The conference will feature Canadian experts addressing the following topics:

1. “Canada and US Security and Defence Cooperation”
2. “Arctic Security, NORAD modernization and Golden Dome”
3. “Canadian Multilateralism vs American Unilateralism”
4. “Nuclear Weapons vs Nuclear Arms Control and Disarmament”
5. “Weaponization of Cyberspace and AI Risks”
6. “Opportunities for Canadian Security Diplomacy in a Turbulent World”

This conference is free to attend but prior registration is required.

Program

9:00am-9:30am – Introductory Remarks

• Alexandra Gheciu & Cesar Jaramillo

9:30am-10:30am – Panel 1: “Canada and US Security and Defence Cooperation”

• Speakers: Joel Sokolsky & Walter Dorn

10:30am-10:45am – Coffee Break

10:45am-11:45am – Panel 2: “Arctic Security, NORAD modernization and Golden Dome”

• Speakers: Ernie Regehr & Michael Byers

11:45am-12:45pm – Panel 3: “Canadian Multilateralism vs American Unilateralism”

• Speakers: Peggy Mason & David Carment

12:45pm-2:00pm – LUNCH

2:00pm-3:00pm – Panel 4: “Nuclear Weapons vs Nuclear Arms Control and Disarmament”

• Speakers: Matt Korda & Cesar Jaramillo

3:00pm-3:15pm – Coffee Break

3:15pm-4:15pm – Panel 5: “Weaponization of Cyberspace and AI Risks”

• Speakers: Branka Marijan & Paul Meyer

4:15pm-5:15pm – Panel 6: “Opportunities for Canadian Security Diplomacy in a Turbulent World”

• Speakers: Kerry Buck & Martin Larose

Speakers:

Kerry Buck is a career diplomat who left the public service in 2021 after serving as Assistant Secretary to Canada’s Treasury Board, Economic Sector. Prior to that, she was Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to NATO, 2015 to 2018. She was Canada’s G7 Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister for International Security and Political Affairs from 2010 to 2015, and has also served as Assistant Deputy Minister for Afghanistan, for Africa, for Latin America and the Caribbean and as Director General for the Middle East and Maghreb. Earlier in her career she was posted to the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. Ms. Buck led Canadian government Task Forces for Afghanistan, Russia/Ukraine, Syria, Mali, the Haiti earthquake and other foreign policy and humanitarian crises. Throughout her diplomatic career, she supported Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers at the G7 and NATO Summits and represented Canada at the UN, G7, NATO, OAS and OSCE on issues of human rights, security, disarmament, terrorism, women, peace and security and humanitarian affairs.  Kerry Buck holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario (BA Hons, Political Science, French) and McGill University Law School  (LLB, BCL).

Michael Byers is the Co-Director of the Outer Space Institute, a network of world-leading space experts united by their commitment to highly innovative, transdisciplinary research that addresses grand challenges facing the continued use and exploration of space. He is also a Professor of Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Byers has been a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University; Professor of Law at Duke University; an a Visiting Professor at the universities of Cape Town, Tel Aviv, Nord (Norway) Novosibirsk (Russia), St Andrews, and the Geneva Graduate Institute. His most recent book, co-authored with Aaron Boley, is Who Owns Outer Space? International Law, Astrophysics, and the Sustainable Development of Space (Cambridge University Press, 2023) – available open access at: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108597135

Walter Dorn is Professor of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College & Canadian Forces College. He teaches officers of rank major to brigadier-general from Canada and about 20 other countries. As an “operational professor” he participates in field missions and assists international organizations, especially the United Nations. He served with the UN’s Expert Panel on Technology and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping and has been active in civil society, including as an ICRC contractor, as WFMC President and CPG Chair.  Website: www.walterdorn.net.

Alexandra Gheciu is a Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and the Director of CIPS.

Cesar Jaramillo is the Executive Director of SANE Policy Institute and the Chair of the Canadian Pugwash Group. His work focuses on arms control, global governance and international security, and his focus areas include nuclear disarmament, the protection of civilians in armed conflict, emerging military technologies and the trade in conventional weapons. Prior to founding SANE, he was Executive Director of Project Ploughshares for 10 years.

Matt Korda is the Associate Director for the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, where he co-authors an authoritative open-source estimate of global nuclear forces. Matt’s open-source discoveries about nuclear weapons have made headlines across the globe, and his work is regularly used by governments, policymakers, academics, journalists, and the broader public in order to challenge assumptions and improve accountability about nuclear arsenals and trends.

Branka Marijan is a senior researcher at Project Ploughshares and a CIGI senior fellow. She is a lecturer in the Master of Global Affairs program at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. At Ploughshares, Branka leads research on the military and security implications of emerging technologies. Her work examines concerns regarding the development of autonomous weapons systems and the impact of artificial intelligence and robotics on security provision. Her research interests include trends in warfare, civilian protection, use of drones and civil-military relations. She holds a Ph.D. from the Balsillie School of International Affairs with a specialization in conflict and security. She has conducted research on post-conflict societies and published academic articles and reports on the impacts of conflict on civilians and diverse issues of security governance, including security sector reform. Branka closely follows United Nations disarmament efforts and attends international and national consultations and conferences. She is a board member of the Peace and Conflict Studies Association of Canada and a research fellow at the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement at the University of Waterloo.

Peggy Mason is the President of the Rideau Institute on International Affairs. A former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament to the UN and an expert on the political/diplomatic aspects of UN peacekeeping training, since June of 2014 Peggy Mason has been the President of the Rideau Institute, an independent, non-profit think tank focusing on research and advocacy in foreign, defence and national security policy. In that capacity, she brings a progressive voice to issues ranging from the imperative of nuclear disarmament to the centrality of UN conflict resolution and the progressive enhancement of international law.

Paul Meyer is Fellow in International Security and Adjunct Professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University. He is a founding Fellow of the Outer Space Institute, a senior advisor to ICT4Peace and a Director of the Canadian Pugwash Group. Prior to assuming his current positions in 2011, Mr. Meyer had a 35-year career with the Canadian Foreign Service, including serving as Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations and to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (2003-2007). He teaches a course on diplomacy at SFU’s School for International Studies and writes on issues of Canadian diplomacy, nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, outer space security and international cyber security.