J. Peter Meekison
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
A Descriptive Inventory of the J. Peter Meekison Fonds
Accession Number: 91-133 & 96-50
Lynn McPherson
Spring 2006
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
J. Peter Meekison Fonds
This guide was prepared with the assistance of a grant from the Canadian Council of Archives, Control of Holdings program. The University Archives gratefully acknowledges the assistance of this grant. Without it, these important records could not have been made accessible to researchers and the public.
Spring 2006
J. Peter Meekison Fonds
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Descriptive Inventory of the J. Peter Meekison Fonds 1
PREFACE 4
INTRODUCTION 5
BIOGRAPHY 6
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE 8
1. Academic Pursuits 11
1.1 J. P. Meekison’s Student Records, PhD Program in Political Science, Duke University 11
1.2 J. Peter Meekison at the University of Alberta 11
2. Professional Activities 20
2.1. Correspondence Files 20
2.2 Professional Associations and Related Committee/Board Work 25
2.3 Participation in Conferences/Workshops 30
2.4 Writing/Publishing 36
2.5 Professional Administrative Files 37
2.6 Research/Reference Files 38
3. Constitutional Material 44
3.1 Constitutional Material – Colour Files 44
3.2 Senate Reform Task Force 99
3.3 Constitution – General 100
3.4 Meech Lake/ Continuing Committee on the Constitution 108
4. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) 114
4.1 RCAP Meeting Minutes 114
4.2 RCAP Meetings – Meeting Briefing Books and Documents 115
4.3 RCAP Final Reports (Drafts and Various Versions) 121
4.4 Policy Teams 131
4.5 Public Hearings 138
4.6 Reports, Papers and Studies Commissioned by RCAP 144
4.7 Background Information and Reference Documents 151
4.8 Administration Records 166
4.9 J. Peter Meekison’s Commission Meeting Notebooks 169
J. Peter Meekison Fonds
PREFACE
The University of Alberta Archives was established in 1968 at the recommendation of the President’s Standing Committee on Archives and Documents. Its primary mandate is to acquire, maintain, and preserve the records of the University, in any medium, which contain continuing administrative, legal, and historical value. The Archives constitutes the official “memory” of the University and represents the accumulated experience of our educational community. In addition to these official records, the University Archives also contain the private papers of the University staff whose subjects of research and teaching encompass the world.
J. Peter Meekison Fonds
INTRODUCTION
The J. Peter Meekison fonds consist of records created and collected by Professor Meekison, and subsequently donated to the University of Alberta Archives. They document both his teaching and administrative career at the University of Alberta as well as his administrative career in the field of constitutional affairs with the Alberta Provincial Department of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs and his role as Commissioner on the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Peoples. The papers are extensive and form a valuable addition to the holdings of the University’s archives.
SOURCE: The J. Peter Meekison records were received as two separate personal donations to the Archives from Professor Meekison; one smaller set of papers donated in 1991 and the bulk of his papers received as a second donation in 1996. Both donations have been brought together in one comprehensive finding-aid and assigned accession #96-50.
ARRANGEMENT NOTE: The Meekison records are arranged in four series and include papers related to his academic career as Department Chairman of Political Science and Vice-President (Academic) at the University of Alberta, as well as papers documenting quite broadly his expansive professional administrative career. One series is designated ‘Constitutional Material’, and is arranged as originally organized by Dr. Meekison and his staff using a color-file designation plan. This particular series also contains records related to the Senate Reform Task Force and the Meech Lake Accord meetings. The final series contains material related to J. Peter Meekison’s role as a Commissioner on the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Peoples (1992-1995), including meeting minutes and reports, briefing books, submissions, and background and resource materials.
The records are in good physical shape.
RELATED ACCESSIONS: Department of Political Science records are described in Record Group 41 and Vice-President (Academic) records are described in Record Group 8.
ACCESS: The J. Peter Meekison records are open for research.
