The Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute’s (CDFAI) 2006 Annual Conference on October 30, 2006 was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario. The conference, "Foreign Policy Under a Conservative Government: An Interim Report Card” looked at the Harper government's record on foreign policy, defence, and development.

Conference partners included the Centre for Security and Defence Studies at Carleton University's Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, the Institut québécois des hautes études internationales at Université Laval, Queen's University's Centre for International Relations, the Chaire de recherche du Canada en politiques étrangère et de defense canadiennes at the Université du Québec à Montréal, the Groupe d'étude et de recherche sur la sécurité internationale/Research Group in International Security, the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) and the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Canada Institute.

In conjunction with the conference, CDFAI commissioned Innovative Research Group Inc. to conduct an online national survey of the views of Canadians on the performance of the Conservative government so far and on some of the major challenges before the government, such as Canada's role in Afghanistan, Canada-U.S. relations, and the Israel-Hezbollah conflict of the summer of 2006.

The poll results can be accessed here.  

Panel Discussions

The following links point to MP3s of the various panels that took place at the conference.
 
Poll Results
Greg Lyle, Innovative Research Group Inc.
 
Panel 1: Parliament and Minority Government
Chair - David Pratt, Advisor to the Secretary General and Special Ambassador for the Canadian Red Cross Jean-Jacques Blais, former chair, Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (click here for conference notes). Kim Richard Nossal, Queen's University Denis Stairs, Dalhousie University
 
Panel 2: U.S.-Canadian Relations
Chair - David Biette, Canada Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Paul Cellucci, McCarter & English (Boston) Paul Frazer, The Livingston Group (Washington, D.C.)
Ben Stancati, Colorado Technical University
 
Luncheon Keynote Address
Hon. Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency To view text of speech click here.
(Approximate file size: 13.3 MB)
 
Panel 3: Prospects for Multilateralism
Chair - Charles Pentland, Queen's University Adam Chapnick,Canadian Forces College (Toronto) Bruce Jones, New York University Gordon Smith, University of Victoria
(Approximate file size: 34.9 MB)
 
Panel 4: The Provinces and Foreign Policy: A New Federalism?
Chair - Gérard Hérvouet, Université Laval Louise Beaudoin, Université du Québec à Montréal Jean-Christophe Boucher, Université Laval Stéphane Roussel, Université du Québec à Montréal David Dyment, University of Ottawa (click here for conference notes) Commentary - Nelson Michaud, École Nationale d'Administration Publique
 
Debate
Chair - Peter Harder, Foreign Affairs Canada David Bercuson, University of Calgary Stéphane Roussel, Université du Québec à Montréal (Approximate file size: 39.7 MB)