Description

Jon Allen served as Canada’s Ambassador to Spain from 2012-16 where he witnessed a surge in right wing populism in Italy, France, the Netherlands and Austria, and its left wing manifestation in Greece and Spain. During his talk, he will explore some of the events leading to these developments as well as the election of Donald Trump. In particular, in what will be a wide-ranging and undoubtedly captivating discussion he will assess the fall-out of US mid-term elections that took place on 6 November 2018 and the resulting message American voters delivered to their political leaders (and by extension the international community) and conclude by suggesting why he believes attacks on liberal democracy could well happen here in Canada as we prepare for national elections in 2019.

Speaker’s Biography

Born in Winnipeg in 1950, Jon Allen (LL.B., University of Western Ontario, 1976; LL.M., International Law, University of London School of Economics, 1977) joined the then Department of External Affairs in 1981. In addition to postings abroad in Mexico City (1983-85), New Delhi (1989-92) and Washington (1997-2001), Jon spent his early career in the Legal Bureau where he represented Canada in disputes under the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and worked in the areas of human rights, humanitarian and environmental law. He also held the positions of Director General, North America Bureau (2001-2004), Minister (Political Affairs) at the Embassy of Canada in Washington (2004-2006) and Assistant Deputy Minister for the Americas (2010-2012). From 2006 to 2010, he was Ambassador of Canada to Israel and from 2012 to 2016, Ambassador to Spain and Andorra and Chargé d’affaires a.i. to the Holy See from December 2012 to July 2014. Today, he is a Fellow with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and a Distinguished Fellow with the Canadian International Council.

Registration

Registration will only commence two weeks prior to the event

Contact Person: Paula Skippon – cic.victoria.sec@gmail.com