Our Events

Events

The mission of the CIC is to promote an understanding of international affairs and Canada’s role in a changing world by providing Canadians with a non-partisan, nationwide forum for informed discussion, analysis and debate. Accordingly, the cornerstone of the CIC’s work is our events program. The CIC national office and our branches hold more than 150 events per year in cities across the country. In particular, our branch events give members an opportunity to directly engage with global issues that often intersect with local concerns. The CIC also supports events outside of Canada, often in partnership with other global think tanks, that can introduce Canadian perspectives to global audiences. CIC events take on many different forms, from academic lectures and panel discussions to town hall meetings and pub nights. Please consult our events calendar for a listing of CIC-organized and sponsored events.

If you have an idea for a CIC event, please contact us at info@thecic.org.

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

CIC Saskatoon: Fending off the Americans for 250 Years

May 26 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm CST

The Saskatoon branch of the Canadian International Council invites you to our next event, free of charge and open to the public, on the following important international issue:

 

TOPIC: Fending off the Americans for 250 Years

SPEAKER: Madeleine Drohan

DATE: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

PLACE: Saskatoon Club, 417 21st Street East, Saskatoon

TIME: 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

~~~ This is the twentieth event of our 2025/26 program ~~~

[Read further below about the option for joining the speaker for dinner after the talk.]

 

Before Donald Trump in 2025, before James Madison in 1812, Benjamin Franklin had designs on Canada. Madelaine Drohan will talk about how he rationalized that desire, what he did about it, why he failed, and why the events of 250 years ago remain relevant today.

 

Throughout his long and illustrious career, Benjamin Franklin nursed a not-so-secret desire to annex Canada and make it American. When he was not busy conducting scientific experiments or representing American interests at home and abroad, Benjamin Franklin hatched one plan after another to join Canada to the American colonies and then later to the United States. These were not solely intellectual efforts. He went to Montreal in 1776 to try to turn around the faltering occupation by American forces. As lead American negotiator at the 1782 peace negotiations with Britain in Paris, he made a last-gasp attempt to win Canada. Donald Trump’s repeated threats to make Canada the 51st state suggest the desire to possess Canada did not die with Franklin. There are lessons for Canada in Franklin’s failure that remain relevant today.

 

About our speaker:

 

Madelaine Drohan is a senior fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Policy, University of Ottawa, a former Canada correspondent for The Economist, and a former foreign correspondent for The Globe and Mail. During her long journalism career, she covered politics, economics, and business in Africa, Asia, Canada, and Europe. Her latest book is: He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada.

 

Itinerary:

5:30 p.m. Doors open

6:00 p.m. Public presentation – free and open to the public

7:30 p.m. Event concludes

8:00 p.m. Dinner with the speaker (RSVP by email to dan.sutherland@canada.ca)

9:30 p.m. Dinner concludes

 

DINNER WITH THE SPEAKER:

Want to find out even more about the issues, and discuss them with the speaker and other internationalists? Consider buying a dinner ticket and joining us after the talk, at 8:00 p.m., also at the Saskatoon Club.

 

Register for dinner before noon on Friday, May 22 by emailing dan.sutherland@canada.ca, indicating the number of seats you wish to purchase. Pay for meals by e-transfer.

OR

Register through the link here.

 

Prices for dinner with the speaker, following presentation

$20 – Students

$40 – All other CIC members

$50 – Non-members

Register for dinner with the speaker before May 22, 12:00 noon. Dinner registrants will be expected to pay even if they cannot or do not attend. Persons with dinner reservations who cannot attend are encouraged to find someone else to take their place.

 

We hope you can make it!

 

Yours in service,

Dan Sutherland, Programming Chair

Canadian International Council – Saskatoon Branch

Details

Venue

  • Saskatoon Club
  • 417 21st Street East
    Saskatoon, SK S7K 0C5 Canada     + Google Map

Organizer

  • CIC Saskatoon Branch