THE ROLE of a Christian press in a pluralistic society is the topic for the 2011 Mel Smith Lecture, scheduled in late January at Trinity Western University (TWU).

This year’s lecture will be delivered by veteran author and commentator Lloyd Mackey.

Melvin H. Smith, who died in 2000, had a distinguished provincial public service career for almost  four decades. He gave leadership in administrative and constitutional law and was a key provincial figure in the negotiations that led to the patriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982.

 He also was well-known for his thinking and writing on aboriginal issues, much of it articulated in Our Home or Native Land (Stoddart, 1995). Smith’s papers are located in the TWU archives. He taught on constitutional issues at the university for several years before his death.

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Now based in Ottawa, Mackey was co-founder of this newspaper. He also once served as editor of The Chilliwack Progress. He is author of several books, including Stephen Harper, the Case for Collaborative Governance (ECW Press 2006). He is a winner of the Leslie K. Tarr Award for his work in Christian publishing.

Regarding the Smith lecture, he told BCCN: “Mel had a lifelong commitment to integrity in legal, governance and faith spheres. I am honoured to be able to speak, this year, to some of the issues that were important to him.”

Among the previous Mel Smith lecturers are broadcaster Rafe Mair; political leaders Preston Manning, Gordon Gibson, Ralph Klein, Nick Loenen, Deborah Grey and Chuck Strahl; and lawyer-educator Janet Epp-Buckingham.

Their lecture subjects have ranged from proportional representation to aboriginal self government.

The event is set for January 27 at 7 pm, in TWU’s Northwest Building Auditorium.

January 2011