(Ottawa, September 3, 2002)--As the anniversary of 9/11 looms in the near future, a conference entitled Canadian Defence and the Canada-U.S. Strategic Partnership will examine if the security situation has improved in Canada and the United States since that tragedy.  The conference, which is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, this week (September 5-6) at the Lord Elgin Hotel in Ottawa, is sponsored by the Centre for Security and Defence Studies (CSDS) in the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University, the Calgary-based Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI), and the Center for the Study of the Presidency in Washington D.C. 

“Today, the war on terrorism has brought Canada and the United States closer together than ever before because of our common borders and waterways,” said Dr. David Abshire, President, The Center for the Study of the Presidency.  “This conference will enable both countries to better develop strategies for our mutual security.”

“The idea is not to reach a consensus but to share vital information that could shape the direction of our future defence policies,” said Dr. David Carment, Director of CSDS.

The two-day working session will be closed to the media to enable the 40 invited participants to hear and debate the views and ideas of 10 Canadian and American experts on sensitive topics such as the idea of a more integrated American-Canadian military or more American control over Canadian defence assets.

“One of the reasons we want a closed conference is so that the participants can openly share critical, provocative information about what kind of role Canadian defence officials want to have and will be able to have with the United States,” said Dr. David Bercuson, Vice-President (Research) of CDFAI.

A news conference featuring key participants is scheduled for:

Date:    Thursday, September 5, 2002
Time:    2:15 p.m.
Place:   Laurier Room, Lord Elgin Hotel

Individual interviews may be booked with American participants on Thursday, September 5 and with Canadian participants on Thursday and Friday, September 5-6.  The Laurier Room will be available to the media for this purpose for both days. 

Six papers (see links below) have been prepared in advance to spark the debate.  These papers are available to the media and the public at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 5 at the Lord Elgin Hotel.

• Dr. David A. Charters: Terrorism and Response: The Impact of the War on Terrorism on the Canadian-American Security Relationship 
• Dr. Jim Fergusson: Canadian Defence and the Canada-U.S. Strategic Partnership:  The Aerospace Dimension 
• Dr. Frank P. Harvey: Terrorism, Proliferation and the Myth of American Independence: Multilateral vs. Unilateral Approaches to Security after 9/11 and the Implications for Canada 
• Dr. Rob Huebert: The Canadian Navy and Continental Security and Beyond
• Dr. Elinor Sloan: Land Threats to North America and the Role of the Army
• (Working Group) Steven Cundari, Jonah Czerwinski, James Kitfield, Dwight Mason, Christopher Sands: The U.S.-Canada Strategic Partnership and the War on Terrorism