Tyler Wentzell (SJD 2024)
Anticipated Graduation Date: 2024.
Area of Study: State formation -- how Canada's state security apparatus was created and evolved.
SJD candidate Tyler Wentzell is a lawyer, historian and an army reservist serving with the 48th Highlanders of Canada, so it’s only natural that his doctoral thesis focuses on law and the military. His research has been supported by a George P. Vanier Doctoral Fellowship, a R. Roy McMurtry Fellowship in Legal History, and a Nathan Strauss Q.C. Graduate Fellowship in Canadian Constitutional Law.
“I served with the military in Afghanistan and my experience there left me curious about state building, state formation and the rule of law,” Wentzell said. “In a country like Canada, there was a period of time when the military used to be involved with almost everything related to public order, but today, that is almost unthinkable. How did we get from there to here?”
Much of the transformation took place in the first decade or so after Confederation, but very little has been written on the subject. Wentzell is attempting to fill in that gap in the historical record with his thesis and hopes to eventually publish it as a book to assist future researchers.
“Using the military as a police force happened a lot more than is understood,” Wentzell says. “I’m looking at the law behind it and how statutes were amended to be respectful of the division of powers when there was a crisis.
“There was little concept of a provincial police force at that time. Most small towns had a town constable or swore in special constables during emergencies, but those same small towns might have a militia force of 100 men. In the first 10 years after Confederation, it was routine for the militia to help keep order."
He added, “The changes have been very positive, since people would rather live in a country where we don’t use military force, but we need to understand that getting to that point was a process, and it is one that has been painful, violent and difficult. We need to acknowledge that there was no one time in Canadian history when everyone got along.”
After earning his dissertation, Wentzell aims to pursue an academic career and is grateful to the U of T Faculty of Law for preparing him to be a legal scholar, both during his JD studies and while working toward his SJD.
“What attracted me to U of T?” he said. “The faculty. My committee is composed of world class experts in their field, and they are incredibly supportive and always leave me asking new kinds of questions in my research. It is wonderful to be in a place where you are constantly stimulated and always seeking improvement.”