Following the opening remarks of Francis Garon, Graduate Program Director of the Master’s in Public and International Affairs, Fraser Mann, President of the CIC Toronto, and Mamdouh Shoukri, President of York University, the audience was treated to a constructive conversation about the future of the new Trump administration. It was a full room that greeted the four panelists and Annie Demirjian, Director of the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs and moderator for the evening’s event. Mr. Juan Alsace, US Consul General in Toronto, spoke of the strong unifying links that reside between Canada and the United States, such as their common value of pluralism, democracy, the rule of law and, of course, liberty. He assured that both countries “share the most important economic relationship in the world,” a relationship that cannot be dissolved under the umbrella of this new administration.
Ms. Joan Ablett, for her part mentioned the recent Women’s Marches and other movements condemning Trump’s sexist protests throughout the globe. She also encourage each and every one of us to take President Trump’s statements with a grain a salt and to, instead, “pick your battles: to be outraged every day is simply too exhausting.” As for Mr.Ron Pruessen, Professor at the University of Toronto, he compared Trump’s victory and arrival into the White House with a “cataclysm.” He stated that the United States were “more dysfunctional than ever,” pooling examples of this by comparison to HBO’s hit show Game of Thrones.
Mr. Miloud Chennoufi, for his part, repeated multiple times “the importance of keeping and open and critical mind in agitated times. We need to be ready for everything and anything, especially with such an unpredictable character as President Trump.” Professor Chennoufi also highlighted that anyone with such high stakes in the Middle East must have an intellectual curiosity about the region, something that sadly President Trump Lacks. It was overall, a very instructive conference, in which our panelists have left us well equipped to understand the upcoming months with our Southern neighbours.
By: Claude Beaupre, Student of Master’s in Public and International Affairs.
