The Letters of Marshall McLuhan and Pierre Elliott Trudeau: Privacy/Private Matters

There has been a paradigm shift in global communications since the death many years ago of prominent Canadians Marshall McLuhan and Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The correspondence between the two friends, from 1968 to 1980, presciently touched on our contemporary wired global village and the challenges it presents to personal privacy and to freedom of expression. I examine the relationship between the two men, as laid out in their letters and, to a lesser extent, in secondary sources, highlighting matters of privacy and media. Privacy hovers over the correspondence, even when it is not the stated topic. McLuhan, who is credited with the term “global village”, discussed with Trudeau the effect of new media on people’s notions of tribe and identity and privacy. Proving a direct influence from one man to the other, in either direction, is not possible, but there is much to play with. The gap is, as McLuhan often said, “where the action is”.

The role of history in the formulation of Canadian foreign policy statements

Foreign policy statements—and, namely, white papers—offer diplomats, civil servants, and the general public, as well as international actors (friends and foes alike) an understanding of what motivates a country to engage in international issues. They are fundamental government declarations intended to direct the policy process toward its political and operational objectives. Is history embedded in the message these statements carry? And, if so, how is history used? Relying on Brands and Suri’s typology and framing categories (factual/normative), this article explores white papers issued by governments led by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin Jr., as well as the 2017 House of Commons statement by Justin Trudeau’s foreign affairs minister, Chrystia Freeland. Based on Canada’s tradition of Pearsonian internationalism, we hypothesize that the factual use of history would prevail. We find this to be the case, but with important nuances.

Exchanges

In the Exchanges, we present conversations with scholars and practitioners of community engagement, responses to previously published material, and other reflections on various aspects of community-engaged scholarship meant to provoke further dialogue and discussion. In this section, we invite our readers to offer their thoughts and ideas on the meanings and understandings of engaged scholarship, as practiced in local or faraway communities, diverse cultural settings, and in various disciplinary contexts. We especially welcome community-based scholars’ views and opinions on their collaborations with university-based partners in particular and engaged scholarship in general. In this issue, we profile the perspectives of young scholars. Here we feature a conversation between Penelope Sanz, who recently obtained her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Saskatchewan and who serves as the Journal’s pioneering managing assistant, and Jayne Malenfant, a 2018 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Scholar, Vanier Scholar, and Ph.D. Candidate at McGill University in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education. A young engaged scholar working with the homeless in Montreal, Jayne talks about her on-going study on how homelessness impacts young people’s education. She looks at the challenges of accessing educational institutional support, an issue, she says, close to her heart as she was once a homeless youth herself. She reflects on the need for academia to open more spaces for young researchers undertaking engaged scholarship to involve the homeless youths themselves in the search for solutions.