Some people choose to travel for tourism. Others travel for work, for health, for education, or for reasons of necessity. No matter what the reason, travel and tourism provide vital economic activity for countless communities, businesses and individuals. In the expectation that the current pandemic may continue to pose a threat across the globe, it will take a concerted effort by many actors to create confidence that travel and tourism can resume safely and securely.

Join our panel of former officials responsible for consular services who will help us better understand what foreign ministries, particularly consular services and development assistance, can do to support Canadians and help build the confidence that will be needed to restart the trade and tourism that so many communities rely on, and that so many Canadians enjoy. Recognizing that foreign ministries depend on collaboration with other government departments in order to deliver services, we will examine how they can be a catalyst for action within government as a whole. We will also explore how foreign ministries could work with the private sector, including sectors such as transportation, hospitality, insurance, and civil society groups.

Speakers:

Bill Crosbie is a former Assistant Deputy Minister for Consular, Emergency Management and Security at Global Affairs Canada and a former Ambassador to Afghanistan. Since retirement in 2015 he has worked for various departments related to UN Peacekeeping, Sustainable Blue Economy, Ukraine Reform and Afghanistan.

Patricia Fortier is a Senior Fellow at University of Ottawa. She is also a member of the board for a Canadian clean-tech company, Greenlane Renewables, and Canada leader for Women Execs on Boards. She was Director General and then Assistant Deputy Minister for Consular/Emergency Management. Abroad, she was Canadian Ambassador to Peru, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic and had postings in Asia, USA, Africa and the Americas.

Dahlia Stein has over 20 years experience in government – at both the provincial level and federal level, where she has worked in the Departments of Global Affairs, Health, Environment, Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Privy Council Office, as well as the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition. She is a former Senior Fellow at the National Policy Association in Washington DC, and held a UK FCO Chevening Fellowship in the Economics of Climate Change at Cambridge University, Most recently, she was a Director in the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, leading the political team responsible for consular affairs under two different ministers.

Elizabeth Kingston will be our moderator. She is President of the CIC National Capital Branch. She had a career of 35 years with the Parliament of Canada including as 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 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.

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