Join us for this panel of seasoned experts who will discuss the transatlantic relationship and rethink its prospects in the post-COVID era.

This event features Senator Peter Boehm and Her Excellency Sabine Sparwasser, Ambassador of Germany to Canada, as well as His Excellency Dr. Stéphane Dion, Canada’s Ambassador to Germany and Special Envoy to the European Union and Europe. The event will be moderated by Ben Rowswell, President of the CIC. Ms. Elizabeth Kingston, President of the CIC National Capital Branch, will deliver the opening and closing remarks.

Speaker Bios:

Sabine Sparwasser has been the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Canada since 2017. She studied political science with a focus on foreign relations at the Institut D’Études Politiques in Paris following her study of  German, French and English literature and linguistics at the Johannes-Gutenberg-University in Mainz. Before embarking on her diplomatic career, she worked as a freelance journalist for German Television and was Research Assistant on European Integration to Professor Joseph Rovan in Paris. She was posted to the EU-Mission in Brussels, the German Embassies in London and San José (Costa Rica). She also served as Consul General in Toronto. At headquarters, she held various positions in the press, public relations and political sections of the German Foreign Office before assuming the role of Deputy Spokesperson of the German Foreign Office in Berlin. She later served as Director of the Middle East and Maghreb Division and as Head of the Foreign Service Academy. Before coming to Canada, she was Assistant Deputy Minister for Africa, Asia, Latin America, Near and Middle East and also Germany’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Honourable Stéphane Dion is Canada’s Ambassador to Germany and Special Envoy to the European Union and Europe. Prior to his current appointment, he was Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2015 until January 2017. He was previously Minister of the Environment from 2004 to 2005, and, in 2005, chaired the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP11/MOP1). From 2001 to 2003 he was Minister responsible for Official Languages. Serving as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs between 1996 and 2003, longer than any other Canadian since Confederation, he played a primary role promoting Canadian unity. In 2006, he was elected Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and became the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons, a position he held until 2008. Before entering politics, Stéphane Dion taught Political Science at Université de Moncton in1984, then at Université de Montréal from 1984 to 1995. He has authored many scientific articles and books on public administration, organizational studies, political institutions and environmental policies.

The Honourable Peter M. Boehm was appointed to the Senate of Canada in October 2018. A native of Kitchener, Ontario, he is a career foreign service officer, and has served as Ambassador to Germany, Minister at the Embassy of Canada to the United States, as well as Ambassador to the Organization of American States, among other foreign postings. He is a former Deputy Minister of International Development, Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Assistant Deputy Minister for the Americas, North America and Consular Affairs. He served several Prime Ministers as their Personal Representative or “Sherpa” for the G8 and G7 Summits, as well as for the Summits of the Americas and Nuclear Security Summits. Most recently, he was the Deputy Minister and Personal Representative of the Prime Minister for the G7 Summit, held in Québec in June 2018. Peter Boehm holds a PhD in History from the University of Edinburgh, a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Ben Rowswell has been President and Research Director of the Canadian International Council since November 2018. Prior to the CIC, Ben served as Canada’s Ambassador to Venezuela from 2014 to 2017. This capped a 25 year career as a professional diplomat including assignments in Canada’s embassies to Egypt, to the United States, and in Canada’s Permanent Mission to the UN. He served Canada’s first diplomatic envoy to Baghdad, Iraq, after the fall of Saddam Hussein from 2003 to 2005, as Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan and as head of the NATO Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar between 2008 and 2010. As a practitioner of international relations, Ben’s thematic interest has been in human rights and democracy. He founded the Democracy Unit at Global Affairs Canada, and worked closely with human rights activists in Iraq and Afghanistan. As Ambassador to Venezuela, Ben was an outspoken advocate of the restoration of the popular sovereignty of Venezuelans after the suspension of constitutional order in early 2017. These experiences abroad awakened an interest in the role of citizens in our own democracy. In Ottawa, Ben supported the Cabinet process as a member of the Privy Council Office during the tenures of Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper, experiences that exposed him to the far-reaching impact that public opinion has on decision-making at the highest levels of government. Ben brings that passion for the role of individual citizens to the CIC, a platform for everyday Canadians to participate in the national conversation about our nation’s role in the world.

Elizabeth Kingston is the President of the CIC National Capital Branch. She had a career of 35 years with the Parliament of Canada as a Procedural Clerk and is now retired. She has held numerous positions including Clerk of the Standing Committees on Finance, Public Accounts, Aboriginal Affairs, Industry as well as the Special Joint Committee on the Meech Lake Accord. She has also served as Executive Secretary to the Canada – United States Inter-parliamentary Group, the Canada-China and Canada-Japan Parliamentary Associations, the Canada-United Kingdom Parliamentary Association and the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Elizabeth also served as Executive Secretary to the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), which serves to strengthen the participation of women in politics, government and society. Elizabeth served as both a short term and long term observer for the presidential, then parliamentary elections in Ukraine in the spring and summer of 2019. Elizabeth recently returned from Guyana and Ukraine as an election observer for their elections in January and October 2020. Elizabeth holds a Master’s degree in French Literature and is presently working on a Master’s degree in Theology.

To Register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-transatlantic-relationship-and-its-prospects-in-the-post-covid-era-tickets-129025399443