About the Initiative

A new program of the National Capital Branch aimed at achieving a much closer engagement between foreign policy makers and the community of foreign policy experts in Ottawa. It is supported by a two-year grant from IDRC. The upcoming "World in 2015" conference is the culmination of four preparatory seminars engaging specialists from government, private sector and academia and addressing such issues as the changing world order, global security and strategies for intervention, global financial reform and economic growth and development in Africa.

Since 1928, the Canadian International Council (CIC, formerly the Canadian Institute of International Affairs) has worked to strengthen public understanding of international affairs and Canada's place in the world. In Ottawa, the CIC's National Capital Branch has a membership of over 340 and carries on a very active program of meetings, conferences and study groups. Having received a two-year grant from the International Development Research Centre to develop its capacity, the Branch has undertaken a new project 2014: The CIC Ottawa Foreign Affairs Initiative. This has been devised in response to the views of many members that the Branch should be a pro-active participant in the foreign affairs community in the National Capital Region and beyond. The Initiative is part of the Branch, but conducts programs that run alongside the Branch's regular activities.

Activities

Four seminars were organized during 2009  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. The culmination of the first phase of the Initiative was the public conference on "The World in 2015: Implications for Canada", held in Ottawa on January 21-22, 2010.  The Conference looked at major strategic and global issues, the principal players and crisis generators and governance from a global perspective, and addressed what this means for Canada and Canadian policies. The conference drew upon the results of four seminars.  To access the background material and reports of the preparatory seminars and the conference itself click on The World in 2015: Implications for Canada.

Advisory Council

The direction taken by the Initiative is set in consultation with an Advisory Council headed by Mel Cappe (President and CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy and former Clerk of the Privy Council). Members of the Council are: Derek H. Burney (Senior Strategic Advisor, Ogilvy Renault LLP and former Ambassador to Washington), Louise Fréchette (Distinguished Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation and former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations), Anne Golden (President and CEO, Conference Board of Canada), Fen Hampson (Director, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University), Peter Harder (Senior Policy Advisor, Fraser Milner Casgrain and former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs), Luc Juillet (Director, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa), Gaëtan Lavertu (former Ambassador and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs), Alex Neve (Secretary-General, Amnesty International Canada), Don Newman (Retired Senior Parliamentary Editor, CBC), Irvin Studin (Osgoode Hall Law School), Jodi White (former President, Public Policy Forum) and Elizabeth Yeh (Publisher, AsiaNetwork).

Organizing Committee

A CIC Organizing Committee is undertaking the planning and execution of the Initiative and its 2009 Program. The Committee is composed of Craig Hunter (Past President of the National Capital Branch), Barbara Darling, Louise Terrillon-Mackay, Michael Berk, Peter Larson, Bill Neil, John Graham, David Lee and Gerald Wright (chair).