A dozen Senators, one parliamentary secretary, a retired Senator, and a former prime minister are amongst those taking part at the annual Victoria Forum which opened Aug. 24 in British Columbia’s capital city.

Now in its eighth year, the three-day forum’s theme is “Towards a Better Future: Shifting the Trajectory,” and features numerous panel discussions, plenary sessions and presentations covering a range of topics including health care, the charitable sector, the future of public broadcasting, and digital democracy.

This year’s participating parliamentarians include non-affiliated Senators Marilou McPhedran and Iris Petten; CSG Senator Gigi Osler; PSG Senators Andrew Cardozo and Amina Gerba; and ISG Senators Rosa Galvez, Joan Kingston, Marie-Françoise Mégie, Rosemary Moodie, Kim Pate, Paulette Senior, and Yuen Pau Woo; as well as Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull, who is parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs, as well as for Innovation, Science and Industry.

Retired Senator Jim Munson is the chair of the Victoria Forum, and is expected to deliver remarks, while former Progressive Conservative prime minister Joe Clark is scheduled to speak at the opening and closing plenaries.

Other notable names on the list of speakers include B.C.’s Minister of Citizens’ Services Diana Gibson, retired federal deputy minister Stephen Lucas, former chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations Wilton Littlechild; author and executive director of Royal Roads University’s Cascade Institute Thomas Homer-Dixon.

The forum will take place in various locations in Victoria, including at the eponymous university.

B.C. Premier David Eby is coming to Ottawa Sept. 18

Sticking with British Columbia, that province’s premier will be in Ottawa next month to take part in a special evening event hosted by the Canadian Club of Ottawa. 

Titled “Look West,” Eby will share his vision for the province’s path forward and what it means for Canadian prosperity and unity. This event will take place on Sept. 18 at the Fairmont Château Laurier.

Ex-Liberal MP Martinez Ferrada to debate Montreal’s global leadership

Montreal mayoral hopeful and former Liberal cabinet minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada will be discussing the impact of trade wars on Montreal and other international issues in a French-language debate on Sept. 18.

Hosted by the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, the debate entitled “2025 municipal elections: What kind of leadership does Montreal need on the international stage?” features the former MP versus Luc Rabouin, the leader of the incumbent Projet Montréal party (municipal politics follows a party system in Montreal).

After leaving Justin Trudeau’s cabinet back in February and not reoffering federally, Martinez Ferrada was acclaimed as leader of Ensemble Montréal on Feb. 28. She is vying to replace Valérie Plante as Montreal’s mayor, who is not seeking a third term. This isn’t the first time Ensemble Montréal has been led by a former federal Liberal minister, as Denis Coderre founded the party and was Montreal’s mayor from 2013 to 2017. Montrealers vote for their next mayor on Nov. 2.

Lisa Raitt tapped as St. FX’s new board chair

St. Francis Xavier University announced that Lisa Raitt is its new chair of the Board of Governors.

The former Stephen Harper-era Conservative cabinet minister graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Science in 1989. St. Francis Xavier University is based in Antigonish, N.S., less than 200 kilometres from where Raitt grew up in Sydney, N.S.

Former PMO staffer Vida Ebadi joins Clear Strategy

It’s been a month since former Liberal staffer Vida Ebadi started her new job at Clear Strategy, and she spoke about it with The Lobby Monitor’s Hunter Cresswell on Aug. 18. As an ex-public office holder, she can’t lobby directly just yet thanks to the mandatory cooling-off period, but Ebadi is busy advising clients on how the government works.

“The reality is that there’s a machinery side [of government] that I’ve been exposed to and that I appreciate,” Ebadi said. “Things like, how does caucus operate within a Liberal context? How does a region that doesn’t have a lot of MPs get their priorities across? And what are the strategic ways inside government that you can affect change and influence policy?” she told Cresswell.

Ebadi’s first job on the Hill was in 2016 as a staffer in then-Liberal MP Jim Carr’s office. She moved to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2020 and then worked for Chrystia Freeland for a bit before returning to the PMO where her last title there was director of policy and government relations. She is one of three siblings who have worked for the Trudeau government—along with brother Ben and sister Diana.

Ex-CBC reporter Brian Stewart’s memoir is coming soon

Longtime CBC News foreign correspondent Brian Stewart has a new memoir coming out, and he’ll be talking about it in Waterloo, Ont., in early October.

Published by Simon and Schuster, On the Ground: My Life as a Foreign Correspondent is Stewart’s first time reflecting on “the cost, both personal and professional, of bringing truth home from around the world,” reads the promotional blurb.

For decades, the Montreal-born Stewart—who retired in 2009—was one of Canada’s most prominent television journalists acclaimed for his foreign coverage for both CBC’s The National and The Journal. He worked in 10 war zones, hosted the CBC foreign affairs show Worldview, and interviewed many important figures including former South African president Nelson Mandela, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, ex-U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger, and British-American novelist Salman Rushdie.

Now 83 years old, Stewart has his most challenging interview yet—with himself—in a memoir that brings “politics, war, and social change to vivid life,” recalling a time when the news media held the public’s trust. While the book is to be published on Sept. 16, its launch will take place Oct. 2 at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo.

Anaida Poilievre is writing a book

Anaida Poilievre is decamping to Montreal to work on a manuscript.

“I am looking for a short term (one month) furnished rental in Griffintown for a little getaway while I write a book,” wrote the wife of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Facebook on July 27, referring to a neighbourhood in Montreal southwest of the downtown core near the Lachine canal.

“I will be coming in and out and at times bring my two kids for a weekend with me, etc. But it’s mainly just me parked at a desk writing all day.”

The forthcoming book is expected to be titled, Strong Pillars: Building an Unshakable Foundation, according to her biography on her blog Pretty and Smart Co.

cleadlay@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times