2022 Program Highlights

The organizing committee is delighted to announce two keynote speakers joining us for the 2022 APPSA conference at Saint Mary’s University.

2022 APPSA Keynote Address/ Public Lecture

Dr. Pamela D. Palmater

Resistance and Resurgence: Contesting the Colonization of our Collective Futures

September 30, 2022, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm

Loyola 290, Saint Mary’s University

Dr. Pamela Palmater

Dr. Pamela D. Palmater, Toronto Metropolitan University

Dr. Pamela Palmater is a Mi’kmaw lawyer, professor, author, and social justice activist from Ugpi’ganjig (Eel River Bar First Nation). She holds 4 university degrees, including a Doctorate in Law from Dalhousie University specializing in Indigenous law. She currently holds the position of full Professor and Chair in Indigenous Governance at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Pam was one of the spokespeople and public educators for the Idle No More movement and advocates alongside other movements focusing on social justice and human rights. She is frequently called as a legal expert before Parliamentary, Senate and United Nations committees dealing with laws and policies impacting Indigenous peoples and is considered one of Canada’s Top 25 Influential Movers and Shakers by the Financial Post.

2022 APPSA Luncheon Keynote

Dr. Joanna Erdman

The Politics of Abortion Rights after the Fall of Roe v. Wade

October 1, 2022, at 12:15-1:45 pm,

Loyola 290, Saint Mary’s University

Abstract: On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and overturned Roe v. Wade. The court’s majority declared that the U.S. Constitution no longer protected the right to abortion – and that it never did. The decision has left people desperately seeking care and despairing about the future of American life. The reversal alarmed Canadians too, who asked: Can it happen here? Yet abortion rights in Canada are rooted in a different constitutional history and tradition. Decades of activism after R v. Morgentaler have forged our abortion rights into an ever more democratic and collective character such that on the fall of Roe, our governments vowed to defend these rights. In moments of crisis – constitutional crises, too – governments can do extraordinary things. A visionary politics defines abortion rights in Canada today. Abortion rights beyond access to a single health care service. Abortion rights are linked to equality and justice in economic and social life. With this vision, let us ask: Can it happen here?

Dr. Joanna Erdman, Dalhousie University

Dr. Joanna Erdman is a Professor and the inaugural MacBain Chair in Health Law and Policy at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University. She holds a JD from the University of Toronto and an LLM from Harvard Law School, and she completed a fellowship at Yale Law School. Dr. Erdman’s research focuses on sexual and reproductive health and human rights in a transnational context with a specialization in abortion law and policy.

The 2022 APPSA Conference Will Feature Three Special Panels:

I. Special Panel: “Alexa McDonough “When in Doubt Do Both”” (9:00-10:30 am on October 1, in Loyola 282)

Chair: Alexandra Dobrowolsky (Saint Mary’s University)

  • Susan Bringham (Mount Saint Vincent University, former Chair of the Alexa McDonough Institute)
  • Joanna Everitt (University of New Brunswick, Saint John)
  • Tammy Findlay (Mount Saint Vincent University)
  • Stephen Kimber (Author, Alexa! Changing the Face of Canadian Politics)
  • Leonard Preyra (Former Cabinet Minister and MLA for Halifax Citadel – Sable Island)
  • Meredith Ralston (Mount Saint Vincent University)

II. Special Panel: “The Ukraine-Russia War of 2022: Ukrainian and International Responses to the Russian Invasion” (3:45-5:15 pm on October 1, in Loyola 282):

Chair: Lyubov Zhyznomirska (Saint Mary’s University)

  • Varvara Parkhomenko (Conflict Analyst)
  • Donald Bowser (Founder, INGO “Support to Ukraine Recovery Initiative”)
  • Anders Hayden (Dalhousie University)
  • Denis Kozlov (Dalhousie University)
  • Ruben Zaiotti (Dalhousie University)
  • Lyubov Zhyznomirska (Saint Mary’s University)

This panel on the Ukraine-Russia war is organized in conjunction with the Jean Monnet European Union Centre of Excellence, Dalhousie University.

III. Special Panel: “Climate Emergencies: Exploring the Political Economy of Global Climate Breakdown” (9:00-10:30 am on October 2, in Loyola 282)

Chair: Kate Ervine (Saint Mary’s University)

  • Dr. Ali Bhagat (Saint Mary’s University)
  • Dr. Kate Ervine (Saint Mary’s University)
  • Dr. Arturo Ezquerro-Cañete (Saint Mary’s University)
  • Dr. Sarah E. Sharma (University of Victoria)

This panel on Climate Emergencies is co-sponsored by the Department of Global Development Studies, Saint Mary’s University.