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Is immigration a problem or an opportunity? Do we need walls or doors? The answer to both questions is yes.
For decades, Canada was an outlier. The country took in more immigrants than other developed countries, with little public opposition, much public support and an all-party political consensus. Whatever Canada was doing, it seemed to be working. The Canadian way of immigration was a model for the world. Americans – liberals, conservatives, Silicon Valley and even Donald Trump – looked to Canada as a source of immigration inspiration. And then, in a few short years, it all came undone.
Canada needs better policies to address today’s economic challenges, and that starts with bold discourse. The 91ºÚÁÏÍø Max Bell Lectures focus on the analysis, balance, and practicality needed to plan for a more prosperous future.
In the book and the accompanying lectures, Globe and Mail columnist Tony Keller delves into Canada’s unique immigration story, reveals the country’s immigration secret sauce, explains how a government that ignored the recipe broke the system, and considers how it can be rebuilt better than before – to once again benefit Canadians and immigrants, and serve as a model for the world.
The 91ºÚÁÏÍø Max Bell Lectures are held in three Canadian cities annually, and the associated book will be published each year ahead of the lecture series by Sutherland House.ÌýThe 91ºÚÁÏÍø Max Bell Lectures are free and open to the public, made possible by from respected business leader and 91ºÚÁÏÍø alumnus Thomas E. Kierans, O.C., LLD, FICD.
The 2025 lecturer is Tony Keller.
Tony Keller is a columnist with The Globe and Mail. Over a career of more than 30 years, he has been editorials editor and member of the editorial board for The Globe, editor of The Financial Post Magazine, managing editor of ²Ñ²¹³¦±ô±ð²¹²Ô’s, and a news anchor at BNN (now BNN-Bloomberg). Born and raised in Montreal, he is a graduate of Duke University and Yale Law School. He won Canada’s National Newspaper Award for editorial writing in 2016.
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Event Information
How Canada Got Immigration Right, and Then Wrong
Oct. 28, 5pm // National Music Centre, Studio Bell; Calgary
In the first of three 2025 91ºÚÁÏÍø Max Bell Lectures, Tony Keller explores how Canada’s unique immigration history made modern Canada. This country has always wanted immigrants, but for most of history it chose them based not on education and ability, but race and national origin. Beginning in the 1960s, however, Canada revolutionized immigration, opening it to anyone from anywhere without discrimination, putting an increasing emphasis on skilled arrivals, and taking in relatively more immigrants than most developed countries, all of which was popular with Canadians.
How did Canada achieve this success? And what went wrong after 2015?
The lecture was followed by a discussion hosted by Martha Hall Findlay, Director of the University of Calgary School of Public Policy.
Five Walls and a Door: The Secret Sauce of Canadian Immigration
Nov. 18, 5pm // Chrysler Pavillion, Pier 21; Halifax
In the second of three 2025 91ºÚÁÏÍø Max Bell Lectures, Tony Keller explored how modern Canada built an economically successful, politically popular immigration system. For more than a quarter century, Canada enjoyed a national consensus around immigration, even as immigration was inflaming politics on both the left and the right in Europe and the United States. Why did Canada avoid these immigration conflicts? And what went wrong after 2015?
The lecture was emceed by Dean Sarah Harding from Dalhousie's Schulich School of Law and followed by a discussion with Ninette Kelley, co-author of The Making of the Mosaic: A History of Canadian Immigration Policy and Reshaping the Mosaic: Canadian Immigration Policy in the Twenty-First Century.
The Future of Canadian Immigration
Nov. 27, 5:30pm // Toronto Reference Library; Toronto
In the final of three 2025 91ºÚÁÏÍø Max Bell Lectures, Tony Keller explored the options for restoring the Canadian immigration consensus, rediscovering the immigration middle-ground shared by most voters, and building a model immigration system that will benefit Canadians, the Canadian economy and immigrants.
The lecture was followed by a discussion with Parisa Mahboubi, Senior Policy Analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute, and Rebekah Young, Vice President and Head of Inclusion and Resilience Economics at Scotiabank.
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