Showdown: Perspectives on the U.S. mid-term elections and what it means for the world

The International Issues Discussion (IID) series at Ryerson University is pleased to present its fifth event of the Fall 2018 term: “Showdown: Perspectives on the U.S. mid-term elections and what it means for the world.

Wednesday, November 7^th, 630-830 pm, in ENG 103 (George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre: 245 Church Street, at the corner of Gould and Church: see https://www.torontomu.ca/maps) at Ryerson University, Toronto.  

Our guests will be:

Jeremy K. B. Kinsman: Canadian foreign service officer for 40 years, he served as Canadian Ambassador to Russia (1992-1996), Italy (1996-2000), High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (2000–2002) and Ambassador to the European Union (2002–2006). He had earlier been Minister in New York (UN) and Washington, and Political Director of the Foreign Ministry. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Kinsman graduated from Princeton University and the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris. After leaving the Public Service in 2006, he became Diplomat-in-Residence at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School which partnered in the democracy support project Kinsman headed under the Community of Democracies that researched and produced a field guide for democracy support, "A Diplomat's Handbook for Democracy Development", now in a Third Edition, published by CIGI (Centre for International Governance Innovation) in 2013. In 2009 Kinsman was appointed Regents' Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley and joined Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies as Resident International Scholar. From 2011-2017, he was concurrently Distinguished Diplomatic Visitor at Ryerson University, Toronto. He was a member of the Foreign Affairs Council of Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau. A regular contributor to media, he is foreign affairs writer for Policy Magazine and does a weekly commentary on foreign affairs for CTV. He is also on the Board of Dundee Precious Metals Corporation.

David S. Wright: the Kenneth and Patricia Taylor Distinguished Professor of Foreign Affairs at Victoria College, University of Toronto. He was Canada's longest serving Ambassador to NATO, from1997-2003, and dealt with Kosovo, September 11, Afghanistan and Iraq. He was the NATO Council's Dean. Prior to that, he was Canadian Ambassador to Spain during the Canada-Spain fisheries dispute. After the Berlin wall fell and as the Soviet Union collapsed, Mr. Wright served in Ottawa as Assistant Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Europe. He was also Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the Canadian Embassy in Paris, and had postings at the Canadian Embassies in Tokyo and Rome, and at the Canadian Delegation to the UN in New York. A graduate of McGill and Columbia Universities, Mr. Wright is a regular contributor to public debate on global issues. He is Special Advisor to the Toronto law firm, Dale & Lessmann LLP.

Maryscott (Scotty) Greenwood: Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian American Business Council and co-leader of the US Federal Public Policy practice of Dentons US, LLP a leading global law firm. Greenwood is a member of the Board of Directors of Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) where she serves on the Audit Committee as well as Nomination, Governance and Compensation Committees. Greenwood also serves on the Board of the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (www.fapeglobal.com (external link)  ) where she serves on the Executive Committee as chair of the Communications Committee, and previously as Secretary of the Board. In addition, she serves as Advisory Director for a tech start up (HYR) and a non-profit (Hostage US). Previous boards consists of the Board of the World Affairs Council of Washington, the Girls20 Initiative and the Association of Canadian Studies in the US. Greenwood has a distinguished career in government and government relations, addressing public policy challenges in the US and Canada. She is a sought after public speaker with engagements in North American and Europe and is also frequently quoted in the media for her insights into political and trade issues. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, Greenwood served in the U.S. State Department as chief of staff at the United States Embassy in Ottawa from 1997-2001. Prior, she served as the chief federal/state liaison for the Mayor of Atlanta, including the 1996 Interagency Security Task Force for the Olympic Games. She is an honors graduate of the University of Vermont, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives at Harvard University.

All are welcome and admission is free. Please circulate notice of the event as widely as possible. A poster advertising the talk is attached.

Founded in 2005, the IID is a non-partisan, student-led forum designed to engage all members of the Ryerson University community on major events and issues in contemporary global affairs through reasoned, objective, and scholarly discourse. For further details about the IID and our series please see http://iid.kislenko.com (external link)   or contact the IID student leaders at iidseries@gmail.com