Canadian
Historical
Association
W
hat
H
as
the
CHA
D
one
for
Y
ou
L
ately
?
• Published theJournalof the Canadian HistoricalAssociation,
despite continuons threats to scholarly publishing funding. • MaintainedtheHistorical Booklet Sériés and publishedLand
of Promise, Promised Land: The Culture of Victorian Science in Canada,by Suzanne Zeller.
•Maintainedthe Canada^ Ethnie Group Booklet Sériés and
published The Anglo-Normans in Eastem Canada, by YvesFrenette.
• Chosen and awarded several prizes,including the Sir John A. Macdonald Prize, the Wallace K. FergusonPrize, the John
BullenPrize and theRégional History Certificatesof Merit (now to be called the Clio Awards).
• Launched atwo-year study on the Status ofWomen inthe
profession.
• Lobbied the fédéralgovemment for changestothe Copyright Bill which potentiallythreatens the righttomake a single copy for research purposesof an archivaidocumentstill covered by
copyright.
•Joined a successfulinternational lobbying effort to save the
Max Planck Institutefor History in Gottingen.
• Participated in aneffortby humanistsand social scientists to
change the proposed Tri-Council Code ofConduct ; that is, to deleteprovisions thatwould hâve seriouslyimpeded historical
research.
• Published the Register of Post-GraduateDissertations.
• Produced three newsletters on a shoe-string budget. • Organized thesuccessful Annual Meeting inSt. John’s. • Nowbusyorganizingnextyear’s meeting in Ottawa!!
• During thepast yearthe CHA/S.H.C. has devoteda
considérable amountof attention and timeto lobbying on two issues in particular.
The“Tri-CouncilCodeofConduct”, a research protocol beingdeveloped at the behest of thethree fédéralgranting
councils (Medical Research Council, Natural Sciences and
Engineering Research Council, andSocial Sciences and
HumanitiesResearchCouncil), will apply toail research “involving humans” done in Canadian universities. A draft
circulated in the spring of1996 posed significant dangersfor historical research by attempting to force ail such research into amedical/healthsciences moldand by compelling researcherstogivethe subjects of researchextraordinary
controlof theproduct of inquiry. Strenuous lobbyingin concertwithother organizations induced the granting councils to allowmore time for révisions. Arevised andimproved draft was produced in February1997, and a ftirther révision is to be circulated in the late summer or autumn. The
CHA/S.H.C. intends to maintain a watching brief on this
matter, and iturges its members to do likewise.
Also problematic was Bill C-32, a measureto modernizethe
CopyrightAct. As drafted in 1996, itwouldhâve madeit impossible forarchives to make a singlecopyof an
unpubUshed work that stillwasunder copyright, evenfor
researchpurposes. Again, an energetic lobbying effort carried out with other interested organizations resultedin
improvements at the committee stage in the autumn of 1996,
but continued lobbying was necessary to preserve these gains
when thelégislation retumed tothe Commons forthird reading. Themeasure, with a clause on research photocopy-ing that is tolerable tohistorical researchers,received royal assent in lateApril 1997. Proclamation of the measureis expected once régulations that are essentialto the operation of several clauses hâve beendrafted. TheActis expected to corne into forcein the autumn of this year.
Inboththeseinstances, the CHA/S.H.C. has workedhard,
withinvaluable support from many other organizations and individuals, to ensure thatpolicies that affect historical research of ail kinds in Canada were developed in an
acceptable manner.
Jim Miller