Michael Ignatieff Keynote | “Not Politics as Usual” Conference

In his keynote address, Michael Ignatieff reflects on the strains facing constitutional democratic in Canada and the United States. He argues that authoritarian populism rises when democracies fail to deliver for their citizens and asks what it would take to renew Canada’s constitutional architecture without concentrating power in the executive. Michael Ignatieff, PC, CM, is a professor and writer who served as Leader of the Official Opposition of Canada and as President and Rector of Central European University. This keynote was recorded on June 5, 2026, at the Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal in Montréal, Canada, as part of “Not Politics as Usual: Challenges to Constitutional Governance in Canada and the United States,” the latest conference in the Slater Family Canada-US Policy Series at the Max Bell School of Public Policy. Read more about the conference here: https://www.mcgill.ca/maxbellschool/e... ——— ▶ Website: https://www.mcgill.ca/maxbellschool/ ▶ MPP program: https://www.mcgill.ca/maxbellschool/m... ▶ Facebook:   / maxbellpublicpolicy   ▶ Instagram:   / maxbellpublicpolicy   ▶ Twitter:   / maxbellschool   ▶ LinkedIn:   / maxbellschool