Join the CIC National Capital Branch at this virtual live discussion: Roundtable on Canadian Disarmament Diplomacy

While geopolitical tensions are on the rise, major powers are engaging in nuclear and conventional arms races. The existing arms control and disarmament architecture is under great stress. What should Canada be doing to support cooperative rather than confrontational approaches to international security?

The CIC National Capital Branch will host a virtual roundtable on Canada’s disarmament diplomacy featuring three former diplomats, Peggy Mason, Paul Meyer, and Marius Grinius, who will bring their extensive experience in the arms control and disarmament field to this discussion that will address the key challenges and opportunities facing the Canadian government today and in the future. This event will be moderated by Canadian journalist Michael Petrou, professor in the Department of History at the University of Ottawa and Editor-in-Chief for Open Canada, the Canadian International Council’s digital magazine about Canada’s place in the world. Hamid Jorjani, Board member of the CIC National Capital Branch will deliver the opening and closing remarks.

SPEAKERS

Peggy Mason is President of the Rideau Institute, a progressive think tank seeking to help revitalize Canada’s global role through creative, innovative and inclusive multilateralism, firmly grounded in the principles of the UN Charter. Ms. Mason’s career highlights diplomatic and specialist expertise in the field of international peace and security, with a particular emphasis on the United Nations, where she served as Canada’s Ambassador for Disarmament from 1989 to 1995. Since 1996 Ms. Mason has been involved in many aspects of UN peacekeeping training, including the development of ground-breaking UN principles on the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former fighters, the reform of UN arms embargoes and the dramatic evolution of UN peacekeeping in the 21st century. Until 2014, she regularly brought the UN political/diplomatic perspective to a range of UN, NATO and EU training exercises to help prepare military commanders for complex multidisciplinary peace and crisis stabilization operations. For 10 years Peggy Mason was a Senior Fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University, where she lectured, participated in training for Iraqi and Kuwaiti diplomats and chaired the Advisory Board of the Canadian Centre for Treaty Compliance (CCTC). She has long been active in a range of Canadian non-governmental organizations engaged in foreign policy, peace building and global governance issues. A graduate of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law, Peggy Mason was inducted into its Honour Society in September 2003. In October of 2019 Peggy Mason was elected Vice-Chair of the prestigious Canadian Pugwash Group. In June of 2020, she joined the Advisory Board of a new progressive foreign policy think tank, the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy.

Paul Meyer is Fellow in International Security and Adjunct Professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver (since 2011). Previously, 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 is a Senior Advisor to ICT4Peace and the current Chair of the Canadian Pugwash Group. He teaches a course on diplomacy at SFU and writes on issues of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, space security and international cyber security.

Marius Grinius joined the foreign service in 1979 after a 12-year career in the Canadian Army. He is the former Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam (1997-99), South Korea (2004-07), concurrently to North Korea (2005-07) and to the United Nations and Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (2007-11). He was then seconded to the Department of National Defence to serve as Director-General for International Security Policy (2011-12). Currently Marius is a Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a member of the Senate of the 30th Field Regiment, Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery.

MODERATOR

Michael Petrou is a historian and journalist who has reported from across the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia. He is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Ottawa and Editor-in-Chief for Open Canada. He was the 2018 Martin Wise Goodman Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and was previously a fellow-in-residence in Carleton University’s Global and International Studies program. He is now a fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Petrou holds a doctorate in modern history from the University of Oxford.

WELCOME REMARKS

Hamid Jorjani has been an active member of the former CIIA and the current CIC for many years. Currently, he is a CIC-NCB Board member, with responsibilities for program activities and the Middle East Study Group. Hamid’s international experience began in the 1970s when he received a scholarship to study in India. Through his studies he was exposed to various development projects sponsored by the Indo-British and the USAID development programs. In the summer of 1987, he worked collaboratively with a group of international scientists at IIASA in Austria. Hamid has worked extensively on science and academic diplomacy during his public service.

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