Rt. Hon. Robert L. Stanfield Conversations

The 2026 Stanfield Conversation

Thursday, Oct. 15 | Joseph Strug Concert Hall

After the Rupture: Navigating Democracy and Diversification in a Post-liberal World

We are living through a rupture in the liberal international order, in which the United States - the order’s main architect and Canada’s most trusted post-war ally – is increasingly going rogue. Never has the need to diversify our international relationships been more urgent, but doing so often means getting closer to countries where democracy and human rights are eroding or even absent. This year’s Stanfield Conversation explores some of the dilemmas that come with building these new partnerships, focusing on the challenges and opportunities of deepening relations with Asia’s two rising great powers – China and India.

This year's panelists:

Maxwell Cameron is Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in comparative politics, constitutionalism, democracy, and political ethics. He is the author or editor of a dozen academic books as well as over sixty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Prof. Cameron has been Scholar-in-Residence at the Peter Wall Institute, Acting Director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and President of the Latin American Studies Association.

Lynette Ong is Distinguished Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Toronto and Director of the China Governance Lab at the Munk School. She is the author of numerous books and articles on Chinese politics, and her work has been recognized with the UofT Faculty of Arts & Science Dean’s Research Excellence Award and the SSHRC Insight Award (2024). Her latest book, Outsourcing Repression, has won seven best book awards.

Sanjay Ruparelia is Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University, and holds the Jarislowsky Democracy Chair. He is the author of Divided We Govern: Coalition Politics in Modern India, editor of The Indian Ideology, and co-editor of Understanding India’s New Political Economy: A Great Transformation?  Prof. Ruparelia co-hosts On the Frontlines of Democracy, a monthly podcast and lecture series with TMU School of Journalism and the Toronto Public Library, respectively.

More information, including registration details and the announcement of guest moderator, are coming soon.

Talking Democracy

“WHERE IS DEMOCRACY TODAY?”  is the over-arching focus of the series. Conversations will address themes of both urgent contemporary and enduring importance. Topics may be national or international in scope and explore issues such as populism and the new authoritarianism, ethics in politics, inequality and democracy or accommodating division and diversity. The series will highlight diverse political orientations, while honouring Stanfield’s enduring contributions to public policy and public service grounded in decency and integrity.

Speakers will be chosen from the ranks of distinguished academics, past or present politicians, non-elected political practitioners, journalists, public service, civil society and private sector leaders and public intellectuals. In selecting speakers and topics, the aim will be to meet the highest standards of academic and public interest.

Governance

The series is supported by the Friends of the Stanfield Conversations - a group of respected Canadians from across the country, including many prominent practitioners and scholars of democratic politics, led by co-chairs the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark and the Hon. Anne McLellan (former Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively). Operational activities are managed by a Dalhousie-based organizing committee, supported by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Department of Political Science, the President’s Office, the Office of Advancement, and Communications, Marketing & Creative Services.

Please contact rlsconv@dal.ca if you have any questions about the Stanfield Conversations. 

Fundraising Goal

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the events and conversations, we are working to guarantee this important series is endowed with sufficient capital to provide annual funding in perpetuity.

The annual income on the prospective endowment will cover the costs of presenting high quality programming in a modern format that is suitable for wide distribution on various audio, video and social media platforms, as well as in print publications.