EXTENT: 28 m of textual records
DATE RANGE: 1950-1995
BIOGRAPHY
J. Peter Meekison was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on January 13th, 1937, and received his early education in Vancouver Public Schools. He received his undergraduate education at the University of British Columbia, obtaining a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1959, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science in 1961. While attending the University of British Columbia, he served as President of the UBC Alma Mater Society in 1960 and 1961. He went on to earn an MA in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario in 1962, and a Ph.D in Political Science in 1965 from Duke University.
Dr. Meekison joined the University of Alberta's Department of Political Science as Assistant Professor in 1967, was made Associate Professor in 1969, and Professor on July 1st, 1973. He chaired the department from 1972 to 1974, and served as a Visiting Professor at the University of British Columbia for the summer of 1973. From 1971 to 1972 he was Associate Dean in the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at the U of A, and served as Vice-President (Academic) from 1984 to 1991. Dr. Meekison held the position of Balzberg Chair in Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law from 1991 to 1994. On July 1st, 1992 he was granted the rank of University Professor from the University of Alberta.
Peter Meekison took a ten-year leave of absence from the University of Alberta (1974-1984) to devote his time to constitutional affairs with the Alberta Provincial Department of Federal and Inter-Governmental Affairs. He was Deputy Minister of the department from 1977 to 1984, and had responsibility for maintaining and furthering the relationship between the province and the federal government.
During the 1978-1981 constitutional negotiations, Dr. Meekison developed and prepared the formula, tabled by Alberta, which ultimately became the amending formula in the Constitution Act for 1982. As constitutional adviser to the government, he was actively involved in the Meech Lake Accord (1987) discussions and the discussions leading to the 1992 Charlottetown Accord.
In 1993, J. Peter Meekison was appointed a Commissioner of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (established in 1992). He served with the Commission until its completed five volume report was published in 1996.
Dr. Meekison retired as University Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Alberta in June 1996. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and is a recipient of the 125th Anniversary of Canada Medal and the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Excellence in Public Administration for the Province of Alberta.
Dr. Meekison served as the public administrator for Okanagan University College overseeing its transformation to the UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College. A plan to create and name a student centre at UBC Okanagan in Dr. Meekison’s honor was announced in November 2005. This gift recognizes Peter Meekison’s many contributions to student life at UBC.
J. Peter Meekison is currently an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Victoria.
J. Peter Meekison
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Peter Meekison fonds document the professional career of an important teacher, researcher, and administrator who had a distinguished career with both the University of Alberta and the Provincial Government of Alberta for a period spanning nearly thirty years. His records contain material relating to both his teaching and administrative career at the University of Alberta, his work related to constitutional affairs for the Province of Alberta, and his role as a Commissioner on the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
The records, largely textual, have been arranged according to four fairly broad series. The first series contains records related to Professor Meekison’s academic pursuits, and include some of his student notes while in the Ph.D program at Duke University and his teaching and administrative files from the University of Alberta. Included with the UofA files are teaching and research files, Vice-President (Academic) administrative files, and files related to special projects, programs, and committees Dr. Meekison was committed to while at the University.
The second series contains material related more generally to Peter Meekison’s professional career, which is relevant to both his research interests at the University, and his work with the Provincial Government. There are correspondence files, sorted into the Department of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs chronological files, general correspondence files, and ‘people’ correspondence files. As well, this series contains records related to Meekison’s involvement with various professional associations and committees, his speaking engagements and attendance at conferences and workshops, and his writing and publication activities. Subject reference files maintained by Professor Meekison are included in this series, as well as his personal appointment books.
Series three consists of Peter Meekison’s Constitutional material and is arranged according to an original color-coded file scheme applied when the files were current. The color-coded files include reports, briefing books, transcripts, and issues files related to various First Minister meetings, and committee meetings surrounding the constitutional reform discussions. Many of these files were created while Peter Meekison was Minister of Alberta Federal and Inter-Governmental Affairs and relate to the amending of the Constitution Act in 1982. A set of coded files is included in this series which addresses non-Constitutional issues his Ministry was dealing with. In his capacity as constitutional adviser to the provincial government post 1984, there is material related to the Senate Reform Task Force meetings, and the constitutional committee work leading to the Meech Lake Accord discussions and the 1992 Charlottetown Accord. Included in this series are numerous constitutional background material files which provide further insight into the constitutional process and debate.
