Jerald Sabin

Assistant Professor — indigenous-settler intergovernmental relations; northern political development; comparative federalism; identity politics; public administration.
- Email Jerald Sabin
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Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management (Carleton University)
MA in Public Administration (Carleton University)
PhD in Political Science (University of Toronto)
Jerald Sabin’s scholarly agenda considers how the relationship between Indigenous and settler peoples shape Canadian political institutions, intergovernmental relations, and policy processes. This work asks a critical question: In the context of (re)emerging Indigenous systems of law and government, what is the future direction of liberal democracy in Canada? A related secondary research agenda explores how other identity groups – such as those based in race, religion, and sexuality – shape Canadian public policy and government.
Canada represents a singular experiment: a settler federation grappling with its past, facing its colonial present, and charting an innovative future. I have witnessed this future most clearly working alongside Northern Indigenous and settler communities. Canada’s North is on the leading edge of political, constitutional, and administrative changes that are fundamentally remaking how Canadians govern themselves. Learning from the past, while planning for our shared future, is at the heart of my research agenda.
Honours
- SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017-2019)
- John McMenemy Prize, Canadian Political Science Association (2015)
Publications
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- Sabin, Jerald. 2024. “Settler colonialism and the administrative state: The transfer of the Government of the Northwest Territories to Yellowknife in 1967.” Canadian Public Administration. 67.1: 149-165.
- Sabin, Jerald, Daniel Mosannef, and Christopher Alcantara. 2024. “Representative democracy and cabinet selection: The determinants of ministerial appointment in territorial government.” Canadian Public Administration. 67.1: 54-71.
- Sabin, Jerald. 2023. “What is a territory? Comparative federalism and state formation in North America.” Territory, Politics, Governance, 1-17.
- Sabin, Jerald. 2022. “Federalism, Multilevel Politics, and the Occupation of Ottawa.” Canadian Journal of Political Science. 55.3: 747-753.
- Thomas, Paul E.J. and Jerald Sabin. 2019. “Religion and the 2017 Conservative Party of Canada Leadership Race.” Canadian Journal of Political Science, 52.4: 801-823.
- Sabin, Jerald and Andrea Olive. 2018. “Slack: Adopting Social Networking Platforms for Active Learning.” PS: Political Science & Politics, 51.1: 183-189.
- Sabin, Jerald. 2014. “Contested Colonialism: Responsible Government and Political Development in Yukon.” Canadian Journal of Political Science, 47.2: 375-396. [Winner 2015 John McMenemy Prize]
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- Rayside, David Morton, et al. Religion and Canadian Party Politics. UBC Press, 2017.
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- Sabin, Jerald and Kyle Kirkup. 2019. “Competing Masculinities and Political Campaigns.” Mediation of Gendered Identities in Canadian Politics. Eds. Angelia Wagner and Joanna Everitt. Vancouver: UBC Press.
- Sabin, Jerald. 2018. “Fiscal Outlier: Yukon in an Austere Age.” Canadian Provincial and Territorial Paradoxes: Public Finances, Services and Employment in an Era of Austerity. Eds. Carlo Fanelli and Bryan Evans. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 380-408.
- Sabin, Jerald. 2016. “Alternatives North: A History.” Care, Cooperation, and Activism in Canada’s Northern Social Economy. Eds. Frances Abele, Chris Southcott. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 125-140.
Videos & Media Coverage
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- Jerald Sabin, School of Public Policy and Administration (FPA News, Oct 2020)
- Douglas Todd: How Religion Cuts into Politics in B.C (Vancouver Sun, Mar 2018)
- 2016 Trudeau ends Harper’s tradition of attending Artic military exercise (CBC News, Aug 2016)
- Justin Trudeau’s Election Redefined Politics of Manliness, Study Suggests (CBC News, May 2016)
SPPA News

SPPA Professors Receive 2024 SSHRC Awards for Innovative Research Projects
The School of Public Policy and Administration (SPPA) is proud to announce that four of our distinguished professors have been…

What is a Territory?
As part of our celebration of 80 years of Public Administration, we are sharing Research Summaries each month highlighting some…