This month’s Politics at the Pub event will focus on the challenges of contemporary women working in diplomacy, politics and security. Our distinguished panelists will focus on their own experience with gender bias and stereotypes in fulfilling job duties abroad and will shed light on the ways in which women are perceived in their roles in comparison to their male counterparts. Barriers and accomplishments of women thus far in the 21st century will be discussed drawing from personal experience and feminist theory.

Susan Gregson has served Canada at home and abroad with distinction for 35 years. Between 2013 and 2016, she was Assistant Deputy Minister for Asia Pacific at Global Affairs Canada. Prior to her last assignment, she served as Assistant Deputy Minister for Human Resources, Director General of Assignments and Executive Management, Director General, Regional Strategies, World Markets Branch, and Director, Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs and International Women’s Equality Division, all in the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Abroad, her most noteworthy assignments were as Deputy High Commissioner in London, Consul General of Canada in Shanghai and Minister-Counsellor at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing. She holds a B.A. in anthropology from the University of British Columbia and was Canada-China Scholar at Nankai University and at Fudan University.

Lillian Thomsen is an executive with Global Affairs Canada. Until recently, she was the Director General and Dean of the Canadian Foreign Service Institute. She has served abroad in Warsaw, Poland, as a member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations, in Moscow, as Consul General of Canada in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and at the Canadian High Commission in London. In Ottawa, in the Department of Foreign Affairs, she has held a number of positions including Director of Media Relations, Corporate Secretary and Director General of Executive Services. Lillian has been actively engaged in the community with a focus on education and health, including mental health issues, serving in a number of capacities on various boards and as an active volunteer. She is currently a member of the Board of Governors of The Ottawa Hospital. Lillian graduated from the University of Toronto with a double honours B.A. in History and Economics. She was also a performance student in piano through the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque has been Britain’s High Commissioner to Canada since August 2017. Her 30-year diplomatic career has taken her to three continents, and exposed her to issues from the EU, to nuclear non-proliferation, anti-narcotics work and the corporate challenge of the foreign service’s HR policies. She has lived through a coup in Venezuela, and the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote in her last post as Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the UN in Vienna. A career highlight was taking part in the negotiations which led to the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran.

Michelle Manson is the Deputy High Commissioner at the Australian High Commission in Ottawa, commencing her posting in January 2017. Michelle joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as a Graduate Trainee in 1997 and has had postings in Moscow and Port Vila, Vanuatu. She has worked in various roles in Canberra, including on regional security and counter-terrorism issues, and climate change and environmental issues. Prior to arriving in Canada, Michelle was Director of Solomon Islands section. In 2013, Michelle completed the senior military officers’ course, including a Masters Degree in Strategic and Defence Studies, at the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies, at the Australian Defence College, Canberra. Michelle also holds a Master of Arts in Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Schedule:
6:30 pm: Doors open
7:00 – 8:30 pm: Panel discussion

Tickets:
Tickets are $7.50 for CIC student members, $10.00 for CIC members, and $15.00 for non-members, and include a beer, glass of wine or other beverage.

** While tickets will be sold at the door up to the capacity of the venue, we highly recommend purchasing tickets in advance online as our last event sold out!