Parliamentary International Forum


The Parliamentary International Forum: an initiative to encourage debate over Canada's role in the world.

To date, much political energy in Canada has been absorbed by our domestic context. Fiscal restraint and the ongoing constitutional debate have ushered in a time of national reflection, thus negatively effecting other policy areas such as international relations. In this light, the Parliamentary International Forum (PIF) initiative was conceived with the aim to promote cooperation and collaboration within the Canadian community interested in international affairs.

Actuellement, quatre organisations collaborent ensemble afin de vous proposer une serie de rencontres capable d'informer et d'influencer la donne politique en matiere d'affaires internationales: soit le Centre Parlementaire, la Norman Paterson School of International Affairs de l'Universite Carleton, le journal La Politique etrangere du Canada et le Conseil Canadien pour la Paix et la Securite Internationale. De plus, lorsque le besoin se manifestera, le PIF fera appel a l'expertise du Conseil canadien pour la cooperation internationale.

The initiatives proposed are essentially a series of Policy Roundtables, bringing together parliamentarians, senior diplomats, public servants, the media and members of the wider policy and public community. In this light, the Parliamentary International Forum seeks to achieve two goals within one coherent approach. These are:

  • promoting and deepening informed discussion about Canada place in international affairs.
  • outreach to a wider constituency at the national level. Nous prevoyons ainsi sept tables rondes, comprenant differents themes qui seront debatus par des specialistes invites. De plus, le journal La Politique etrangere du Canada fera echo des rencontres dans sa publication trimestrielle, en exposant un resume precis des propos tenus. Finalement, l'interesse pourra suivre le PIF sur l'autoroute de l'information. Nous presenterons un calendrier electronique, indiquant les dates, les themes des tables rondes, les conferenciers, les ateliers et la modalites d'abonnement. Egalement, une version telechargeable des debats sera offerte.

    Sponsored by:
    The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University
    		 The Parliamentary Centre for Foreign Affairs and International Trade/le Centre parlementaire pour affaires étrangès et le commerce international The Canadian Foreign Policy Journal/la revue Politique étangère du Canada
    The Canadian Council for International Peace and Security/le Conseil canadien pour la paix et la sécurité internationales and generously supported by/et est rendu possible grâce à l'aide généreuse de: the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation of Toronto

    Speaker Series



    ***A Post-Mortem on the U.S. Elections: The Impacts on Canada***


  • Programme: [EN][FR]

  • Summary of presentations: Thomas G. Weston, Richard Dresner and Graham Fraser


    • Recent Events in This Series


    I. Bosnia-Herzegovina: Beyond Elections

  • Speaker biographies: [EN][FR]

  • Background Notes:

    The Future of Democracy and Rule of Law[EN][FR]
    The Security Dimension in a Post-Election Bosnia[EN][FR]
    Economic and Social Reconstruction: Canadian Assistance in Context[EN][FR]

  • Final Report: Summary Report of Consultations

    • The conference and consultations are a joint PIF-Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee initiative.


    II. The Russian Presidential Elections: Prospects for Foreign and Domestic Policy.[EN][FR]
  • Summary of presentations: Ambassador Jeremy Kinsman and Sergei Plekhanov


    • III. The Pace of the Middle East Peace Process: Israel and Lebanon. [EN] [FR]
  • Summary of presentations: MGen Trond Furuhovde and Patrick Martin.

    • IV. The Question of National Unity and it's Implications for Canada's Foreign Policy.[EN] [FR]

  • Biographies of speakers:[EN][FR]

  • Summaru of presentations: Catherine Cano, John Cruickshank, Richard Gwyn, and Desmond Morton


    • ***Please note that it is now possible to follow this forum on CPAC, the Parliamentary television network. The daily CPAC television schedule can be consulted by telephone at (613) 567-6040. Video cassettes of the Forum are also available from CPAC for purchase.***


  • Forthcoming Events in the Ottawa Region.




    • Thank you for visiting the Forum's Web-Site.


    Concerns and comments can be forwarded to Marc-Yves Bertin at mybertin@ccs.carleton.ca

    Vous pouvez faire parvenir vos commentaires à Marc-Yves Bertin au mybertin@ccs.carleton.ca