Ensuring the Flow: Water Security for Canada and the World

In partnership with Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW), the Massey College Public Policy Program is pleased to host “Ensuring the Flow: Water Security for Canada and the World,” a timely and urgent conference exploring the centrality of water to our collective future—locally, nationally, and globally. 

With climate pressures mounting and freshwater systems increasingly under strain, water security has emerged as a defining challenge of our time. This full-day gathering will bring together thought leaders, policy-makers, Indigenous knowledge holders, scientists, and civil society voices to examine the role of water in public health, environmental resilience, sustainable development, and peacebuilding. 

Agenda

8:45 AM – 9:00 AM – Coffee and Light Breakfast

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM – Opening Remarks

9:45 AM – 11:00 AM – Panel 1

Weathering the Storm: Building Canada’s Water Resilience in an Age of Extremes
Exploring domestic water issues, including the role and limitations of the newly formed Canada Water Agency, Indigenous water rights, and the need for cohesive national water governance.

Speakers: 

• Dr. Aimee Craft
• Minister Jay Macdonald
• Oliver M Brandes
• Emily Hines, Moderator

11:00 AM – Coffee Break

11:15 PM – 12:30 PM – Panel 2

Flowing Together: Canada & US Water Security
Examining bilateral challenges and opportunities, building on conversations sparked at Massey College’s 2024 conference on the future of North American relations.

Speakers: 

• Merrell-Ann Phare Leah
• Taylor Roy
• Rob Sisson, U.S. Consul General
• Baxter Hun
• Soula Chronopoulos, Moderator

12:30 PM – 1:15 PM – Lunch

1:15 PM 2:15 PM – Key Note Address

Introductions:

• Tom Axworthy
• Michael Miltenberger

Keynote Address:

• John Vaillant

2:15 PM – 3:30 PM – Panel 3 

From Source to Solution: Canada’s Global Leadership in Shaping a Sustainable Water Future
A look at the global dimensions of water security, its implications for public health, peacebuilding, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The panel will also ask whether water could serve as a unifying theme in revitalizing Canadian foreign policy and international development—an area that has lacked coherence in recent years.

Speakers: 

• Dr. Kaveh Madani
• Dr. Nandita Basu
• Dr. Corrine Schuster Wallace, Moderator

3:30 PM – Coffee Break

3:45 PM – Open Q&A and Final Remarks 

Registration

FREE

Register here

Video Feed

Watch the video stream here