National Conference 2011 November 26-27, 2011
Location: Holiday Inn La Chaudiere, 2 Montcalm Street, Gatineau, QC
Winds of Change in the Arab World: Implications for Canada-Arab Relations
Ambassador Clovis Maksoud	CBC Foreign Correspondent Nahlah Ayed	Ambassador Paul Heinbecker
(And many other guests. See full conference Program)

Canadian of all backgrounds are watching with interest the change that is sweeping across the Arab world. That the people of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Bahrain and other Arab countries have risen up in the millions to demand their rights as free citizens is a cause for hope. They have done this in the face of overwhelming state resistance to change and at considerable personal risk.

It is in this context that the National Council on Canada Arab Relations is organising a National Conference on November 26-27, 2011 to focus on the theme “Winds of Change in the Arab World: Implications for Canada Arab Relations.” This conference will seek to bring ordinary Canadians of all backgrounds, politicians, policy-makers, academics, civil society activists and Arab Canadians together to explore, analyze, debate and seek solutions to strengthening Canadian relations with the Arab world, its governments and its peoples.

The Keynote Speaker at our Gala Dinner, Ambassador Clovis Maksoud, is a renowned analyst of the Arab World, former Ambassador and presently Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for the Global South at American University in Washington, DC. The Conference Opening Address will be delivered by Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian Ambassador, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former Ambassador to Germany. He is currently the Director of the Laurier Centre for Global Relations and Distinguished Fellow in International Relations at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).

The two days of panels and workshops will feature the expertise of Canadian and other specialists of the Middle East and North Africa as well as Arab Canadian organisations. Our luncheon address on Saturday will be delivered by a representative of the Canadian Federal Parliament while Sunday’s addressee will be the CBC’s own Nahlah Ayed, foreign correspondent who has been covering events and the uprisings in the Middle East for several year

Register now and be part of the action.

Do you have a business and would like to sponsor the event? Then click here to obtain all the sponsorship forms.

You can also access our Conference Materials page to view our Programme and Policy Paper.

Event Sponsors: Thank you to our Sponsors, shown in the right-hand column

Tahrir Square