The final series consists of very complete records retained by Peter Meekison in his capacity as a Commissioner on the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP). The Commission was struck in 1992, and Meekison appointed to it in 1993. Included in the records are meeting minutes and documents, Intervener Participatory Program (IPP) submissions to the Commission, reports prepared for and by the Commission; policy team records, and background and reference files.
The records are in excellent physical shape and because of their completeness and the broad span of years represented, provide valuable insight into issues facing Alberta and Canada in the 1980’s and 1990’s, as well as documenting University activities during this period and earlier.
Series 1
ACADEMIC PURSUITS
1. Academic Pursuits, -–1960-1996. –1.8 m of textual records.
Archival Description: The records in this series document J. Peter Meekison’s academic pursuits, including some of his own student notebooks while attending Duke University, and records associated with his career at the University of Alberta. The records are textual and in good physical condition.
Scope and Content: This is the smallest series in the fonds, and has been sub-divided into the following two sub-series: Student records and University of Alberta records. Within the University records, are early and later teaching documents, Vice-President (Academic) administrative files; projects and special program files, and reference files. Included also are University Committee files that Dr. Meekison administered or participated on.
The series title is based on the content of the records.
A file listing follows.
1. Academic Pursuits
File # / Description / Date /1.1 J. P. Meekison’s Student Records, PhD Program in Political Science, Duke University
96-50Box 1
1 / Political Science course notes, Duke University / 1960-1961
Reference material and course syllabus
2 / Political Science course notes, Duke University / 1963-1964
3 / Political Science course notes, Duke University / 1962-1964
4 / Political Science course notes, Duke University / 1962-1964
5 / Political Science course notes, Duke University / 1962-1964
6 / Political Science course notes, Duke University / 1962-1964
Includes notes, assignments and essays
Box 2
7 / Political Science course notes, Duke University / 1961-1963
8 / History 215 course notes, Duke University / 1963-1964
1.2 J. Peter Meekison at the University of Alberta
1.2.1 Appointment and Early Teaching Records9 / Appointment to position of Assistant Professor, Political Science, University of Alberta / 01 July 1967
10 / Course: Canada: Public Administration / 1968
Course material, notes, and exams
11 / Proposed program for Comparative, Legal. Constitutional and Federal Studies / 1963-1970
Includes a student paper written by JPM in 1963
12 / Teaching simulation exercise / 1970-1972
13 / Dissertation proposal, B.W. Reesor / September 1969
14 / Graduate Student examinations / 1968-1974
15 / Gateway and Poundmaker / March 1973
Articles about the suspension of Political Science Professor Conrad Morrow
1.2.2 Vice-President Academic, 1984-1991
(See Also Series 1.2.6 – Committees)
16 / Appointment as Vice-President, Academic, University of Alberta / 1983-1991
17 / Personal messages, re: appointment as Vice-President, Academic / 1984
Arranged alphabetically
18 / Convocation reports / 1984-1991
19 / Program Reviews / 1987-1991
Manuscript written by Edward (Ted) Holdaway and J. Peter Meekison, “Strategic Planning at a Canadian University”, and program review papers
20 / Long Range Planning – manuscript / 1990
Box 3
21 / J.P.M’s Resignation as Vice-President, Academic / 1991
22 / Card sent in recognition of JPM’s retirement from position of Vice-President, Academic (Oversize) / 1991
1.2.3 Research/Leave
23 / Research grants for J. Peter Meekison / 1968-1973
24 / Sabbatical leave, 1974-1975 / 1972-1974
1.2.4 Projects/Special Programs
25 / University of Alberta - McKinsey Ford Foundation Project / 1974
26 / University of Alberta – Senior Executive Development Program / 1985-1988
Advisory Committee documents, modules, and brochures
27 / University of Alberta – Senior Executive Development Program / 1988-1991
Advisory Committee documents, modules, and brochures
28 / University of Alberta – Senior Executive Development Program / 1991-1994
Advisory Committee documents, modules, and brochures
29 / University of Alberta – Centre for Constitutional Studies / 1986-1988
Management Board documents and Centre newsletters