National Capital Branch Chapitre de la Capitale Nationale

The World in 2015: Implications for Canada

January 21-22, 2010
Crowne Plaza Hotel,                                             
101 Lyon Street, Ottawa, Ontario

Background

Seven background documents, relevant to the conference, are listed below.  To read or download, click on the relevant document title highlighted in blue.

Discussion at one of the Conference sessions will be supported by a paper prepared by Thomas Townsend, Executive Director, Policy Research Initiative, Government of Canada. This paper covers the impact of the world on Canada, and changes on the domestic scene, including demographic trends, shifts in the wealth and the influence of regions and the evolving structure of the Canadian economy. The paper will be distributed to registrants prior to the conference.

• Canada in the Medium Term: What is Shaping Our Policy? by Thomas Townsend

Two additional documents have been prepared as background for the Conference:

• The World in 2015: Principal Features and Issues for Canada
  A paper prepared for a CIC seminar on "The Changing World Order: What will it mean for Canadian foreign policy in 2014?, March 12, 2009.  
• What to Expect from the World in 2015
  A paper setting out the thinking behind the Conference on January 21-22, 2010, and what is expected to be accomplished.

Discussion at the conference will also draw upon the results of four preparatory seminars in which specialists from government, the private sector and academia addressed such issues as the changing world order, global security and strategies for intervention, global financial reform and economic growth and development in Africa.  To read or download, please click on the relevant report listed below:

• Navigating the Emerging World Order
  Report of a March 12, 2009, seminar.
• Global Security in 2014: Assessing Strategies of Intervention
  Report of a seminar co-sponsored by the National Capital Branch of the CIC and the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, May 29, 2009.
• Policy Issues in Global Financial Reform
  Report of a seminar co-sponsored by the Centre for Trade Policy and Law, the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the National Capital Branch of the CIC, June 10, 2009.
• Positioning Canada for Africa 2015
  Report of a CIC seminar , November 18, 2009.

ORGANIZATION OF CONFERENCE:

> For the detailed conference program click here.

Day One will focus on the global landscape, beginning with issues that may loom large in five years. Then the participants will assess shifts of power between key international players. Is the United States in decline? Will the countries now flexing their economic muscles shoulder burdens formerly carried by the U.S.? The third session will deal with how the globe is going to be governed in 2015. Decision makers and participants are going to have to think hard about how to adapt to burgeoning informal networks, among them non-governmental organizations, religious groups, drug cartels and terrorist cells, each equipped with modern technology and goals often very different from those of states.
 
Day Two is devoted to the future of Canada and Canadian foreign policy. Canada in 2015 will be different in ways our grandparents could not have imagined: a wealthier and more powerful West, the increasing use of languages other than English or French, and the growth of non-Christian religious denominations. Different visions of Canada and their implications for policy choices will be examined.  The conference will then consider new directions for Canada, the alignments it should pursue and the tools it will require to cope with what could be a radically different world.