This year's School of Policy Studies Tom Courchene Distinguished Speaker Series will feature Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada. The topic of the discussion, “Through the Eyes of the North: Our Collective Responsibility,” will focus on Canada’s Arctic.

Her Excellency has gained national and international recognition for her work on Arctic and Indigenous issues and for her efforts in advocating for Inuit rights, youth, education, and culture.

The virtual event serves as a bridge between the academic and professional policy communities to engage faculty, students, policymakers, politicians, and other opinion leaders in discussion on major policy issues, with a particular focus on Indigenous Policy and Governance.

The event will take place on Tuesday, April 12, at 4:30 pm ET. It will be hosted by Robert Watts, an expert in Indigenous policy, negotiations, training, and conflict resolution. An adjunct professor and distinguished fellow at Queen’s, Watts was recently appointed to the university’s Board of Trustees.

The event will include introductory remarks from Her Excellency on our collective responsibility to the North, followed by a discussion with Professor Watts and time for questions from attendees.

The Margie and Tom Courchene Endowment Fund was established to create a permanent speakers’ series in the School of Policy Studies, to be known subsequently as the Tom Courchene Distinguished Speaker Series.

The School of Policy Studies has played a longstanding role in convening conversations with leaders of influence to discuss topics and issues of global impact. Past speakers have included the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, and the Right Honourable Paul Martin.

A recording of the event will be posted on the School of Policy Studies YouTube channel shortly after the event. The webinar will also be re-broadcast on April 19 on the CFRC Aboriginal Voices program.