March 26, 2025 | 4:00- 5:00PM | Dodson Room, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
Natural resource exports have been central to the Canadian economy since European colonization, though the resources in question have evolved from codfish and furs, to forest products and wheat, to fossil fuels in recent decades. Professor Harrison will weave together her research on the domestic and global political economies of coal, oil, and gas with her own life experience as a descendent of coal miners, an engineer in the oil sands, and current opponent of fossil fuel infrastructure. The lecture will examine why this is a pivotal economic and political moment for Canada’s fossil fuel exports, and what might lie ahead.
Kathryn Harrison is Professor of Political Science and McLean Family Chair in Canadian Studies at the University of British Columbia. She received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering before completing her PhD in Political Science. Professor Harrison has worked in the oil industry and as a policy analyst for both Environment Canada and the United States Congress. She has served as Senior Associate Dean and Acting Dean in the UBC Faculty of Arts. Harrison has published widely on Canadian and US climate policy. She is chair of the Expert Advisory Panel on climate mitigation of the Canadian Climate Institute and a member of British Columbia’s Climate Solutions Council. Harrison is a frequent media commentator on climate policy.
Past Public Lecture
February 5, 2025: Climate Change and Canadian Federalism: Can’t We All Just Get Along?
February 26, 2025: Canada and the Comparative Politics of Carbon Taxes