Michael Adams

Michael Adams

Michael Adams is the founding president of the Environics group of research and communications consulting companies and the author of six nonfiction books. He is also the founder of the Environics Institute, a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively to conduct research on issues of public importance in Canada. His most popular book to date, Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, won the Donner Prize for best book on Canadian public policy in 2004 and was named by the Literary Review of Canada as one of the 100 most important books ever published in Canada.

Could it Happen Here?: Canada in the Age of Trump and Brexit

Americans elected Donald Trump. Britons opted to leave the European Union. Far-right, populist politicians channeling anger at out-of-touch “elites” are gaining ground across Europe. In vote after shocking vote, citizens of Western democracies have pushed their anger to the top of their governments’ political agendas.

Amid this roiling international scene, Canada appears placid, at least on the surface. After a year in power, the centrist federal government continues to enjoy majority approval, suggesting an electorate not as bitterly split as the ones to the south or in Europe. As skeptics point out, however, Brexit and a Trump presidency were unthinkable until they happened. Could it be that Canada is not immune to the same forces of populism, social fracture, and backlash that have afflicted other parts of the world?

Drawing on major social values surveys of Canadians and Americans in 2016 — as well as decades of tracking data in both countries — award-winning author Michael Adams examines our economy, institutions, and demographics to answer the question: could it happen here?

Events & Tickets

Sun, Oct. 15 @ 10am: Lighting a Fuse

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Sun, Oct. 15 @ 1pm: No Holds Barred