Stephen Clarkson was born on October 21, 1937, and died on February 28, 2016.
He was one of Canada’s incomparable political scientists and a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto.
Stephen Clarkson later work focuses mostly on two areas: the evolution of North America as a continental state, reinstitutionalized by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and two decades of neo-conservatism; and the impact of globalization and trade liberalization on the Canadian state.
Clarkson publications on these subjects include Uncle Sam and Us: Globalization, Neoconservatism, and the Canadian State, published in 2002; and Global Governance and the Semi-peripheral State: The WTO and NAFTA as Canada’s External Constitution in Governing under Stress: Middle Powers and the Challenge of Globalization”.
He has taught and written on Canadian foreign policy and federal party politics.
Following an unsuccessful campaign as the Liberal candidate for the mayoralty of Toronto in 1969, Clarkson was active in the Liberal Party for six years.
After the retirement of Pierre Trudeau’s from active politics in 1984, Stephen Clarkson spent a decade co-authoring the epic, Trudeau and Our Times, with his wife Christina McCall, which won the Governor General’s Award for non-fiction.
Stephen knowledge and experience in Canadian politics led to the commissioning of a history of federal election campaigns in Canada from 1974 onward.
However, essays were the foundation of his 2005 book, The Big Red Machine: How the Liberal Party Dominates Canadian Politics.
He was a renowned for his teaching, and receiving many teaching awards in his tenure at the University of Toronto.
Stephen Clarkson was a great encourager of “the engaged” life, taking his students on extra-curricular field studies to Washington, D.C. and Mexico, and urging them to resist the world around them if they feel so inclined.
He was a frequent commentator in Canadian politics, in both English and French.
He loved the art of different languages, he was also proficient in Spanish, German, Russian and Italian.
Clarkson gained a B.A. from the University of Toronto, an M.A. from the University of Oxford, and a D. de Rech. from the University of Paris.
Stephen Clarkson was a Senior Fellow at Massey College, a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, Ontario and,, was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, in 2004.
Stephen Clarkson was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2010.
His first wife was then broadcaster and future Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson with whom he has two daughters.
Stephen Clarkson second wife was the late political writer Christina McCall, with whom he had a daughter.
Stephen Clarkson died in Germany while he was on a research trip with his student.
Stephen Clarkson passed away at 78 yrs old.