Dear colleagues in the MCRI,

It is with great sadness that I am writing to you to inform you of the passing of our dear colleague and friend Bob Young. Bob served as member of our Advisory Board since the beginning of the project. In this capacity, he showed nothing but the strongest support throughout the duration of the research program. We all owe Bob a big thanks for looking over our shoulders while we were setting up and getting the program running. He remained a pillar of the MCRI through the midterm evaluation and beyond.

I personally want to add that I did not know Bob well when I asked him to join the Advisory Board back in 2009. But I had met him at one of the events of his own MCRI on Canadian federalism and was thoroughly impressed how he had directed the event and his project. In his typically modest way, Bob first refused because he felt he did not know much about suburbanization and didn’t think he was the right person to do this. I insisted and am a glad I did. He ultimately agreed.

Many of you will remember his dry humour and warm personality, his sharp critical sense and his trademark ties and sandals. You may have been with him enjoying a drink in a pub in rainy Leipzig and in the early evening sunshine in Montpellier. Ute and I had the opportunity to spend one last wonderful afternoon with Bob and his partner Louise Gadbois last summer listening to live music at our local pub in Toronto. He was enthusiastic about joining us for the final conference. It was not going to be.

Bob was trained at McGill University, Institut d'Études Politiques (Paris) and Oxford University. Since 1991, Bob had been at the Political Science Department at the University of Western Ontario. He was appointed Canada Research Chair in Multilevel Governance in 2003.

https://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/index.php

http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/Deaths.20170819.93392052/BDAStory/BDA/deaths

Roger Keil