Ottawa Foreign Policy Initiative

The CIC Ottawa Foreign Policy Initiative was formed in 2008 by the National Capital Branch.

The Initiative has the following mission:

To bring together senior members of the Public Service who shoulder international responsibilities
with experts from the policy community outside government in order to analyse major foreign policy issues confronting Canada, forecast opportunities and challenges in the medium term and assess the direction and effectiveness of
current policy in light of the forecast.

The fifteen events that the Initiative has sponsored since its inception have gone a long way to realizing the original vision. They fall into three categories:

• Small seminars, normally but not always held under the Chatham House Rule to allow the attendance and active participation of government officials.
• Lunchtime sessions with the Initiative’s advisory council and one senior official, usually of deputy minister status.
• Public conferences.

The co-chairs of the Initiative are Peter Fawcett peter.d.fawcett@gmail.com; Alex Goddard ajlgoddard@gmail.com; and Gerry Wright gerald.wright@sympatico.ca They are usually assisted by ad hoc teams formed to organize specific events. The co-chairs would be keen to hear from anyone interested in working with the Initiative or with suggestions for its future activities.

The Initiative is guided by an advisory council headed by Mel Cappe, O.C. of the School of Public Policy and Governance of the University of Toronto (and a former Clerk of the Privy Council). The members are: Derek H. Burney, O.C., Louise Fréchette, O.C., Anne Golden, C.M., Professor Fen Hampson, the Hon. Peter Harder, Dr. Jennifer Jeffs, Professor Luc Juillet, Ambassador Gaëtan Lavertu, Alex Neve, O.C., Don Newman, C.M., Professor Irvin Studin, and Jodi White, C.M.