Professor Frank Tough delivered the May 2013 Father Edgar Thivierge Speaker Series Lecture to a packed audience of students and professors from the University of Ottawa — the Telfer School of Management, the Department of History, the School of Political Studies, and the Faculty of Law — and guests from the Federal Government. Professor of Native Studies and adjunct professor with the Department of Rural Economy at the University of Alberta, Professor Tough provided a fascinating historical perspective on the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark ruling in Manitoba Metis Federation Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), 2013.  Tough discussed how the historical background can be examined to assess the “honour of the Crown” in reconciling the assertion of Canadian sovereignty/the settlement of the prairie west with Métis entitlements. The lecture was followed by a lively question-and-answer session with the audience.

Professor Cheryl S. McWatters is the Father Edgar Thivierge Chair in Business History at the Telfer School of Management (cross-appointment to the Department of History, Faculty of Arts). The Father Edgar Thivierge Speaker Series provides an opportunity to learn about the historic contexts that shape Canada’s economy and society. The first speaker in the series was the Right Honourable Paul Martin, who in April 2012 spoke to students in Dr. McWatters’s MBA course, The Global Context of Business: Merchants, Traders, Capitalists and Profit Seekers.