Statement by Executive Council of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) on University Budget Cuts to Canadian Studies

The Executive Council of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) wishes to publicly recognize the impact that the economic recession is having on many university budgets across the US and Canada. Faced with underperforming endowments, reduced tax revenues, and weaker revenue streams from private donors and grant agencies, the field of Canadian studies is not immune from the challenges posed by these financially uncertain times. Whereas news of hiring freezes, cuts to graduate student funding and faculty travel has become commonplace recently, at the more extreme end, some Canadian studies programs have lost entire budget line items and face the prospect of significant disruptions to their overall mandate – to promote and advance research on Canada and Canada-US relations. This should be of immediate concern to every professional whose goal is the promotion of the bilateral relationship. Canada is the United States' closest neighbor, largest trading partner, G-7 and NATO collaborator, and one of the world's most important industrial countries. We are already seeing established programs and torchbearers in the study of Canada paring down and in some cases canceling major elements of their programming. Effective today, for example, the Centre for Canadian Studies at Simon Fraser University will close its door due to the elimination of its entire budget. The impact this will have on downstream research cannot be underestimated. As the national level advocate of Canadian studies in the US, ACSUS occupies an important leadership role in advancing the promotion of bilateral academic relations. We strongly encourage university administrators to familiarize themselves fully with the benefits that Canadian studies research contributes to the strong economic, political, and cultural partnership defining Canada-US relations. Both the Obama Administration and the Harper Government accord the highest priority to the bilateral relationship, considered to be each country’s most important alliance. According to the United States Department of State: The relationship between the United States and Canada is the closest and most extensive in the world. It is reflected in the staggering volume of bilateral trade--the equivalent of $1.5 billion a day in goods--as well as in people-to-people contact. About 300,000 people cross the shared border every day. Defence and security, border cooperation, environment, energy, science, technology and innovation, trade and investment are all areas where Canada and the US are significantly and inseparably interdependent. Hundreds of academics teaching in Canadian studies programs across the US and Canada play an irreplaceable role in helping inform policy on Canada-US relations. At a time when public attention is focused on North American trade issues, border security and environmental concerns, it is short-sighted and counter-productive to cut back on important teaching and research initiatives in these areas. ACSUS strongly supports the continuation of funding for programs with a focus on Canada and opposes any measures taken at the administrative level that would compromise or eliminate this important field of research in the social sciences and humanities. The integrated nature of the Canada-US partnership demands future leaders possessing the tools to successfully navigate an increasingly complex world. The academic community represented and supported by ACSUS is key to this future success.

Canada-US Relations Fast Facts:

• The U.S. and Canada enjoy an economic partnership unique in the world. The two nations share the world's largest and most comprehensive trading relationship, which supports millions of jobs in each country. In 2007, total trade between the two countries exceeded $560 billion.

• The U.S. is Canada's leading agricultural market, taking 55% of its agro-food exports in 2007.

• The U.S. and Canada enjoy the largest energy trade relationship in the world. Canada is the single largest foreign supplier of energy to the U.S.--providing 17% of U.S. oil imports and 18% of U.S. natural gas demand.

• Canada and the U.S. have one of the world's largest investment relationships. The U.S. is Canada's largest foreign investor. Statistics Canada reports that at the end of 2007, the stock of U.S. foreign direct investment in Canada was $289 billion, or about 59% of total foreign direct investment in Canada.

• Canada is the fifth largest foreign investor in the U.S. At the end of 2006, the U.S. Commerce Department estimates that Canadian investment in the United States was $159 billion at historical cost basis.

• U.S.-Canada security cooperation to create a safe and secure border is exemplary. Canadian and U.S. federal and local law enforcement personnel fight cross-border crime through cooperation on joint Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBETs).

• The U.S. and Canada also work closely to resolve trans-boundary environmental issues, an area of increasing importance in the bilateral relationship. A principal instrument of this cooperation is the International Joint Commission (IJC),

• U.S. defense arrangements with Canada are more extensive than with any other country. The Permanent Joint Board on Defense, established in 1940, provides policy-level consultation on bilateral defense matters and the U.S. and Canada share NATO mutual security commitments.

• In fields ranging from law enforcement to environmental protection to free trade, the two countries work closely on multiple levels from federal to local. In addition to their close bilateral ties, Canada and the U.S. cooperate in multilateral fora. For more details on this unique partnership, visit: • US Department of State’s Canada file: http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/ca/ • US Embassy in Ottawa: http://ottawa.usembassy.gov/ • Canadian Embassy in Washington http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/washington/ • Foreign Affairs & International Trade Canada’s US file: http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/can-am/index.aspx?lang=eng ABOUT ACSUS

The Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) is a multi-disciplinary membership based organization committed to raising awareness and understanding of Canada and the bilateral relationship. ACSUS promotes research and academic activity through its publications, conferences, and grant programs; supports the academy through active advocacy and outreach; and positions the community by profiling the scope and diversity of research undertaken by the ACSUS membership in the humanities and social sciences.

The level of interdependence between Canada and the United States makes this partnership Canada’s most important bilateral relationship. The academic community plays an important part in helping to educate policy makers and the public-private sectors about the economic, political, trade, security, defense, environmental, technological, scientific, and cultural dimensions of Canada-US relations.

In the United States there are more than seventy universities teaching courses on Canada to an estimated 20,000 undergraduate students each year. Five regional associations are also actively engaged in raising awareness of Canada.