Why are certain people and places vulnerable? Who is responsible for remedying the situation? And what is fair? Why is historical research important?

Tina Loo is a professor in the department of history at the University of British Columbia. She is a leading scholar of Canadian and environmental history. Her work has focused on the nature and impacts of the state’s actions to manage human and non-human environments in the interests of development. She is also recognized for her outstanding and innovative teaching techniques and commitment to mentoring.

In her latest, book, Moved by the State, Forced Relocation and Making a Good Life in Canada she explores the contradiction between intention and consequence as resettlement played out among Inuit in the central Arctic, fishing families in Newfoundland’s outports, farmers and loggers in Quebec’s Gaspé region, Black residents of Halifax’s Africville, and Chinese Canadians in Vancouver’s East Side. In the process, she reveals the optimistic belief underpinning postwar relocations: the power of the interventionist state to do good.

For information about her research, visit: https://history.ubc.ca/profile/tina-loo/

Audio played:

"Why basic research matters" with Natalie Davis
"Manitoba's Sayisi Dene: Forced relocation, racism, survival from CBC archives (1978)"
"Northeast Falsecreek plan"
"Why do you love history?" produced by the UBC History Department
"The People Tree" Interview clip with Tina Loo