Who Needs Canada? Canada's Role in the World

Roland Paris

University Research Chair in International Security and Governance,  University of Ottawa and former Senior Advisor on Global Affairs and Defence to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Roland Paris is University Research Chair in International Security and Governance at the University of Ottawa, where he teaches in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. He was recently Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s senior advisor on global affairs and defence, having previously held several advisory positions in the Canadian government, including in the Privy Council Office, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Federal-Provincial Relations Office.

He has also been the director of research for the Conference Board of Canada, assistant professor of international affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and visiting researcher at Sciences-Po in Paris and at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.

He has won numerous awards for his academic research on international affairs as well as six prizes for teaching and public service. Paris also provides regular analysis and commentary for national and international media.

Sheila Watt-Cloutier

Canadian Inuit activist, advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission, former International Chair for the Inuit Circumpolar Council, and nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier is in the business of transforming public opinion into public policy. Experienced in working with global decision makers for over a decade, Watt-Cloutier offers a new model for 21st century leadership. She speaks with passion and urgency on the issues of today—the environment, the economy, foreign policy, global health, and sustainability—not as separate concerns, but as a deeply interconnected whole.

At a time when people are seeking solutions, direction, and a sense of hope, this global leader provides a big picture of where we are and where we're headed. In 2007, Watt-Cloutier was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work in showing the impact of global climate change on human rights—especially in the Arctic, where it is felt more immediately, and more dramatically, than anywhere else in the world. Watt-Cloutier an Officer of the Order of Canada; the recipient of the Aboriginal Achievement Award; the UN Champion of the Earth Award; the Norwegian Sophie Prize; and the Right Livelihood Award, which she won in November, 2015 and is widely considered the "Nobel Alternative". From 1995-2002, Watt-Cloutier was elected the Canadian President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). She was later elected in 2002 to become the International Chair of the ICC, representing the 155,000 Inuit from Canada, Greenland, Alaska and Russia--she held this post until 2006. Watt-Cloutier is the author of the memoir, The Right to Be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet, published in 2015. The book was nominated for the 2016 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. Watt-Cloutier was also shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.

Senator Yuen Pau Woo

Former President of HQ Vancouver, former President and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, and Senior Resident Fellow at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University.

Senator Yuen Pau Woo has three decades’ experience in strategy and policy for business, government and not-for-profit organizations.   Widely recognized as a leading thinker on international economic issues and Canada-Asia relations, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada in November 2016, and sits as an independent representing British Columbia. 

Prior to joining the Senate, he was President of HQ Vancouver, a public-private partnership that promotes British Columbia as a location for head offices of international companies.  From 2005-2014, he was President and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, where he continues to serve as Distinguished East Asia Fellow.  He is also Senior Resident Fellow at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University; Senior Fellow in Public Policy at the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia; as well as co-founder and President of China Global: The Vancouver Society for Promotion of Chinese Art and Culture.  He is chair of the board of the Vancouver Academy of Music, and a member of the Global Council of the Asia Society, as well as on the Advisory Boards of the Mosaic Institute, the Canadian Ditchley Foundation, and Global Diversity Exchange at Ryerson University.  

From 2002-2012, he was Canada's representative on the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and served as the founding chair of PECC's flagship State of the Region report. Mr Woo has previously worked for the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation; and he has been an advisor/consultant to the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, APEC, and the OECD. He has published widely on international economic issues and contemporary Asian affairs. His previous board appointments include the Public Policy Forum, the Ontario Brain Institute, the Standards Council of Canada, and the Greater Vancouver Advisory Council for the Salvation Army.  In 2012, he was honoured with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award for his contributions to Canada-Asia relations.

(Excerpted from Senate of Canada)