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Founded in 1986 in Toronto, the Mackenzie Institute is an independent non-profit organization concerned with issues related to political instability and organized violence. This includes such matters as terrorism, political extremism, warfare and organized crime.
The aim of the Institute is to provide research and commentary on its subject matter, to promote informed public debate, and to hold to the proposition that our liberal democratic tradition must be safeguarded and fostered.
The Institute is also concerned with the social and political stability of Canada, and works to enhance it when it can.
The Institute is named for the voyageur Alexander Mackenzie, the first European (and likely the first man) to reach the Pacific Ocean from Upper Canada, and the first to trace the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean. Mackenzie had the courage to explore routes that everyone knew existed, but feared to try. In our own way, we try to emulate his courage and forthrightness.
Recent Newsletters
Troubled Instincts
One of the principal differences between a poet and an essayist is that the poet tends to go with his impressions and trust his instincts while the essayist is trying to produce a rational argument. This means that there are times when a poet can capture the truth of a situation much better than anyone else.
This spring of 2009 might be one of those times; but the poem that best captures its spirit was first published in 1919.
More...
Mackenzie Briefing Notes
A Fascinating Terrorist Group
Arising in the mid-1970s, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have become one of the world's leading terrorist groups. Following the classic model of a 'National Liberation' movement of those years, they escalated their activities in the early 1980s to create a guerrilla force, and the resulting civil war has continued ever since.
Defeat is an ugly thing, and as Wellington once observed "Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won." It is better, when corpses and the detritus of battle are strewn around, to be on the winning side.
The accusations of genocide in Sri Lanka are getting annoying... and not in the usual ways. Anybody who takes the charge seriously betrays a highly annoying ignorance about the state of affairs between Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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