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Hugh Alan Craig Cairns, (2 March 1930 – 27 August 2018) was a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
political scientist and professor. His scholarship focused on diverse topics within
Canadian politics The politics of Canada functions within a framework of Parliamentary system, parliamentary democracy and a federation, federal system of Parliament of Canada, parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutio ...
, including federalism, the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...
, electoral politics, the role of the courts, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and Indigenous issues. Cairns was a leading expert of federalism and governance, and his scholarship remains foundational in Canadian political science.


Biography


Early life

Cairns was born on 2 March 1930 in
Galt, Ontario Galt is a community in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River. Prior to 1973, it was an independent city, incorporated in 1915, but amalgamation with the village o ...
(modern day
Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand and Speed River, Speed rivers, in the central part of the Ontario Peninsula. The city had a population ...
) to Scottish immigrants Hugh Cairns and Lily Crawford, a factory worker and homemaker respectively. He had two older brothers, John and Jim Cairns. He was a star pitcher for the baseball team the Galt Pups.


Education

For secondary school, Cairns attended
Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School (GCI) is one of sixteen secondary schools in the Waterloo Region District School Board, located in Cambridge, Ontario, Cambridge, Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, and Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Founded ...
. He did his undergraduate and master's degrees at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
. He achieved his doctorate at
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, conducting research on British precolonial views of Africa while in
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
.


Career

Cairns worked as a professor at the
University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
from 1960 to his retirement in 1995. He served as the head of the political science department from 1973 to 1980. He held visiting appointments at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, University of Toronto,
Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...
,
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, Queen's University,
University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...
, and
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
. Starting 2000, after his retirement from University of British Columbia, he served as adjunct professor at the
University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...
, as a guest lecturer in upper year seminars and an examiner for masters defences. Cairns was a member of the Hawthorn Report (officially ''A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada: Economic, Political, Educational Needs and Policies'') in 1966 and 1967. The report was undertaken following a 1964 request by the
Canadian federal government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ...
to the University of British Columbia to assess the well-being of Canada's
Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
. The report, edited by Harry B. Hawthorn, found that Indigenous people should be regarded as part of Canada's community, but with "plus" components added to citizenship, reflecting their historical and contemporary deprivation of citizenship benefits and subjection to violence. The specific contents of the "plus" were to be worked out in future political processes, but were to follow Indigenous treaties and traditions. The findings were rejected by the government in favour of a system of civic integration embodied in the 1969 Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy, also known as the "White Paper." He served as an adviser to the government of British Columbia during the constitution
patriation Patriation is the political process that led to full Canadian sovereignty, culminating with the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The process was necessary because, at the time, under the '' Statute of Westminster, 1931'', and with Canada's agreemen ...
negotiations of the 1970s and 1980s.


Personal life

Cairns married Patricia Grady and had three daughters. From 2000 until his death, he lived with his partner Anne Innis Dagg in Waterloo. Dagg was a zoologist renowned for her work on giraffes, and the daughter of economic historian
Harold Innis Harold Adams Innis (November 5, 1894 – November 8, 1952) was a Canadian professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and the author of seminal works on media, communication theory, and economic history of Canada, Canadian econo ...
and historian Mary Quayle. Cairns was a member of the
Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...
.


Death

Cairns died 27 August 2018 in
Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto, but it is n ...
.


Scholarship and legacy

Cairns' scholarship has explored a multitude of issues within Canadian political science, sparking decades of debate and refinement of his ideas. In reference to Cairn's intellectual legacy, Gerald Kernerman and Philip Resnick state: "On a remarkably wide range of topics – from the regional impact of Canada's electoral system, the role of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and the development of Canadian federalism to the ongoing efforts to constitutionally reshape the federation and the effects on minorities of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Cairns has initiated and shaped many of our most pivotal debates." Following the Hawthorn Report, Cairns invented the phrase "Citizens plus" to refer to Indigenous Canadians' role in Canadian federalism, referring to a complex vision of Indigenous integration into the Canadian political structure that accommodates different sets of rights based on relevant historical, socioeconomic, and cultural differences, in opposition to the White Paper's assimilationist stance. His approach to Indigenous federalism has been criticized by authors writing for the Review of Constitutional Studies for misrepresenting Indigenous nationalism, subjugating Indigenous differences under broad constitutional one-ness, and framing Indigenous rights movement as supplicants. In the Canadian political science debate of whether Canada was initially intended to be centralized or decentralized, Cairns said in 1971 that "the pursuit of the real meaning of the onstitution Act, 1867is ..a meaningless game, incapable of a decisive outcome." He was among the first authors who argued that the Canadian electoral system exacerbates regional cleavages by awarding parties that concentrate regionally rather than at a national scale. Cairns' most famous piece of writing on Canadian politics is likely his 1971 article "The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and its Critics" which discusses
judicial activism Judicial activism is a judicial philosophy holding that courts can and should go beyond the applicable law to consider broader societal implications of their decisions. It is sometimes used as an antonym of judicial restraint. The term usually ...
in Canada. It is often listed as one of the most-cited academic works concerned with the Canadian political system. Publications by Cairns continue to be among the most read in Canadian political science. His "The Electoral System and the Party System in Canada: 1921–1965" is the most used individual political science text across Canadian political science university departments, and three more works appear in the top ten most used.


Honours and awards

* 1982:
Molson Prize The Thomas Henry Pentland Molson Prize for the Arts is awarded by the Canada Council, Canada Council for the Arts. Two prizes are awarded annually to distinguished individuals. One prize is awarded in the arts, one in the social sciences and human ...
for his outstanding contributions to Canadian social science. Given by Andre Fortier. * 1988: Officer of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
for his influence in shaping modern Canadian politics. * 2003: City of Cambridge Hall of Fame. He has received honorary degrees from
Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...
(1994), The University of Toronto (1996),
The University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada. With an annual research budget of $893million, UBC funds 9,992 projects annually in various fields o ...
(1998) and the
University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...
(2002).


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cairns, Alan 1930 births 2018 deaths Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford Canadian political scientists Canadian people of Scottish descent Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Academic staff of the University of British Columbia University of Toronto alumni People from Cambridge, Ontario Presidents of the Canadian Political Science Association