"Democracy is a messy business" - says professor in ethics speech to Parliamentary community

(OTTAWA) - With the release of the government's ethics package last week, the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences is pleased to present the work of Dr. Daniel Weinstock, an expert in ethics, political philosophy and democratic theory, at the next Breakfast on the Hill Seminar. The Breakfast will be held on Thursday, October 31st from 8 to 9:30 a.m. in the Parliamentary Restaurant located in the Centre Block.

"Democracy is a messy business", says Dr. Weinstock. "There are very real ethical risks that politicians in a democracy face in doing their jobs, but the test of time has nonetheless shown that democracy is the best system of political decision-making." The first in the Federation's 2002-2003 series, Dr. Weinstock's talk, "A Professional Ethics for Politicians?," will explore such questions as: What safeguards do we need to put in place in order to avoid the moral dangers that sometimes accompany political competition? and How should the oppositional nature of democratic life affect the media's treatment of political ethics?

Dr. Daniel Weinstock holds the Canada Research Chair in ethics and political philosophy at the Université de Montréal. He is the founding director of the soon-to-open Centre de recherche en éthique de l'Université de Montréal. He has written extensively on democratic theory and on issues of justice confronting multinational and multicultural societies.

The Breakfast on the Hill Seminar Series was developed in 1994 by the Federation to bring research results directly to the attention of parliamentarians, senior public servants and the media and to underline the role of human sciences research in the development of public policy. Distinguished researchers from Canadian universities, including Drs Janice Stein, Françoise Baylis and Will Kymlicka, have presented their work on the Middle East, ethical issues in stem cell research and Canadian multiculturalism respectively.

The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences represents 67 learned societies, 69 universities and colleges and over 24,000 researchers active in the study of sociology, literature, economics, philosophy, political science, religion, psychology, history, anthropology, classics, law, education, as well as linguistics, women's issues, industrial relations and international development. The Federation manages the permanent secretariat of the Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities and administers the Aid to Scholarly Publication Programme.

For further information, please contact:

Jody Ciufo
Director of Public Affairs
(613) 238-6112 ext. 306