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Where is Canada going? What should be its place on the international scene? At the crossroads of global change, Canada faces new threats, but also many opportunities. As we question how Canada should defend itself and how best to ensure its security, join experts and practitioners to understand the current environment through in-depth discussions on Canada’s international policy.

With two consecutive failures to win a United Nations Security Council seat and declining military capabilities, Canada’s place on the international stage is in question. While the changing role of the great powers and the weakening of international norms are debated, a significant decline in Canadian diplomatic activism is observable. At the same time, Canadian defense policy also sometimes suffers from a lack of clarity. Developing a proactive strategy to reposition Canada on the international scene could, however, change the situation. To become aware of the rapid evolution of the global security environment, this colloquium reviews the state of the international environment and its new threats. Its roundtables focus on Canada’s strategic assets as well as its interests and priorities. The colloquium goal is to better identify how Canada’s international strategy could become more coherent and proactive, and to predict what path it should choose.

Panel 1: Developing a Multi-Domain Approach to New Areas of Confrontation

Technological proliferation, emergence of new spaces, and multidimensional threats—what do these concepts mean and what do they imply? This panel will elucidate both questions by exploring the implications of these new threats for Canada, its people, and its position in the world. With the expansion of geostrategic space toward Asia and the emergence of cyberspace as a battlefield between nations, interstate confrontations now go beyond mere economic and military fields. The experts on this panel will provide insights and analysis to help everyone better understand this reality and what a multi-domain approach for Canada would really mean.

Panel 2: Leveraging International Cooperation & Canada’s Strategic Assets

Canada’s international policy is part of a consciously multilateral approach. This panel will investigate the role Canada plays as a “middle power” within regional and international institutions and how it can succeed in asserting its strategic interests. To understand how Canada could maintain and increase its international status, the experts on this panel will conduct a critical examination of its capacities and commitments. In short, they will aim to identify the place that cooperation can play in Canada’s foreign and defense policy.

Panel 3: Canada’s Strategic Coherence

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, gray zone conflicts, the weakening of US hegemony, and the rise of China—the world in 2022 is in turmoil. Caught between its allies, their diverging interests, and its rivals, Canada finds itself faced with the return of great powers competition. Faced with this situation, it must adapt. But how to succeed coherently? This panel will assess how Canada could design a coherent foreign policy in line with its values, but also its national interests. Defining these, its overall strategic priorities, and the budget necessary for their implementation is the challenge that this panel’s experts will tackle.

Col Trevor Teller will provide an insider’s perspective on his time as the Director Western Hemisphere Policy in the Department of National Defence Policy Group from 2019-2021. As one of the many stakeholders during the pandemic, he was involved in the whole of government response to the crisis. The discussion will focus on the development of policy to support the DND/CAF response to the whole of government effort, the April 2020 Comprehensive Request for Assistance authorization that was granted by the Minister to the CAF in order to assist other government departments and organizations in their pandemic response, and the subsequent activities, policy evolution and considerations that can be linked to the delegated authorization.

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notes for this event:

• This In-Person event will be under 'Chatham House Rule', no recordings or video will be available.
• Registration is required to attend and is limited to 35 attendees.
• Brown Bag - No food or drink will be provided, but you are welcome to bring something to the event.

In 2012, after spending a year at each the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Kingston and the Canadian Forces College, Col Teller was promoted and posted to 1 Wing Headquarters, Kingston as the A3/Wing Operations Officer. In 2013 he was appointed as the 1 Wing Chief of Staff, a position he held for two years. Lieutenant-Colonel Teller assumed command of 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron and returned to active flying duty in July of 2015, a position held until the summer of 2017. Following six months of second language training post-command, he deployed to Kuwait as the Air Task Force - Iraq Commander from July 2018 to March 2019. Following his return home and promotion in July 2019, he was appointed as the Director of Western Hemisphere Policy within the Department of National Defence Policy Group. Col Teller joined the Queens University Visiting Defence Fellow Program for the 2021-22 academic year. (click here for more on Col. Teller)