nationalism, French-English relations, constitutional renewal and national unity. More recently, he has been working in the international and comparative field. All of his endeavors have been marked by a deep and abiding interest in the well-being of Canada and its peoples, and in the promotion of an understanding of Canada abroad.

A graduate of the University of British Columbia, where he received his B.A., and of the London School of Economics, where he received his M.Sc. and Ph.D., Dr. Cameron began his academic career at Trent University where he was Chairman of the Department of Political Studies and Dean of Arts and Science. In 1977 he became Director of Research of the Pepin-Robarts Task Force on Canadian Unity and in 1979 joined the Government of Canada as an Advisor in the Federal-Provincial Relations Office and a member of the Coordination Group working on the Quebec Referendum. Subsequently, he became Assistant Secretary to Cabinet for Strategic and Constitutional Planning. In his final three years in Ottawa, Dr. Cameron was Assistant Undersecretary of State, Education Support, during which time he oversaw the creation of the government of Canada’s Canadian Studies support programme to encourage teaching and writing about Canada.

In 1985 David Cameron went to the University of Toronto as Vice-President of Institutional Relations and Professor of Political Science where he remained until his appointment as Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Ontario Government in 1987. In May 1989 he was appointed the Ontario Representative to the Government of Quebec and Special Advisor on Constitutional Reform to then Premier David Peterson, a role he performed until his return to academic life in 1990. Since then, he has continued to provide constitutional, national-unity and intergovernmental advice to the Government of Ontario and was one of the Province’s chief negotiators during the Charlottetown constitutional discussions.

In the mid-1970s he published two books: The Social Thought of Rousseau and Burke: A Comparative Study and Nationalism, Self-Determination and the Quebec Question. Several of his other works have been published in Canadian and international journals, and he has given papers to academic audiences in the United States, Germany, Israel, Japan, Korea and Mexico. Taking Stock : Canadian Studies in the Nineties, a major review of Canadian studies which Dr. Cameron undertook for the federal government, and published in February 1996 by the Association for Canadian Studies, was and remains an important document on the state of the field both domestically and abroad. He has also completed a research study for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples which examines the relationship between Native people and the Government of Ontario.

From 1996 until 1998, he was the editor and coordinator of the C.D. Howe Institute’s series of studies examining the prospects for Canada in the light of the 1995 Quebec referendum. In that series, Dr. Cameron, with Janice Stein and Richard Simeon, published Citizen Engagement in Conflict Resolution: Are There Lessons for Canada in International Experience? (1997) and The Referendum Papers: Essays on Secession and National Unity (University of Toronto Press, 1999). Cycling Into Saigon: The 1995 Conservative Transition in Ontario, written with Graham White, was published in the autumn of 2000 by UBC Press. In 2001, Dr. Cameron, with his co-editor, Fraser Valentine, published Disability and Federalism: Comparing Different Approaches to Full Participation, as well as a major research report for the Walkerton Water Inquiry.
Dr. Cameron has been a Halbert Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and now chairs the Halbert Advisory Committee of the Hebrew University. He has advised the Estonian Government on constitutional reform, and national and sub-national governments in Russia and India on the management of their federation. In 2002, he was awarded the University of Toronto Ludwick and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize.

Governor General's International Award for Canadian Studies: 2002 - David R. Cameron

		David R. Cameron
	David R. Cameron, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto, is a widely respected scholar and teacher who is also well know for his significant career in public service at both federal and provincial levels of government. Throughout his career, Dr. Cameron has maintained an active interest in Canadian government and politics and, in particular, questions of federalism, Quebec nationalism, French-English relations, constitutional renewal and national unity. More recently, he has been working in the international and comparative field. All of his endeavors have been marked by a deep and abiding interest in the well-being of Canada and its peoples, and in the promotion of an understanding of Canada abroad. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, where he received his B.A., and of the London School of Economics, where he received his M.Sc. and Ph.D., Dr. Cameron began his academic career at Trent University where he was Chairman of the Department of Political Studies and Dean of Arts and Science. In 1977 he became Director of Research of the Pepin-Robarts Task Force on Canadian Unity and in 1979 joined the Government of Canada as an Advisor in the Federal-Provincial Relations Office and a member of the Coordination Group working on the Quebec Referendum. Subsequently, he became Assistant Secretary to Cabinet for Strategic and Constitutional Planning. In his final three years in Ottawa, Dr. Cameron was Assistant Undersecretary of State, Education Support, during which time he oversaw the creation of the government of Canada’s Canadian Studies support programme to encourage teaching and writing about Canada. In 1985 David Cameron went to the University of Toronto as Vice-President of Institutional Relations and Professor of Political Science where he remained until his appointment as Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Ontario Government in 1987. In May 1989 he was appointed the Ontario Representative to the Government of Quebec and Special Advisor on Constitutional Reform to then Premier David Peterson, a role he performed until his return to academic life in 1990. Since then, he has continued to provide constitutional, national-unity and intergovernmental advice to the Government of Ontario and was one of the Province’s chief negotiators during the Charlottetown constitutional discussions. In the mid-1970s he published two books: The Social Thought of Rousseau and Burke: A Comparative Study and Nationalism, Self-Determination and the Quebec Question. Several of his other works have been published in Canadian and international journals, and he has given papers to academic audiences in the United States, Germany, Israel, Japan, Korea and Mexico. Taking Stock : Canadian Studies in the Nineties, a major review of Canadian studies which Dr. Cameron undertook for the federal government, and published in February 1996 by the Association for Canadian Studies, was and remains an important document on the state of the field both domestically and abroad. He has also completed a research study for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples which examines the relationship between Native people and the Government of Ontario. From 1996 until 1998, he was the editor and coordinator of the C.D. Howe Institute’s series of studies examining the prospects for Canada in the light of the 1995 Quebec referendum. In that series, Dr. Cameron, with Janice Stein and Richard Simeon, published Citizen Engagement in Conflict Resolution: Are There Lessons for Canada in International Experience? (1997) and The Referendum Papers: Essays on Secession and National Unity (University of Toronto Press, 1999). Cycling Into Saigon: The 1995 Conservative Transition in Ontario, written with Graham White, was published in the autumn of 2000 by UBC Press. In 2001, Dr. Cameron, with his co-editor, Fraser Valentine, published Disability and Federalism: Comparing Different Approaches to Full Participation, as well as a major research report for the Walkerton Water Inquiry. Dr. Cameron has been a Halbert Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and now chairs the Halbert Advisory Committee of the Hebrew University. He has advised the Estonian Government on constitutional reform, and national and sub-national governments in Russia and India on the management of their federation. In 2002, he was awarded the University of Toronto Ludwick and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize. Close this window