Law professors from the United States, Canada, and Mexico gathered at MSU-Detroit College of Law on Monday to compare electoral systems between the three countries.
Gregory Tardi, professor of law at McGill University in Montreal, said the event offered insight not found anywhere else.
“As a Canadian, I want to know why things happen in the U.S.,” he said. “Listening to the NBC news every night is not enough.”
The recent controversy in the United States surrounding the 2000 presidential election influenced Canada’s elections, held later that year, Tardi said.
“It made us pay greater attention to accuracy in the vote count (and) to reporting of results,” he said.
Tardi expressed concern in the partisanship of America’s judicial system, saying a politically-motivated court can’t fairly interpret election results.
“American courts are much more politicized than Canadian ones,” he said. “When I hear Sandra Day O’Connor say ‘I will not retire until there’s a Republican back in the White House so that he gets to appoint my successor,’ I cringe.”
Tardi said while he doesn’t see the Canadian judicial system as being superior to the American system, it “suits the Canadian political temperament.”
Manuel Gonzalez-Oropeza, a professor of law at National Autonomous University of Mexico, said understanding international election laws can be tricky. He used Canada as an example.
“We lack any understanding of Canadian issues,” he said. “It’s time to get together to try to reach some common ground for some understanding.”
DCL Professor Brian Kalt said the turnout at the event could have been better.
“It was a little disappointing,” Kalt said. “It’s always tough when you have an event that’s right after everyone gets back from break.”
Kalt said the law school plans to make transcripts and recordings of the event available, though details are yet to be worked out.
The event was co-sponsored by MSU’s Canadian Studies Center and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
Bill Joyce, director of the Canadian Studies Center, said the program was very valuable.
“I was impressed by the caliber of speakers that we had,” he said. “They knew the elections backwards and forwards in the three countries.”
DCL Dean Terence Blackburn said the law school is looking to reach out to its international counterparts.
“We are attempting to examine issues of transnational importance especially with regard to Canada, Mexico and the United States,” Blackburn said. “We’re hoping to build a permanent relationship with law schools in those two countries.”
