The Rohingya crisis:  human rights and international solidarity in the age of populism

In the age of populist nationalism, the defence of human rights becomes more critical and more politically challenging. Bob Rae reflects on his recent experience in Myanmar and Bangladesh, and other examples around the world and closer to home.

A public reception will take place immediately afterwards in the foyer of Robert Sutherland 202. 

Mr. Rae served as Ontario's 21st Premier from 1990-1995 and Interim Federal Leader of the Liberal Party in 2011-13. He was named Queen's Counsel in 1984, appointed to the Privy Council of Canada in 1998, named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000, received the Order of Ontario in 2004 and Companion of the Order of Canada in 2015.‎ In 2017 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed him as Special Envoy to Myanmar.

He now works as a lawyer, negotiator, mediator and arbitrator, with a particular focus on first nations, aboriginal, and governance issues. He teaches at the University of Toronto School of Governance and Public Policy and is a widely respected writer and commentator. 

The J. Douglas Gibson Lecture Series was established in 1988 by family and friends to honour the memory of Mr. J. Douglas Gibson, Chairman of Queen's University Board of Trustees from 1969 to 1975. The Gibson Lecture brings to Queen's an internationally renowned scholar or public figure to deliver a public lecture on a topic relevant to the School's mandate.