Canadian Government Invests in Five More Years of the Halifax International Security Forum

November 21, 2013

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT RUNS THROUGH 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

21 November 2013

HALIFAX, NS – Today, the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, on behalf of the Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of National Defence, and the Honourable Rob Moore, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) together with Peter Van Praagh, President of the Halifax International Security Forum, announced the Canadian government is extending its investment in the Halifax International Security Forum, one of the most significant security forums in the world, through to 2018. The five year, $9.8 million investment builds on the Canadian government’s previous commitment, as well as private sector investments, and helps bring together informed leaders from government, military, business and media to consider international security threats.

“The Government of Canada is pleased to support the Halifax International Security Forum and encourage its future growth. As someone who has been invested in this conference since its founding, I am particularly proud of the reputation and standing the Halifax International Security Forum has built for itself over the past four years,” said Minister MacKay. “Given the high caliber of participants and discussions we see at this conference year after year, I know the Halifax International Security Forum will continue to position itself as an indispensable space for serious policy discussions and a source of answers to some our most pressing global security questions.”

“The Halifax International Security Forum is a strategic Canadian asset that brings leaders and security experts from around the world to Canadian shores for serious, unscripted discussions about the most pressing security issues,” said Peter Van Praagh, President of the Halifax International Security Forum. “I thank the Canadian government for their continued commitment to our efforts at Halifax.”

Today’s announcement by the Canadian government builds on private sector grants and the generous contributions of members of the Halifax Canada Club, a public-private partnership established in 2012 by Calgary-based MEG Energy and the Government of Canada in order to provide a solid foundation for the Halifax International Security Forum’s distinct and important work.

“The business sector has a role and perspective in addressing international issues and in contributing to Halifax’s unique vision of security,” said Mr. Bill McCaffrey, Founder of the Halifax Canada Club and MEG Energy Chairman and CEO. “The Halifax Canada Club works to bring together key decision makers, including those in the private sector, from like-minded nations to promote discussion on the complex security realities we all face.”

Taken together, these generous investments have helped the Halifax International Security Forum gain its well-earned global reputation as the most important international conference on issues of security and democracy.

The fifth annual Halifax International Security Forum will be held November 22-24 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and will again bring together individuals who are on the ground facing consequential local threats, writers who challenge and influence the world’s thinking on security, and decision-makers who make the tough choices.

Halifax International Security Forum is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC.

For more information about the Halifax International Security Forum please contact our communications team at: communications@halifaxtheforum.org