What is your favourite vice? Canadians and their “bad” behaviour since 1500

To invest in vice can be a sound financial decision, but despite the lure of healthy profits, individuals and mutual funds have been reluctant to invest in this type of stock. After all, who would take pride in supporting the tobacco industry, knowing it sells a deadly product? And what social responsibilities do investors bear with respect to compulsive gamblers who have lost so much money that suicide becomes an attractive option? This talk will review the debates and regulations that have conditioned Canadians’ attitudes towards certain “bad” habits or vices such as drinking, drug use, gambling, smoking and sexuality.

Speaker: Marcel Martel, professor, Department of History, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

Marcel Martel graduated from York University in 1994 with a PhD in history. He is a professor in the Department of History, where he holds the Avie Bennett Historica Canada Chair in Canadian History. Martel is the author of several journal articles, book chapters and books on moral regulation, minority rights, public policy and national identity. His recent monographs include: Canada the Good: A Short History of Vice since 1500; Not This Time: Canadians, Public Policy, and the Marijuana Question, 1961-1975; and, Le Deuil d’un pays imaginé. Rêves, luttes et déroute du Canada français. He also co-authored Speaking Up: A History of Language and Politics in Canada and Quebec.