Canadian International Council Victoria

06/07/2026

On 10 April 2026, the CIC Couchiching West conference was held at the University of Victoria. Over 160 people took part in a day long event including two keynote speakers and two panel events. After the conference, CIC Victoria student members Kaya Dupuis and Jade Sia captured the highlights of the day, and more, in a fullsome report. Below are some extracts.

The conference could not have been held without the support of CIC national, CIC Victoria, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the University of Victoria's Centre for Global Studies and several other sponsors including the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Victoria, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Vancouver, Kurt Salchert (Beyond the Border Consulting Ltd.), and Ray Brougham (Rainhouse Manufacturing Canada Ltd.).

06/06/2026

28 July from 10-11 am PST - A CIC Victoria Zoom event!

Hinterlands - The New Cold War Brewing at the Peripheries of the West

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Join us as CIC Victoria branch president, Chris Kilford meets with Hannah Lucinda Smith to discuss her latest book.

Hannah Lucinda Smith, a Pulitzer grantee and acclaimed foreign correspondent, has devoted well over a decade to intrepid, on-the-ground reporting where few dare travel: the small, often disputed territories at the edges of Europe and Russia spanning Cyprus, the Balkans, and the Caucasus. There, Smith finds, the influence of Vladimir Putin and his favoured strongmen—along with Turkish president and regional lynchpin Recep Tayyip Erdogan—fan territorial disputes and destabilize already fragile democracies.

Hinterlands offers a rare glimpse into the ghost towns of Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh, the cryptocurrency farms of Transnistria, the brittle border communities of Bosnia and its Republika Srpska, and the enclaves of Northern Cyprus that Russian oligarchs call home. In rarely seen places in Crimea and the Caucasus, frontiers have shifted and new countries have been made. Informed by her encounters with politicians, combatants, and the ordinary people caught in the crosshairs, Smith paints a vivid portrait of the places where geopolitical alliances are forged and broken, where the violent ambitions of dictators are most keenly felt.

Her indispensable account of events in the gray zones of Eurasia gives vital context to our rapidly changing world and sounds a clear-eyed, urgent warning: We ignore the hinterlands at our own peril. What happens inside them has the power to redraw the fault lines of a new Cold War and shape the future of the West.

For anyone interested in international relations, history, or deeply researched narrative journalism, this is going to be an essential read.

To register click here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E_dFuPz8Tm-95uwqIMVpuw

06/05/2026

A new podcast with Steve Paikin in conversation with our upcoming speaker George Takach about his latest book 'Inspired By Taiwan.'

George Takach, author of Inspired by Taiwan: Why Supporting Taiwan Matters for Global Democracy, joins Steve to discuss his book, the possibility of China invading Taiwan, why the West must make sure China doesn’t “take a run” at Taiwan, how we are all dependent on Taiwan through its semicondu...

06/03/2026

Greater Victoria Acting Together - next evet on 15 June

Is democracy in the Western world genuinely under threat? Can this momentum be slowed, redirected, or reversed?

Canada Is Not Broken — But It Is Under Strain

Canada’s democratic institutions remain intact, yet they are showing signs of stress. Publicconfidence has eroded, economic and social disparities are widening, and political disenchantment is growing. While Canada may not face the immediate threats seen elsewhere, complacency carries its own risks. In this session, Jonathan Manthorpe reflects on what has gone wrong, why confidence in democratic institutions has weakened, and what reforms may be necessary to renew them. The challenge is not only to repair institutions that risk dysfunction, but to prepare them for a rapidly changing global landscape.

Is democracy in the Western world genuinely under threat? Can this momentum be slowed, redirected, or reversed?

06/01/2026

CIC Victoria's Alan Siaroff has a new article available on Open Canada...

A transformational election in Wales and continuing debates over Scottish independence highlight challenges that may resonate far beyond the United Kingdom.

05/25/2026

Some very sad news - CIC Victoria member Pierrette Alain Lucas passed away on March 5, 2026, in Victoria. Pierrette was a very active branch member. In 1986, she became Canada’s Consul General to Philadelphia and then Boston. Later, she would serve as Chief of Protocol under former prime minister Brian Mulroney, welcoming world leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Helmut Kohl, Boris Yeltsin and Ronald Reagan, and flew on Air Force One with then U.S. president George Bush. Our condolences to her family from all of us at CIC Victoria 🇨🇦

05/23/2026

Former Ambassador Gary J. Smith, who spoke at our CIC Victoria events several times over the years has passed away. Indeed, Gary was a great friend of CIC, speaking at numerous branch events across the country. News of his passing was a huge suprise this morning.

https://www.remembering.ca/obituary/gary-j-smith-1093800702

05/21/2026

This week we were at Royal Roads University (RRU). Our event brought together students from the RRU Master of Global Management program, students from the Management Center Innsbruck, Austria and students visiting from Ghana.

The event included the following presentation:

Canada and the Changing World Order

The geopolitical challenges today are seemingly endless. Indeed, from Ottawa to Washington, Moscow, Beijing, Kyiv, Tehran and beyond, countries are burning the midnight oil as they seek a way out of the turbulent times we live in. In particular, as Canadians are rethinking their nation’s role on the world stage, the presentation will focus on whether or not the time is right for Canada to produce a new national security strategy?

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After the presentation, and in small groups composed of students and CIC members, there was time to discuss several geopolitical questions about what options individuals, communities and countries have to best navigate the current state of world affairs.

Our events at RRU have always been noteworthy. Indeed, many of the students are visiting Canada for the first time and greatly value the opportunity to meet with our members (and our members also enjoy welcoming newcomers). Second, the opportunity of being able to hear a diversity of opinions from such an international audience cannot be underestimated.

In the photo, Dr. Charles Krusekopf (RRU and CIC Victoria) welcomes everyone.

05/14/2026

We were delighted to welcome Dr. Hal Klepak to Victoria this week, as our focus turned to unfolding events in Cuba. Dr. Klepak is one of Canada's top experts on Latin American and Cuban affairs. We held two events, one at the Union Club and one at the Sticky Wicket. Next up we turn to Taiwan.

05/09/2026

Coming soon! We are looking forward to welcoming George Takach back to CIC Victoria on 17 June to speak about his new book, Inspired by Taiwan...