On Monday, January 6, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would be resigning as soon as his Liberal party chose a new leader. This marks a transformative moment for Canada, raising questions about the nation’s political trajectory, the relationship with the incoming Trump administration here in the United States, and Canada’s future role on the global stage.

As part of our Rapid Response series, the Pacific Council welcomes leading expert on Canada-U.S. relations, Christopher Sands, Director of the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center, and Hannah Thibedeau, Executive Communications Officer at Global Public Affairs, as they explore:

• The various factors that led to Trudeau’s resignation
• What’s next in Canadian politics and how this will impact bilateral relations
• The impact on Canada’s domestic policies and international priorities
• What this leadership transition means for Canada-U.S. relations and the Pacific region

Join us on Tuesday, January 14, at 8 AM PST for this insightful discussion and Q&A session. To register for this webinar, visit the Zoom Registration Page.

Guest Speaker

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Christopher Sands, Director of the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, is a specialist on Canada, US-Canadian relations, and North American economic integration. He is the co-host of the Canusa Street podcast and a regular panelist on the Wilson Center’s Americas 360 podcast. His most recent book, co-edited with David M. Thomas, is Canada and the United States: Differences That Count (Fifth edition, University of Toronto Press, 2023). Dr. Sands is a board member of the Canada-United States Law Institute, the Institute for Research on Public Policy, the Macdonald Laurier Institute, and the University of California Berkeley Canadian Studies Program. He was a founding member and officer of the Canadian Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, and he is a member of the editorial board for the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal. 

Dr. Sands is a Lecturer at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and directs the Hopkins Center for Canadian Studies. He is a Lecturer and Course Coordinator of the Canada Seminar at the Foreign Service Institute of the US Department of State. Prior to joining the Wilson Center, he taught in the School of Public Affairs at American University and in the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University. In 1999-2000 he received a Fulbright scholarship to work on his doctoral dissertation at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, and in 2019 he was named a Senior Fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto. Although frequently mistaken for a Canadian, he was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.

Guest Speaker

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Hannah Thibedeau is the Executive Communications Officer at Global Public Affairs and an award-winning veteran journalist who has covered Parliament Hill for more than 20 years. She most recently served as National News Anchor of CBC News Live on Canada’s most-watched news network. Thibedeau and her team won the 2023 Canadian Screen Award (formerly the Gemini) for “Best Live News Special: Ottawa Occupation” for their coverage of the truck convoy in Ottawa in 2022.

Thibedeau has covered seven federal elections, four Prime Ministers, multiple leadership conventions, yearly Remembrance Day ceremonies, the first official National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Royal Visits, and the 2014 shootings on Parliament Hill, among many others. During her tenure, she also reported on important international events such as G7, NATO and APEC Summits and Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s visit to Afghanistan.

Hailing from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Thibedeau has always had an interest in politics, news coverage and storytelling. She attended Dalhousie University in Halifax where she earned a degree in Political Science. Following university, Hannah wanted to combine her love of politics and media and went to Algonquin College in Ottawa and completed her Television Broadcasting Diploma.

Her range of skills and experience throughout the industry is extensive, beginning her career behind the scenes as technical support for hockey and football at ESPN2, producing stories for CTV National News, and as a reporter for Global National then reporting locally, nationally and internationally at CBC for all mediums: TV; radio; online; and, social media. Hannah has also spent time working as a reporter in Washington, guest hosting the National as well as Power and Politics and most recently becoming the anchor of her program on CBC News Network.
 

To register for this webinar, visit the Zoom Registration Page.