The Past Speaks

Fort York, a historic site in Toronto, has recently been hosting a series of public lectures called Parler Fort.

Last night, they hosted an intriguing event called “Dying to Vote in Canada and the Middle East”. The event compared the struggle for democracy in 19th century Canada with the ongoing Arab Spring in the Middle East.  I suppose this is an interesting way of getting people interested in the 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada, although I think that the analogy might be a bit strained.  Anyway, here was the blurb about the talk.

Today, democratic revolutions are sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East. Canada’s democratic reform movement in the mid-19th century succeeded while those in countries across Europe were suppressed violently, with tens of thousands dying. Find out how these democratic struggles are similar and different.

Join award-winning essayist and novelist John Ralston Saul and Professor Thabit Abdullah (Professor of History, York University) as they engage each other and the audience in a discussion of the current state of democracy in Canada, and our nation’s role in encouraging democratic movements in other countries.
Mr. Saul brings to life the story of Canada’s struggle to achieve a just democracy that brought together opposing religions, languages and races while practicing political restraint even in the face of counter-revolution. He will draw on his many books including his latest, Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin as well as on his experiences as the President of PEN International and Co-Chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.
Professor Abdullah will discuss the issues and the possible outcomes of the “Arab Spring” in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria & Iraq. He is the author of A Short History of Iraq; Merchants, Mamluks, and Murder: The Political Economy of Trade in Eighteenth Century Basra and the co-editor of Arab and Islamic Studies in Honor of Marsden Jones.

Read more here.