Professor Hugh Alan Craig "Alan" Cairns

1930 - 2018  (88 years)

• Name	Hugh Alan Craig "Alan" Cairns
  Prefix	Professor
  Born	1930	Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	education
  Name	Alan Cairns
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-220178
  Died	27 Aug 2018
  Person ID	I220178	Generations
  Last Modified	25 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Hugh Cairns,   b. 1887, , Scotland ,   d. 1952  (Age 65 years)
  Mother	Lilly McAuley Crawford,   b. Sep 1896, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland ,   d. 1992  (Age ~ 95 years)
  Married	7 Oct 1920	, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Family ID	F22779	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Obituary of Hugh Alan Craig Cairns In loving memory of H. Alan C. Cairns, who passed away on August 27, 2018, surrounded and comforted by the love of his daughters Lynn, Wendy, Elaine and his partner Anne. Alan was a celebrated academic, a scholar and a gentleman. He was a devoted father to daughters Lynn, Wendy, and Elaine (Raffles) and Silly Grandpa to Eli, Sadie and Tess. He shared his later years with partner Anne Innis Dagg in Waterloo. Together they adventured widely \endash cycling in Cuba, rafting the Tatshenshini, hiking to Cape Scott. He will be remembered for his humour and enjoyment of the simple pleasures of life \endash cheese, opera, bubbly water, corn on the cob, poetry and limericks, leftovers, daffodils and his story about meeting the Queen. A dedicated and loyal friend, he had a wonderful capacity to see the best in people and maintained friendships around the world. He delighted in the exchange of ideas and the pursuit of scholarship, happily supporting and mentoring fellow academics. Born and raised in Galt, now a part of Cambridge, Ontario, Alan was the youngest son of Scottish immigrants Hugh and Lily (Crawford) Cairns. Younger by 9 and 7 years than brothers John and Jim, 'wee Alan' towered at over 6 foot 4 in his prime. Alan left behind his first love \endash playing baseball with the Galt Pups - to study political science at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1953 with a gold medal, where he also earned his MA. He obtained his doctorate from Oxford University; his thesis, based on research conducted while living in Rhodesia, was later published as Prelude to Imperialism (1965). With wife Patricia (Grady), Alan lived in Vancouver, raising three daughters (and dog Gregory), teaching Political Science at the University of British Columbia from 1960 to 1995, serving as head of that department from 1973 to 1980. His research focussed on Canadian politics, particularly federalism, electoral and party systems, judicial review, and constitutional issues. Alan also studied Aboriginal issues in depth as a member of the Hawthorn Commission in the mid-1960s, returning to these issues in his prize-winning 2000 book Citizens Plus. Alan was also one of three research directors of the (Macdonald) Royal Commission reporting in 1985 on the economic union and Canada's development prospects. Visiting appointments and chairs were held over the years at the University of Toronto, Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of Edinburgh, Harvard University, Queen's University, the University of Saskatchewan, York University, the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia. Alan was a member of the British Columbia Advisory Committee on the Constitution, leading up to the 1982 Constitution Act. In that year he was awarded the Molson Prize of the Canada Council and he subsequently received a Killam award for 1989-1991. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, an Officer of the Order of Canada and is the recipient of Honorary Degrees from the University of British Columbia, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto and Carleton University. In 2003, he was inducted into the City of Cambridge Hall of Fame. Despite failing health, in his last years, Alan did his best to continue engaging with the issues about which he had spent his life thinking and writing. In his final days, Alan was deeply moved to receive numerous messages from friends and colleagues across the globe expressing their admiration and affection for him. Alan was supported in his last days by his daughters, his partner Anne, her sons Hugh (Kate) and Ian (Laura), and daughter Mary (Ian), as well as the extended Cairns clan. In the words of his favourite, the Immortal Sir Harry Lauder, Alan 'kept right on to the end of the road'. He will be missed. A Celebration of Life for H.Alan C. Cairns will be held on Tuesday, October 9, 2018, from 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. in Vancouver B.C. at Cecil Green House, UBC, 6251 Cecil Green Park Road. Please RSVP to ebcairns@gmail.com Arrangements entrusted to the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home 171 King St. S., Waterloo, www.erbgood.com or 519-745-8445. "Obituary Of Hugh Alan Craig Cairns | Erb & Good Family Funeral Home". 2021. Erbgood.Com. https://erbgood.com/tribute/details/14179/Hugh-Cairns/obituary.html. _________________ Alan C. Cairns was born in Galt in 1930 and received his elementary schooling at Central Public School. He graduated from Galt Collegiate Institute prior to studying Political Science and Economics at the University of Toronto. He won the Gold Medal in his final year and after receiving a B.A. degree in 1953 and an M.A. degree in 1957 went on to study at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford from which he obtained a D. Phil degree in 1963. He was a member of the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia from 1960 until his retirement in 1995 and served as head of the department from 1973 to 1980. Professor Cairns was the first holder of the Brenda and David McLean Chair in Canadian Studies at the University of British Columbia (1993-1995). He has had visiting appointments and chairs at the University of Toronto, Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of Edinburgh, Harvard University, Queen's University, the University of Saskatchewan, York University, the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia. Professor Cairns has received honourary degrees from Carleton University (1994), the University of Toronto (1996), the University of British Columbia (1998) and the University of Saskatchewan (2002). Professor Cairns is a well-known expert on constitutional and political issues whose writings and research are said to have profoundly influenced the way scholars think about issues such as federalism, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the operation of democracy and the rights of aboriginal peoples. Professor Cairns has been described as Canada's leading authority on federalism and governance. As a writer and commentator he has made a significant contribution to academic analysis and public debate on questions concerning constitutional developments in Canada. Professor Cairns has brought a meticulous scholarly sensibility, a keen awareness of constitutional priorities and a passion about the constitutional future of the country to bear on issues of pressing and significant concern to the citizens of Canada. In recognition of his achievements he has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He received the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal as well as the President's Medal from the University of Western Ontario. He was the recipient of the prestigious Canada Council Killam Research Fellowship from 1989 to 1991 and was awarded the first Governor-General's International Award for Canadian Studies in 1994. He received the Molson Prize of the Canada Council in 1982 and was the research director for institutions for the Royal Canadian Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada (1983-1985). Professor Cairns' writings are considered pivotal to Canadian political thought. An article that he wrote and published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science in the late 1960's was that journal's most cited article. His book Charter versus Federalism: The Dilemmas of Constitutional Reform (1992) ranks as one of the most insightful analyses of the Canadian constitutional debate. Another of his books Citizens Plus: Aboriginal Peoples and the Canadian State was a runner up for the 2000/2001 Donner Prize for the best book on Canadian public policy. "Cambridge Hall Of Fame". 2021. Cambridge.Ca. https://www.cambridge.ca/en/learn-about/cambridge-hall-of-fame.aspx#.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1930 - Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth