Since 2004, The Avie Bennett Historica Chair in Canadian History has served to promote the study of Canada’s heritage as a vital and lively academic discipline. The Chair was established by the Historica Foundation of Canada, endowed by York Chancellor Emeritus Avie Bennett. Each year, an esteemed lecturer is invited to share their research with historians, students, faculty, and the public at large.
20 Years of the Avie Bennett Historica Canada Chair in Canadian History
The Viewbook presents the research and publications of Professor Marcel Martel, the Avie Bennett Historica Canada Chair in Canadian History. It also features information on our engaging public lectures, external grants, alumni accomplishments, and more.
Download the Viewbook (PDF)
2024 Avie Bennett Historica Lecture
Canada’s Transnational Fighters
Throughout its history, when the Canadian state has decided if the country will go to war, usually in following imperial decisions, national interest, or alliance obligations, its professional service personnel, its reservists, and its citizen base have formed the armed forces. Swearing an oath to the Crown, wearing a uniform, and being bound by a military code of conduct that is different than that of civilian norms and laws has defined those who served and continue to serve in Canada’s armed forces. And yet there is another group of Canadians who have fought in foreign wars. Known as transnational fighters, these Canadians have left Canada to fight abroad. The line between foreign fighters and mercenaries can be a thin one in some cases, but mercenaries are usually fighting primarily for pay. Transnational fighters almost always have other motivations. While some of the transnational fighters have been former members of Canada’s armed services or veterans of its official wars, these soldiers, airmen, or other types of warriors have fought in these conflicts not in the Canadian uniform or guided by its military’s regulations. They are not paid by the Canadian state, have no special veterans’ benefits, and their military commitment has not been officially commemorated. Tens of thousands of Canadians have nonetheless served from immediately before Confederation in wars beyond Canada’s borders. This public lecture will explore why individual Canadians have felt compelled to leave their communities to fight overseas. It will also touch on their experience in the conflict zone, the fighters’ return to Canada, and their treatment within society.
Date: Thursday, September 19, 2024 & Friday, September 20, 2024.
Speaker: Tim Cook
Tim Cook is a historian at the Canadian War Museum (CWM) and the author of 13 books, including his most recent work, The Fight for History: 75 Years of Forgetting, Remembering, and Remaking Canada’s Second World War (2020). He has curated permanent, temporary, travelling, and digital exhibitions. His books have won many awards, including the RBC Taylor Prize. He is a director of Canada’s History Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a member of the Order of Canada.
