Socialist Canada, his interest and involvement waned, particularly when he left to spend time in the far north to investigate the living conditions of the Dene people. After the collapse of the Waffle in 1974, Watkins spent most of his time teaching and writing. In the early 1970s, Watkins was hired by the Dene Nation (then known as the Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories) as the economic adviser for their delegation to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was active in opposition to the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement and then to the North American Free Trade Agreement describing them as "charters of rights for corporations." He eventually rejoined the NDP, and ran as its candidate in Beaches—East York in the 1997 and 2000 federal elections. He placed second on both occasions behind Liberal Maria Minna. Watkins supported the New Politics Initiative, which was formed in 2001 to attempt to convince the NDP to join with social movements to found a new left-wing party. He retired from academia and moved to Constance Bay in eastern Ontario, where he continued to write a column for This Magazine and pieces for other publications. He was also a board member of and regular contributor to the online newsmagazine Straight Goods. He also served as president of Science for Peace, and a was a was member of Pugwash Canada. Bibliography Madness & Ruin: Politics and the Economy in the Neoconservative Age (1992). Canada Under Free Trade (1993). Dene Nation: The Colony Within (1977). Electoral record References External links Mel Watkins's Blog at rabble.ca Mel Watkins Author from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives 1932 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Canadian economists Canadian nationalists Canadian political scientists Canadian socialists New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Political economists University of Toronto faculty Writers from Ontario Members of the Order of Canada Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni