The Ottawa Forum, which took place on May 23-24, 2014 at the University of Ottawa, had an ambitious goal: to generate an ambitious, positive, forward-looking agenda for Canada’s international strategy based on a careful analysis of global trends. Some of Canada’s leading “next generation” thinkers and most experienced practitioners examined options for Canada’s future international strategies in eleven important policy areas.
Commentaries by Forum participants and recordings of each session are posted below. For further information about the Forum, including speaker bios, please use the navigation buttons at left.
A book featuring the policy proposals of Forum participants will also be published by University of Toronto Press in 2015.
Roland Paris and Taylor Owen, Imagining a more ambitious Canada
Andrew Leach, Canada’s new energy era
Jennifer Keesmaat, City-building as a Canadian export
Danielle Goldfarb, Canada’s world is still too round
Natalie Brender, Nine new takes on Canada’s international future
Podcasts of each session are available here and on our iTunes channel.
For a “storified” collection of tweets about #OttFor, click here.
Introduction to the Forum: Roland Paris and Taylor Owen
Speaker: Robert Greenhill, Managing Director, World Economic Forum
Moderator: Vincent Rigby, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs, Development and Trade
Speaker: Danielle Goldfarb, Associate Director, Global Commerce Centre, Conference Board of Canada
Commentator: Ailish Campbell, Vice President, Canadian Council of Chief Executives
Moderator: Jennifer Jeffs, President, Canadian International Council
Speakers: Andrea Mandel-Campbell, Director Corporate Communications, Kinross Gold Corporation and author of Why Mexicans Don’t Drink Molson
Jennifer Keesmaat, Chief Planner, City of Toronto
Commentator: Anne Golden, Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Ryerson University and Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center
Moderator: Tim Barber, Founding Partner, Canada 2020
Speakers: Stewart Elgie, Associate Professor of Law and Associate Director, Institute of the Environment, University of Ottawa
Andrew Leach, Enbridge Professor of Energy Policy, Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta
Commentators: Madelaine Drohan, Correspondent, The Economist
Nic Rivers, Canada Research Chair in Climate and Energy Policy and Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa
Moderator: Mark Cameron, Senior Vice President and Deputy Energy Practice Leader, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Speaker: John McArthur, Senior Fellow, UN Foundation, and Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institution
Commentator: George Roter, Co-Founder, Engineers Without Borders
Moderator: Margaret Biggs, Skelton-Clark Fellow in the School of Policy Studies of Queen’s University
Speaker: Whitney Lackenbauer, Associate Professor, University of Waterloo
Commentator: James Manicom, Research Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation
Moderator: Stephen Saideman, Paterson Chair in International Affairs, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University
Speaker: Hugh Segal, Former Senator and next Master of Massey College, University of Toronto
Panelists: Joe Clark, former Prime Minister of Canada and author of How We Lead: Canada in a Century of Change
Rob Wright, former Deputy Minister of International Trade and former Canadian Ambassador to Japan and China
Louise Fréchette, Chair of the Board of Directors, CARE Canada, and former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
Paul Heinbecker, Director of the Laurier Centre for Global Relations and Distinguished Fellow in International Relations at the Centre for International Governance Innovation
Moderator: Kim Mackrael, Reporter, The Globe and Mail
Speakers: Jonathan Paquin, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the International Peace and Security Program, Université Laval
Emily Paddon, Rose Junior Research Fellow in International Relations, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University
Commentators: Rob McRae, former Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Intelligence Assessment Secretariat, Privy Council Office
David Petrasek, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
Moderator: Jill Sinclair, Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy), Department of National Defence
Speakers: Yves Tiberghien, Director of Institute of Asian Research and Associate Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia
Mark Raymond, Research Fellow, Internet Governance Project, Center for International Governance Innovation
Commentators: Farah Faisal-Thaler, Associate Director, International Institutions and Global Governance, Council on Foreign Relations
Morris Rosenberg, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and next President of the Trudeau Foundation
Moderator: Kyle Matthews, Senior Deputy Director, Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies
Speaker: Peter Singer, Chief Executive Officer, Grand Challenges Canada
Moderator: Bill Graham, Chancellor, Trinity College, University of Toronto
Conference conclusion: Roland Paris and Taylor Owen