The IIGR regretfully acknowledges the passing of Peter Leslie on November 18th, 2010. Peter was the Director of the Institute from 1984 to 1988 and remained a Fellow until his death. Peter belonged to a unique group of Canadians who devote their entire careers to the study and advancement of federalism. He was a dedicated supporter of the Institute and even these last few months, knowing he was very ill, remained in close contact with current Director André Juneau regarding the future direction of the Institute. Mr. Juneau has dedicated the 2010 State of the Federation conference in memory of Peter. He will be greatly missed.

Age 71, of Kingston, Ontario, died peacefully on November 18th, 2010. Peter was a husband, father, grandfather, Professor Emeritus of Queen's University (Kingston) in the Department of Political Studies, and Fellow of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations. He is survived by his loving family: his wife, Annette Weisberg; his sons Erik (Jennie), Stefan (Heidi), Adrian (Adrienne), Carl (Lauren) and their mother, Tina Leslie; his grandchildren Quinn, Felix, Annika and Matthias; his brother Ian (Libby) and sisters Cecilia and Elizabeth and their families; Annettes children Joshua (Jenny), Noah and Zipporah Weisberg; and grandchildren Hadas, Hallel, Maayan, Moriah, Yoel and Sofia. He will be fondly remembered by his extended family and his many friends and former colleagues.

Peter was Professor Emeritus of Political Studies and Fellow of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at Queens University. From 1965 to 2002 he was a member of the academic staff in the Department of Political Studies, and was Director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations from 1983 to 1988. From 1988 to 1990 he was Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet for Federal-Provincial Relations (Policy Development), in the Government of Canada. He has been on research leave in Paris, Copenhagen, Montreal, Grenoble, and Bonn, and was visiting professor of Canadian Studies at the Sorbonne Nouvelle (Université Paris III), France,  from 2003 to 2004. He could speak and write in French, and was able to read Danish, Norwegian, and German.

Throughout his career, Peter had been engaged in research on federalism, constitutional affairs, and political economy. After 1991 he had spent much of his time on the study of the European Union, comparing and contrasting it with federal states, especially Canada. He then worked on processes of regionalization, contrasting European and North American experience, as well as relations between “economic great powers” at the centre of regional groupings of states, and states at the periphery of such regional systems.

Publications include:

• The Maastricht Model: A Canadian Perspective on the European Union (1996)

• A Partnership in Trouble: Renegotiating Fiscal Federalism (1993), (with Kenneth Norrie and Irene Ip)

• (editor of) three annual editions of a series entitled Canada: The State of the Federation (1985, 1986, and 1987/88)

• Federal State, National Economy (1987)

• Approximately 35 shorter publications on a wide range of subjects including: structural reform and enlargement of the European Union, with special emphasis on asymmetries of power and policy; aspects of economic union (federations and regional groupings, especially the EU); ethnicity and language in Canadian politics; federalism and constitutional reform in Canada; the idea of sovereignty-association; the Norwegian and Danish decisions (1973) regarding membership in the European Community; general systems theory in political science.

Areas of Expertise:

• Constitutional affairs and institutional development

• Regionalization: political and economic integration

• Multi-level governance

• The politics of economic policy

• Community and culture: multi-ethnic systems

• Fiscal federalism

 

A collection of Peter's works composed while at the Institute is currently being archived for future availability.