Registration for CIC members will commence two weeks prior to this event. Please RSVP to cicpip2018@gmail.com.

Lou Naumovski, a Canadian citizen born in Macedonis, began his deep involvement with Russia as a Canadian Trade Commissioner in Moscow in 1982. He left External Affairs (now Global Affairs Canada) as a Deputy Director in 1990. He then worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 1992-2000 as Senior Banker and Resident Representative in Russia. In August 2000, he joined the payment systems company Visa as Sr. VP Central Europe, Middle East and Africa Division, where he increased the number of Visa cards in Russian circulation from around 800,000 in August 2000 to almost 43 million by July 2007, then joined Kinross Gold Corporation. In January 2017, he retired from Kinross Gold, having served as VP and head of the Moscow office, overseeing the company’s government relations and business development efforts in Russia. During his talk, Lou will discuss Russia’s role in international economic development, and his analysis of how Canada and other countries can improve their commercial and general relations with Russia.

Paul Meyer is Fellow in International Security and Adjunct Professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University and a Senior Fellow with The Simons Foundation. Prior to assuming his current appointments in 2011, his 35-year career with the Canadian Foreign Service included diplomatic assignments in Oslo, Moscow, Brussels (NATO), Washington, Tokyo and from 2003-2007 in Geneva where he served as Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN and to the Conference on Disarmament. At Global Affairs Canada he held a variety of positions including Director General for International Security (1998-2001) and Director General for Security and Intelligence (2007-2010). Throughout his work, Meyer has sought to promote international security by means of creative diplomacy. He currently teaches at SFU’s School for International Studies and is engaged in research and writing on issues of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, outer space security and cyber security